REVISITING THE SPHERES OF PUBLIC DISCUSSION The history of Finland's globalisation debate

When societal elites seem to be in consensus about a political issue, journalism traditionally takes on a more conservative role in organising public discussion. For an issue to become controversial in mainstream media, a crisis of some kind is often needed, followed by lack of consensus among the different elites. This article uses coverage of globalisation in Finland's most influential newspaper to see if the theory of the spheres of public discussion can be applied to a particular journalistic culture. The model is used to see how media treat elite and non-elite actors who wish to participate in public discussion. In order to draw conclusions about how the media operate regarding giving voice to dissent or upholding the status quo in society, it is necessary to take into account the historical and social context of the relationship between a country's media and the state.