Information Flows across the Baltic Sea: Swedish-language press as a cultural mediator, 1771-1918

The project examines how the Swedish-language press acted as a cultural mediator between Finland and Sweden from the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 20th century. The project uses digital newspaper collections to investigate how the press in the two countries reused each other’s news articles and other material.

The daily press for this period has been digitized in both Finland and Sweden, enabling the project researchers to study overlaps in the text masses and thereby see how the information was spread across the Baltic Sea.

The project explores which themes and events dominated the flow of information and further what these findings tell about the role of the press as a cultural mediator between the countries. At the same time, the project produces new knowledge of 19th-century cultural history and studies how relations between Finland and Sweden developed from the end of the 18th century until Finland’s independence and Civil War.

Read more about the project