MTV’s Kasperi Kunnas is Sports Journalist of the Year in Finland
MTV’s Kasperi Kunnas
HELSINKI, December 20, 2023 - MTV's Kasperi Kunnas is the Sports Journalist of the Year 2023 in Finland, as chosen by the Finnish Association for Sports Journalists board. He was recognised at the joint sports appreciation day of the association and the Finnish Sports Gala on December 7, 2023 in Helsinki.
Kasperi Kunnas has worked at MTV Urheilu for over ten years, where he began as an online journalist before moving to television. The 36-year-old plays a versatile role as a reporter, anchor, interviewer, and occasionally also as a news manager. He discharges his duties with high quality, but stands out especially strongly as the author of a TV story. No matter how challenging the subject is, he has the ability to assemble the essential pieces into a logical whole, even under schedule pressure.
SPORTS STORY OF THE YEAR The investigative story of YLE's Riikka Smolander-Slotte about the inappropriate coaching culture of rhythmic gymnastics was chosen as the Sports Story of the Year.
Riikka Smolander-Slotte's article reveals the shortcomings of the training culture of rhythmic gymnastics and it can be said that it is also socially significant. The story raised a big national debate about inappropriate behaviour in sports, and Smolander has spoken about the topic abroad as well. The importance of the meritorious story is also raised by the fact that the topic has spawned numerous follow-up stories in other media as well, and the topic of improper behaviour in sports has remained on the surface even a year later.
DIGITAL HIT OF THE YEAR The award for Digital Hit of the Year went to the documentary series Pori Ässät – no periks ei anten (Pori Ässät – well, we won’t give up), produced by Vesa-Matti Savinen. Savinen intensively followed the activities of the ice hockey team Pori Ässät on and off the ice. The project of one man and a camera, which stretched over years, resulted in a five-part documentary series, which premiered this fall.
SPORTS PHOTO OF THE YEAR Aamulehti's photographer Jukka Ritola won the Most Inspiring Sports Photo of the Year with a picture of Wilma Murro's jump that secured the World Athletics Championships bronze in pole vault. Ritola also managed to capture a picture of the memorable moment when Murto realised she had won the world medal in Budapest in August.
SPOKESPERSON OF THE YEAR Mika Korpela, spokesperson for Mikkelin Palloilijat Football Club, which play in the men's first division, was chosen as Spokesman of the Year. Korpela has done an extraordinary amount of volunteer work for the club for more than ten years. In 2011, Korpela moved from the position of the club's executive director to the spokesperson for the men's team and has written all the team's match reports, interviews and managed the players' media relations for the past 13 years.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Hannu-Pekka Hänninen, Helsingin Sanomat and Kari Pyykkö were honoured with Lifetime Achievement awards on December 7 in appreciation of their work as sports journalists.
The 71-year-old Hänninen is preparing to cover the Olympic Games for the 24th time next summer, which is quite an achievement. He started his career as Yle's journalist in 1975 and retired from Yle at a perfectly normal time in 2016, but didn't let go of the job he loved so easily. Yle offered the veteran commentator a few gigs, and soon Hänninen was invited by Eurosport for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Heikki Miettinen retired from Helsingin Sanomat after a 40-year career in sports journalism, albeit drifting into the profession by chance. Born in the 1950s, Miettinen, who was thinking about his job opportunities, noticed a newspaper advertisement in which STT was looking for a newsreader. He decided to seize the opportunity and visit the legendary Esko Muinonen. However, Miettinen was not the newsreader that STT was looking for. “See if the boy has a job in sports,” said Muinonen. And that was how Miettinen’s career into sports reporting began.
Kari Pyykkö started out as a news reporter at Lapin Kansa in 1978, before moving to the sports department two years later. His first job as a sports reporter was to write about the Jukola Relay, an orienteering relay race held annually in Finland since 1949, which was taking place in Rovaniemi, where Lapin Kansa is based, for the first time. The length of his working career is 47 years.
THE AWARDS The Sports Journalist of the Year, Spokesman of the Year and Lifetime Achievement awards are chosen by the board of the Association, while separate award juries are formed for other categories – Sports Story of the Year, Digital Hit of the Year and Most Inspiring Sports Photo of the Year.
