Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle produces a Sámi-speaking online election gallery for the Sámi Parliament elections.
The election gallery consists of four-minute video interviews with candidates in all three Sámi languages spoken in Finland.
The elections take place in September–October. The peculiarity of these elections is that they are conducted as a personal election without any parties or groups.
All candidates given a chance
Yle's Sámi-speaking arm Yle Sápmi interviews candidates in the tv studio of the Sámi Cultural Center in Inari.
Yle Sápmi's Sámi election gallery is modelled on the award-winning concept developed by Yle. Yle published Finnish and Swedish election galleries for the last European Parliament and Finnish Parliament elections.
– We are offering all candidates a chance to express their opinions about Sámi politics in Finland. Our aim is to give voters more information about the candidates than usually available during the Sámi elections, says project manager and journalist Aletta Lakkala.
Election gallery is a co-production with Media Studies of the Sámi Education Institute in Inari.
Interviews in three Sámi languages with subtitles
Aletta Lakkala, alongiside her colleagues Ailu Valle, Terhi Harju and Martta Alajärvi, will conduct the interviews in North Sámi, Skolt Sámi and Inari Sámi. The candidates may also choose Finnish as the language of the interview.
Most of the 36 candidates will participate in the video interviews.
– I'm really happy to be part of this historical project, offering viewers a chance to get to know the candidates for the first time through the election gallery. I'm looking forward to meeting the candidates, says journalist Ailu Valle.
Four-minute video interviews are published with Finnish or Sámi subtitles in September online in Yle Areena. Yle Sápmi also produces an online election machine in three Sámi languages and in Finnish.
Yle Sápmi's tv news can be viewed online in Yle Areena.