Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
: "Smile") is a monthly celebrity magazine published in
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
,
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...
. It has been in circulation since 1959.
History and profile
''Hymy'' was launched in 1959 by publisher
Urpo Lahtinen
Urpo Juhani Lahtinen was a Finnish magazine publisher.
He was born on 22 April 1931 in Helsinki and died on 15 October 1994 in Tampere. Urpo Lahtinen started his journalistic career in 1952 writing for the Social Democratic paper ''Eteenpäin'' ...
and named after his wife Hymy Lahtinen. The magazine dealt with the experiences of the
low income
Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little
Finns
Finns or Finnish people ( fi, suomalaiset, ) are a Baltic Finnic ethnic group native to Finland.
Finns are traditionally divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these ...
and is an example of
yellow journalism
Yellow journalism and yellow press are American terms for journalism and associated newspapers that present little or no legitimate, well-researched news while instead using eye-catching headlines for increased sales. Techniques may include ...
. It is based in
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
and is published monthly by Otavamedia Oy.
In the 1960s and 1970s ''Hymy'' became a success with sensationalist stories containing much sex and gossip about Finnish celebrities, often verging on the
invasion of privacy
The right to privacy is an element of various legal traditions that intends to restrain governmental and private actions that threaten the privacy of individuals. Over 150 national constitutions mention the right to privacy. On 10 December 1948 ...
.
All texts and articles published in the magazine are written by professional journalists. Typical ''Hymy'' stories would be about the singer
Irwin Goodman
Antti Yrjö Hammarberg (14 September 1943 – 14 January 1991), professionally known as Irwin Goodman, was a popular Finnish rock and folk singer. In the late 1960s he was widely known as a protest singer. He recorded over 300 songs, most of which ...
, Finland's first openly gay celebrity
Monsieur Mosse
Monsieur Mosse, originally Raimo Jääskeläinen, was a Finnish make-up artist (1932–1992). Monsieur Mosse was the first openly gay Finnish celebrity, who "came out of the closet" in 1971. His nickname refers to his role as a UN ranger called M ...
, or the notorious pictorial on
Jörn Donner
Jörn Johan Donner (5 February 1933 – 30 January 2020) was a Finnish writer, film director, actor, producer, politician and founder of Finnish Film Archive.
Biography
Born into the Donner family of German descent, Jörn Donner was the son of ...
naked on a Gambian beach with a local underage girl. The most famous writer for ''Hymy'' was
Veikko Ennala
Veikko Ennala (9 October 1922 – 29 August 1991) was a Finnish journalist. His best-known work was for the magazine ''Hymy'', published by Urpo Lahtinen.
The journalist character in the Risto Jarva
Risto Antero Jarva (15 July 1934 – 16 Decemb ...
, and probably one of the most infamous stories was about the author
Timo K. Mukka
Timo Kustaa Mukka (17 December 1944 – 27 March 1973) was a Finnish author who wrote about the lives of people in Lapland.
Early life
Timo Mukka was born in Bollnäs in Sweden where his family had been evacuated to during the Lapland War. He sp ...
. The story allegedly became one of the main causes for the author's early death soon afterwards. This resulted in a Finnish law called the ''Lex Hymy'', regulating any press stories published about private persons.
In March 2008 the magazine published story of the then Finnish Foreign Minister
Ilkka Kanerva
Ilkka Armas Mikael Kanerva (28 January 1948 – 14 April 2022) was a Finnish politician and a member of the Parliament of Finland. He was born in Lokalahti, now a part of Uusikaupunki in Southwest Finland. He was the Minister for Foreign Affairs ...
's SMS messages to erotic dancer
Johanna Tukiainen
Johanna Tukiainen (born 29 July 1978) is a Finnish former television personality and singer.
Background
Tukiainen first became known in March 2008 with news report that Finland's foreign minister Ilkka Kanerva had been sending her sexually sugg ...
. The magazine also published several of the messages on 1 April 2008 and Kanerva had to step down from his cabinet member position.
The
editor-in-chief
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies.
The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...
of ''Hymy'' is Mika Lahtonen.
Circulation
In 1970 ''Hymy'' had a circulation of 435,000 copies. Its circulation was 904,000 copies in 2007. In 2010 the magazine had a circulation of 88,637 copies. The 2011 circulation of the monthly was 87,876 copies. It fell to 73,788 copies in 2012. The number of its subscribers was 237,000 based on the 2013 data by the Finnish Audit Bureau of Circulations.