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10 Apr 2009, Posted by Scott Goodstein in Guests from Washington D.C., 0 Comments

Radio Helsinki


The ways we consume news and music are rapidly changing.  We are watching an era of newspapers dying in the US and local radio stations were crippled over a decade ago.  Both these industries are working on what is the best formula for survival and relevancy.  They both need to find a revenue stream that works and they both are losing viewers to online media.

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Radio Helsinki, a local independent / free-format radio station (that does not use any reporting or playlists) is now working directly with Helsinki’s largest daily newspaper, The Helsingin Sanomat.  This new model is helping both entities build a digital presence and work on additional community projects including more arts and entertainment reporting.

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While the newspaper has a huge reach and is already read by a quarter of all Finns, it is slowly evolving its digital presence and currently building new digital studios.  They are working on breaking news and growing their online communities.

We had an interesting discussion on how radio and newspapers can work together and how they both need to grow their digital and mobile phone stratgeies.  These issues are far from figured out in the US media as we are watching organizations like the New York Times and The Washington Post starting to figure out new online video and text messaging strategies.

It was great to see a major newspaper breaking news while working with a fiercely independent radio station that was playing punk rock and hip-hop.  (They were playing NWA and Dead Kennedys while I was there.)

It will be interesting to see how these two very different and independent Finnish organizations grow and work together in the days ahead.

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About the writer

Scott Goodstein CEO, Revolution Messaging Scott Goodstein
Scott Goodstein, CEO of Revolution Messaging, a firm that specializes in social networking and mobile messaging, first launched his future-forward marketing sensibilities and organizational skills in the music world with Rock Against Bush, a project mobilizing punk and alternative musicians against the 2004 U.S. Presidential campaign of George W. Bush. "I've been using online tools to organize for a number of years," says Goodstein. "What excites me is how cost-effective and efficient they are. These online tools have become game changers. With a little money and limited resources you can craft a smart message, make it funny, entertaining, educational, and really get it out to the masses." As External Online Director for Obama for America, he created the campaign's social networking strategy, a political first. Under his leadership, the campaign achieved over two million friends on Facebook, one million friends on MySpace, 500,000 friends on BlackPlanet, and over 100,000 friends on Twitter. The high point came during the Democratic National Convention when Obama gave his speech. "We were able to build the largest political crowd for a democratic convention, taking over one of the biggest football stadiums in the country. It really made politics exciting and energetic to 80,000 to 100,000 people in Colorado, and then 10s of thousands of people around the country, and 100s of thousands of people around the world. You realize that by adding new technology and pushing those messages out, we were able to make worldwide impact." Goodstein has an ongoing fascination with European and Baltic countries in particular. "Obviously Helsinki sees the world from a different perspective, and I'm interested in looking at how a strong cultural identity is maintained within such small national borders." And on the new technology and marketing front? "How," asks Goodstein, "does that area dominate the entire world in telephone technology? I'd love to learn about new developments slated at Nokia. I'm constantly looking for new ways to organize and market. I'd like to see how nonprofits and smaller political organizations are using art and culture to organize and get their message out."

Host

Tatu Laurila CEO, Greater Helsinki Promotion Tatu Laurila

In Helsinki Scott Goodstein will be introduced to media and entertainment professionals and politicians.

Mr. Goodstein´s stay is hosted by Tatu Laurila, CEO of Greater Helsinki Promotion (GHP), the international business promotion agency for the Greater Helsinki area. GHP receives its funding from public sources - primarily from the cities of Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Kauniainen as well as the Uusimaa Regional Council.