Public figures and Laestadianism

The biggest daily newspaper in Finland, Helsingin Sanomat, is getting a new chief editor called Mikael Pentikäinen. Yesterdays Helsingin Sanomat dedicated a whole page article for this accompanied with a little profile about him.

The profile highlighted that Pentikäinen has been active in the Center party and he described to be a skilled professional, a ”news hawk”. The last chapter had something that caught my attention – Pentikäinen has a Laestadian background.

There are already several writings and discussions in the internet wondering if his religious background will influence the content of the paper and whether some topics will now get less/more attention. On the other hand there is as many writings stating that Pentikäinen is a professional and won't let his own beliefs influence the line of the newspaper.

Well what ever happens, it is still quite interesting to notice how much attention his religious background has gained.

Mari