Janne Hopsu is one of the University of Helsinki history students who worked at the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper’s archives during his studies, which is how he became a reporter at the newspaper. Hopsu started at the Helsingin Sanomat as a summer intern and continued working there on fixed-term contracts as a foreign reporter until the summer of 1994. He also contributed to the paper’s weekend insert, NYT liite, as a freelancer.

In news reporting you can’t always cover stories on what interests you, but that’s just part of the job.

‘The places I know most about are the Arab world, the Mediterranean, and Latin America. With my studies and my language skills, I am particularly interested in events in those regions,’…

Janne Hopsu’s favourite jobs are foreign assignments in video journalism. At MTV News, the correspondent does all the work abroad on their own. They schedule the interviews, find interviewers and interviewees, take pictures, edit and forward the material, and arrange a car and driver if necessary. Sometimes with practical matters, it helps to have a local fixer.

The Egyptian uprising started on January 25, 2011. The opposition to Hosni Mubarak’s dictatorial rule started with people gathering in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Janne Hopsu was on the scene two days later. He reported live via satellite from a television studio in Cairo. On the morning of Friday, January 28, 2011, mobile and Internet communication was cut off. The Friday prayers began in the afternoon. Crowds started to gather and join the procession from different directions.

In the news, researchers are continuously consulted for their expertise. Janne Hopsu believes that universities in Finland could do much more to make researchers seen and heard.

After school I applied to the political science department and the Faculty of Arts at the University of Helsinki. My goal, however, was to study history. I had an excellent history teacher at school, who had a great sense of humour. He taught me to think about things from different perspectives.

In his free time Janne Hopsu has worked as an interviewer for the University of Helsinki’s Think Corner. He also likes to go there just to listen.

‘What I like about the classical idea of education and civilisation is debating ideas and passing on knowledge. The best times at…

I am passionate about football. My dream is to become a football reporter in Barcelona.