In the study, the news output of nineteen Finnish media (newspapers, TV, and radio) during 14 days between October 2007 and March 2008 was analysed. In total, the research material consists of 3,008 news stories or groups of stories. The status, nature and topic of the news story were coded and categorized from the material. Other content that was coded included the main actor's/character's reference group, position in the hierarchy of the institution, gender, and age group. Additionally, the central speaker and other speakers in the news item were charted. The representation of the main actor's gender was studied by determining whether their gender, marital status or appearance had been commented on in the story and whether their speech had been described in an emotionally coloured manner. The proportion of eroticism, sexuality and violence in the story were also coded, as well as the number of pictures related to the news story or group of stories and the age and gender of people depicted in these pictures. State of the Finnish News Media 2008 is a follow-up for the 2006 pilot study. The purpose of the research project is to create an observation system that would produce systematic information on the values, objectives, and practices related to news output.

2009