Emma-Leena Ovaskainen

Emma-Leena Ovaskainen works as a visual journalist for Finland's biggest daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat. Her work includes designing the news both in print and digital products.

She has been working for different media for over 20 years; first as a writer in newspapers and as a radio reporter in Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE. During her time as a newspaper reporter she found herself photographing and designing layouts for her own stories and realised the power of telling stories through the combination of pictures and text. Since 2004 she has been a newspaper designer, and a lot has changed during that time.

Traditional media manages the tricks to catch the reader´s eye on the printed page. But how can you do it on a tiny screen of a mobile phone, is the big question Emma-Leena shares with the whole media industry. During the year as a fellow at the Reuters Institute she will research and develop the visualisation, narrative and design of mobile news.

Emma-Leena’s interest towards digital multimedia storytelling started already during her student years in the Department of Journalism and Mass Media at Tampere University, where she holds a Master’s degree in Electronic Photojournalism. She has also studied social sciences and media at Tartu University in Estonia.

She loves a good story in print, digital, visual or told across a kitchen table. As a hobby she renovates an old railway station with her friends.