Kaius Niemi
Helsingin Sanomat was edited by whom from 2013 to May 2013?
Helsingin Sanomat Helsingin Sanomat ( approx. : Helsinki Dispatch ) , abbreviated HS and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries , owned by Sanoma . Except after certain holidays , it is published daily . Its name derives from that of the Finnish capital , Helsinki , where it is published . It is considered a newspaper of record for Finland . History and profile . The paper was founded in 1889 as Päivälehti , when Finland was a Grand Duchy under the Tsar of Russia . Political censorship by the Russian authorities , prompted by the papers strong advocacy of greater Finnish freedoms and even outright independence , forced Päivälehti to often temporarily suspend publication , and finally to close permanently in 1904 . Its proprietors re-opened the paper under its current name in 1905 . Founded as the organ of the Young Finnish Party , the paper has been politically independent and non-aligned since the 1932 . Helsingin Sanomat has a long history as a family business , owned by the Erkko family . It is currently owned by the Sanoma media group which also owns Ilta Sanomat . The relationship between the owners of Helsingin Sanomat and Finlands government have sometimes been close . For instance , during the run-up to the Winter War , Eljas Erkko was at the same time the papers publisher and Finlands foreign minister . Mikael Pentikäinen was the editor-in-chief until May 2013 when he was fired from the post . Riikka Venäläinen replaced him temporarily in the post . After Riikka Venäläinen the post has been held by Kaius Niemi . Format . Helsingin Sanomat is published daily in Finnish in compact format with the exception of the days after public holidays when the paper does not appear . Subscriptions make up 97% of the newspapers circulation . The front page is usually devoted to advertisements . The newspaper was published in broadsheet format until 6 January 2013 . The paper also has a monthly supplement named Kuukausiliite ( Finnish for Monthly Supplement ) , and a weekly TV guide and entertainment-oriented supplement named Nyt ( Now ) . Between 1999 and 2012 there were also both Finnish and English-language online newspaper editions . Content of Helsingin Sanomat can be accessed also through mobile devices . Circulation and influence . The circulation of Helsingin Sanomat was 476,163 copies in 1993 , making it the most read newspaper in Finland . In the period of 1995–96 the paper had a circulation of 470,600 copies . Its circulation was 446,380 copies in 2001 , making it the largest paper in the country . In 2008 its daily circulation was 412,421 on weekdays ( a change of −1.8% from 2007 ) and 468,505 on Sundays ( −1.3% ) . In 2011 the daily had a circulation of 365,994 copies , making it the most read paper in the country . The same year it was also the largest paper in terms of readership . Approximately 75% of households in the Greater Helsinki region subscribe to Helsingin Sanomat , and it functions as the regions local paper . Its total daily circulation is well over 400,000 , or about 8% of Finlands total population , making it the biggest daily subscription newspaper in the Nordic countries . The paper is a significant factor in Finnish society and in public opinion . Pertti Klemola , a Finnish journalist and scholar , once called it a state authority , an institution with its own independent social and political will . Helsingin Sanomat strongly advocated Finland joining the European Union in the run-up to the decision to do so in 1994 . It has also openly expressed support for Finlands membership of NATO . In fact , it supports the participation of Finland in all Western institutions . In June 2009 the site was the sixth most popular Finnish website . In 2010 it was the seventh most visited website in Finland in 2010 and was visited by 1,236,527 people per week . Helsingin Sanomat International Edition . The English-language section of the Helsingin Sanomat website , the Helsingin Sanomat International Edition ( HSIE ) , ran for thirteen years . The International Edition launched on 14 September 1999 with the aim of informing readers of news from Finland during the Finnish presidency of the European Union . It continued after the European presidency owing to the quantity of readers it was getting became one of the major English-language sources of news regarding Finland—making it popular with English-speaking immigrants to the country . The Helsingin Sanomat International Edition closed down on 26 October 2012 . English material is now published in cooperation with Helsinki Times weekly newspaper . For a while , Helsingin Sanomat also published some of its material in Russian , but the service was discontinued on 6 October 2014 .