Our alum Mari Karsikas: Meaningful, supportive and entertaining media content

Media revolution is reflected in both content consumption and production

Mari Karsikas works at the A-lehdet media company as editor-in-chief of Kauneus & Terveys, Voi hyvin, Trendi and Lily, and as content manager of eeva.fi. She has had a long career at A-lehdet, before which she worked at other media companies such as the Finnish Public Service Media Company Yle, the Aamulehti newspaper and the Bonnier media group.

Mari considers the renewal of established media to be one of the best perks of her work, and she has had the opportunity to do so on several occasions.

“It's a great moment in your career when you get to reflect on a particular long-standing media brand, its values, readers’ aspirations and how to bring the media into the present day. The renewal must not become outdated in a year, so it must stand the test of time. Renewal is both exciting and scary at the same time,” Mari says.

Mari witnesses the media revolution in her work every day. In the past, a lot of thought was given to the flow of contents in printed media and how the readers are led from one article to the next. Today, articles are consumed in fragments, one by one. Many readers would also like to consume all content for free, while journalists still want to be paid for their work.

Multichannel is another order of the day and requires constant consideration of video and sound in addition to text and images. It is unrealistic to try and make all content fully available on all channels, so you have to pick your battles.

“These controversies have not yet been sustainably resolved in any media. The key question is what kind of journalism people still want to pay for. With these reflections, we often talk about values, what needs our content meets and in which situations the target audience turns to print media. Our aim is to positively surprise the reader every time.”

Putting on heels and having your name on the door

There are many ways to truthfully recount Mari's career choice. One story is that, even as a teenager, she had a dream of finding a profession in which she could wear heels, speak or write, and have a workstation with her nameplate next to it. This dream has come true.

“It’s equally true that I felt really lost in upper secondary school and I didn’t know where to go. But I knew I was good at writing, so I applied for Finnish language studies and was admitted. For me, minor studies turned out to be the decisive thing. I feel that I found both myself and my career through them,” Mari says.

It’s equally true that I felt really lost in upper secondary school and I didn’t know where to go. But I knew I was good at writing, so I applied for Finnish language studies and was admitted. For me, minor studies turned out to be the decisive thing. I feel that I found both myself and my career through them."

Mari Karsikas

While many of Mari's classmates already knew their career direction and were studying to become teachers, for example, Mari spent her first few years exploring different subjects. In addition to Finnish, she studied sociology, marketing, literature, speech communication and hypermedia.

“When you don’t know where you’re going, it’s important to be able to try out different things and also to mess up along the way,” Mari says.

Student community is particularly important for non-locals

Mari discovered Journalism and Mass Communication in her third year. She had previously been under the impression that all journalists work in the news media – which was not her passion. She finally found her direction in magazines.

“In my current position, I am able to ensure that the target audience gets to read meaningful, supportive and entertaining stories. Right now, I feel really happy with where I am, even though the media industry is constantly changing. There's no end to learning, but you can hold your own with a curious attitude and a willingness to learn,” Mari says.

Right now, I feel really happy with where I am, even though the media industry is constantly changing. There's no end to learning, but you can hold your own with a curious attitude and a willingness to learn

Mari Karsikas

As for her university days, Mari thinks back to her classmates with warmth, as the Finnish language students were quite a tight bunch. Mari also chaired the student association for Finnish language for a few years. She feels that the tutor and student association activities were particularly important for a student like her, who moved to Tampere from another town without knowing any locals.

“It was easy to enjoy your student years in Tampere. It was an important part of my life. I’m grateful that I was admitted to Tampere and decided to accept the position. Life would have been very different had I ended up anywhere else,” Mari says.

Text: Tiina Leivo

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