Since 2009, the Association of Sports Journalists in Finland has annually awarded Sports Journalist of the Year and Spokesman of the Year. In 2013, the Lifetime Achievement award was added, and in 2020, Sports Story of the Year and Digital Hit of the Year were awarded for the first time. The Most Inspiring Sports Photo of the Year was awarded for the first time in 2021.
Kasperi Kunnas has worked at MTV Urheilu for over ten years, where he began as an online journalist before moving to television. The 36-year-old plays a versatile role as a reporter, anchor, interviewer, and occasionally also as a news manager. He discharges his duties with high quality, but stands out especially strongly as the author of a TV story. No matter how challenging the subject is, he has the ability to assemble the essential pieces into a logical whole, even under schedule pressure.
SPORTS STORY OF THE YEAR The investigative story of YLE's Riikka Smolander-Slotte about the inappropriate coaching culture of rhythmic gymnastics was chosen as the Sports Story of the Year.
Riikka Smolander-Slotte's article reveals the shortcomings of the training culture of rhythmic gymnastics and it can be said that it is also socially significant. The story raised a big national debate about inappropriate behaviour in sports, and Smolander has spoken about the topic abroad as well. The importance of the meritorious story is also raised by the fact that the topic has spawned numerous follow-up stories in other media as well, and the topic of improper behaviour in sports has remained on the surface even a year later.
DIGITAL HIT OF THE YEAR The award for Digital Hit of the Year went to the documentary series Pori Ässät – no periks ei anten (Pori Ässät – well, we won’t give up), produced by Vesa-Matti Savinen. Savinen intensively followed the activities of the ice hockey team Pori Ässät on and off the ice. The project of one man and a camera, which stretched over years, resulted in a five-part documentary series, which premiered this fall.
SPORTS PHOTO OF THE YEAR Aamulehti's photographer Jukka Ritola won the Most Inspiring Sports Photo of the Year with a picture of Wilma Murro's jump that secured the World Athletics Championships bronze in pole vault. Ritola also managed to capture a picture of the memorable moment when Murto realised she had won the world medal in Budapest in August.
SPOKESPERSON OF THE YEAR Mika Korpela, spokesperson for Mikkelin Palloilijat Football Club, which play in the men's first division, was chosen as Spokesman of the Year. Korpela has done an extraordinary amount of volunteer work for the club for more than ten years. In 2011, Korpela moved from the position of the club's executive director to the spokesperson for the men's team and has written all the team's match reports, interviews and managed the players' media relations for the past 13 years.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Hannu-Pekka Hänninen, Helsingin Sanomat and Kari Pyykkö were honoured with Lifetime Achievement awards on December 7 in appreciation of their work as sports journalists.
The 71-year-old Hänninen is preparing to cover the Olympic Games for the 24th time next summer, which is quite an achievement. He started his career as Yle's journalist in 1975 and retired from Yle at a perfectly normal time in 2016, but didn't let go of the job he loved so easily. Yle offered the veteran commentator a few gigs, and soon Hänninen was invited by Eurosport for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Heikki Miettinen retired from Helsingin Sanomat after a 40-year career in sports journalism, albeit drifting into the profession by chance. Born in the 1950s, Miettinen, who was thinking about his job opportunities, noticed a newspaper advertisement in which STT was looking for a newsreader. He decided to seize the opportunity and visit the legendary Esko Muinonen. However, Miettinen was not the newsreader that STT was looking for. “See if the boy has a job in sports,” said Muinonen. And that was how Miettinen’s career into sports reporting began.
Kari Pyykkö started out as a news reporter at Lapin Kansa in 1978, before moving to the sports department two years later. His first job as a sports reporter was to write about the Jukola Relay, an orienteering relay race held annually in Finland since 1949, which was taking place in Rovaniemi, where Lapin Kansa is based, for the first time. The length of his working career is 47 years.
THE AWARDS The Sports Journalist of the Year, Spokesman of the Year and Lifetime Achievement awards are chosen by the board of the Association, while separate award juries are formed for other categories – Sports Story of the Year, Digital Hit of the Year and Most Inspiring Sports Photo of the Year.
Since 2009, the Association of Sports Journalists in Finland has annually awarded Sports Journalist of the Year and Spokesman of the Year. In 2013, the Lifetime Achievement award was added, and in 2020, Sports Story of the Year and Digital Hit of the Year were awarded for the first time. The Most Inspiring Sports Photo of the Year was awarded for the first time in 2021.
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