You and Vapaa Sana

From this issue the production of these English pages will be handled within the Vapaa Sana editorial office. We thank Markus Räty for his contribution to Vapaa Sana.
A growing number of Finnish Canadians have a restricted command of Finnish, if one at all. However, there is staunch opposition amongst the Finnish speaking readers against any expansion of English. This is understandable.
Any increase in the number of English pages would certainly not be taken as an editorial decision but rather as a strategic choice by the Vapaa Sana Board of Directors, a body representing the owners of the company.
One of the issues is also the use of the internet. Vapaa Sana makes its money on the basis of subscription fees. The way to support the paper is to take a paid subscription, in one way or another. The free availability of our features on the internet basically undermines the subscription base. It is likely that availability on line would be restricted to samples that would, hopefully, lead to subscriptions. If considered financially viable, we could introduce segments of the website accessible to subscribers only.

In the meantime, we ask you, the readers, to send us your opinions and suggestions, to be published in Vapaa Sana.

Juhani Niinistö

Vapaa Sana email:
toimitus@vapaasana.com