Maxim Fedorov, who works for the Finnish public broadcaster Yle in Kyiv, believes he is doing ordinary journalism, something that all of his colleagues are skilled at. This is why he is modest about the recognition.
“The nomination feels great. I am aware that I don’t only appear as a journalist. I also represent something bigger: I’ve learned a foreign language in adulthood and use it in a profession where I’m in the public eye.”
Fedorov is described as precisely such an international expert and challenger of language attitudes in the award justifications too.
From St Petersburg to Ukraine by way of Helsinki and Germany
Maxim Fedorov began studying Finnish in St Petersburg in 2002. Through an exchange programme, he applied to study in Jyväskylä and found himself faring well in his university studies even in Finnish. At the master’s programme application stage, he had several universities to choose from, ultimately arriving at the University of Helsinki as his seat of learning. Majoring in Finnish language and culture, Fedorov graduated in 2010.
To make ends meet, he first worked in a bookshop. In 2013, he was hired as an hourly-paid freelancer for the Russian-language news desk at Yle. In the small team, he had the opportunity to learn working in radio, television and the web.
After his Yle years, Fedorov worked in Germany for the public broadcasting company Deutsche Welle. He reported often on international politics in Russian, responding to demand: YouTube viewing in Russia increased with the censorship of liberal media, with YouTube content produced in accordance with normal journalistic practices supplementing propagandist news.
Next, Fedorov intended to work as a freelancer in Moscow, but the war made it impossible for journalists to work in Russia. When Yle became aware of his interest in working as a reporter in Ukraine after the war, they made a suggestion:
“’What if you went there already now?’ So I did. I wasn’t afraid of war, but I was worried about the attitude of my Ukrainian mother who lived in Russia and how I would be welcomed as a Russian. Both fears turned out to be unwarranted.”
Effortless work in Ukraine
“For journalists, Ukraine is right now a professionally ideal place to work. People are open. They want to share stories and give interviews, especially for Finnish media. Ukrainians are familiar with the Finnish Winter War, and they are also thankful for the supply of arms and mental support.”
According to Fedorov, it is also easier to agree on interviews and visits to state bodies in Ukraine than in Russia in peacetime. While there is bureaucracy in both countries, in Ukraine the aim is to weed it out as part of the fight against corruption.
Fedorov’s days are structured according to journalistically relevant events.
“I’m in contact with Yle’s Pasila office almost every day. On days when important news events take place, my workday can stretch from morning to evening. On other days, I get to have a say in my workload and balance work with free time. When editorial work is scarce, I try to come up with ideas for stories, write a book or study a new language.”
Behind the camera there is often a familiar local contact. Live broadcasts Fedorov shoots himself with his smartphone.
What about the war?
“The presence of war feels different in different parts of Ukraine. In Kyiv, people live relatively normal lives. At the same time, the war is there in the background. It’s always good to keep in mind that something can happen.”
Candidate recommendation system, an opposition leader and first live broadcast
There have been three special moments so far in Maxim Fedorov’s career.
“I translated into Russian and commented on the content of Yle’s election compass, or candidate recommendation system, for the 2019 parliamentary election. My comments were considered valuable, and I was invited to the system working group. After relocating to Finland less than 15 years ago, I was already involved in planning a candidate recommendation service for Finns.”
In 2020, Fedorov worked for Deutsche Welle and wrote stories on protests in Belarus. The same autumn, he saw a BBC documentary on the events in Belarus, in which Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, now an exiled opposition politician, watched a piece by Fedorov on her mobile phone.
“My third special moment was starting work in Ukraine, particularly the first live broadcast. I had no prior experience of live broadcasts with news content, especially for an audience of a million or more.”
The University community as a bridge to society
“Without university education, I would not have had access to language skills that make it possible to work in Finnish,” Fedorov notes.
“At the University, I was trained in writing various types of texts as well as retrieving and assessing the reliability of information. I was taught by the gurus of the discipline, including Eila Hämäläinen, Anna-Liisa Lepäsmaa, Leena Silfverberg and Leila White. Thanks to my friends at university, I learned Finnish diversely and was integrated into Finnish society.”
Fedorov describes Russian higher education as more rule-oriented. In Russia, students are given a set schedule, whereas in Finland they can choose courses according to their own interests. Besides teaching him to adopt a more relaxed attitude, it made him assume responsibility for his life, choices and success.
“At times I was annoyed about going into the humanities, since studies in the field do not train you for a profession but provide a foundation education. Later on, I’ve come to see that there is a need for specialists in the humanities. They have the broadest perspective on knowledge and the world.”
Fedorov got started on a doctoral thesis on imitatives of sound and action in comics. The work was interrupted by reasons such as the short-term work periods and the taxing nature of the funding application circus, both part and parcel of researchers’ lives. However, Fedorov has not ruled out a return to research at some point, for example, with the help of savings.
A language belongs to its foreign learners too
Fedorov works in a visible position in the media and uses Finnish as a second language. According to the nomination criteria for the Alum of the Year of the Faculty of Arts, his example demonstrates that Finnish belongs also to people other than first-language speakers, and will encourage others who have learned the language as adults to pursue their professional dreams.
“You don’t have to be shy about using languages. You will be understood even if you make mistakes in grammar or vocabulary. Learning a language is, to a large degree, boring learning by rote. When you know the words, accuracy is not that big a deal. Personally, I learn best by writing.”
According to Fedorov, the opportunity to use another language for work also requires societal change: people who work in a language other than their first language must be boldly hired for public positions.
“Having more non-first-language speakers in the public domain increases acceptance and the readiness to listen to language use that sounds different.”