According to Minister of Social Affairs and Health Kaisa Juuso (ps.) Only masters should talk to the media, says the message seen by YLE.
According to YLE, the Finnish Minister for Social Affairs and Health Kaisa Juuso has wanted to restrict interviews to the media from their subordinates.
Juuso has outlined that only the ministry’s department managers could speak to journalists.
“I have previously outlined that department managers will respond to journalists. Is there a problem here?”, Juuso wrote in the Ministry’s internal debate in August 2025.
Yle has seen Minister Juuso’s message.
Juuso’s policy significantly limits the openness of administration.
In addition to six heads of department, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has more than 400 experts. All they are divided by two ministers, the Basic Finns Juuso and the Coalition Minister of Social Security Sanni Grahn-Laasonen under the subject.
According to YLE, Grahn-Laasonen has not made a similar policy as Juuso.
“Contrary to the transparency required by law”
According to YLE, Juuso’s exceptional policy has been shocked by the Ministry because it is contrary to the legal publicity required by law.
The ministry has wanted to maintain that the house experts have the right and obligation to provide information to the media.
The law obliges the official to openness and to tell about the issues under preparation, even if politicians do not like it.
According to YLE, however, the ministerial policy has not been followed in the ministry, but interviews have still been given by non -department chiefs.
Many may not even know about the minister’s policy, as it has not been informed by the ministry to everyone.
Juuso first denied and silenced after that
Juuso did not give Yle a telephone interview on Friday, citing in a hurry.
However, he replied by email that he would not have made such an interviews.
Juuso said it is important that the official participates in the social debate. However, the department manager must intervene in the event of an unreasonable addition to the media work for one official.
However, Yle has seen a message sent by Kaisa Juuso, in which the minister clearly says that responding to journalists belongs to department managers.
When Yle told Kaisa Juuso that she had seen the message and asked if she still denied the matter, the minister no longer answered anything.
The minister doubted the leak
Juuso said in his internal message in August that he had previously outlined that department managers respond to the media.
YLE is estimated that Juuso’s desire to incense the official to speak to journalists may be due to YLE last February about the news published by. It stated that Minister Juuso interrupted the government’s preparation of embarrassing social savings during the regional and municipal elections.
Media’s questions were then answered by several ministry officials.
Shortly after the news, Juuso said he was on a long sick leave.
According to YLE, Minister Juuso suspected that one of the ministry had leaked to the media about the suspension of the preparation of savings laws.
However, it was not a leak, but that the ministry officials were openly answering the editor’s questions.
“Protect experts from citizens’ burst”
According to YLE, there is also an understanding in the ministry’s official that interviews, especially politically sensitive and general public topics, would be given only to the chiefs. However, experts should give interviews with their own topics.
Such a communication line is also considered to protect experts from the ministry from the creep of citizens in the case of, for example, social security cuts.
Politicians are responsible for the decisions, but officials may also be criticized by giving interviews on sensitive topics.
