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,’ says Janne Hopsu.

Hopsu’s working languages are Finnish, English, Spanish, Swedish and French. He understands some Italian and German, and also a little Arabic. Studies in the humanities have been useful to him in other ways as well.

‘When a bomb goes off in the world somewhere, a foreign reporter’s job is to tell people what happened and why,’ says Hopsu. ‘The background is especially important. If it is only reported that people are fighting somewhere for no apparent reason, then it doesn’t make much sense. I always try to at least briefly explain why someone does something.’

Janne Hopsu’s tasks vary. In his stories, he reports the news on the television and, increasingly, on the Internet. His work from home often involves foreign pictorials and, if needed, interviews with people in Finland. Then there are the days when he follows the news feeds and gathers ideas for stories which he can put to new editors and reporters.

‘I follow many online news outlets and channels,’ says Hopsu. ‘Twitter is also an important source for news. After foreign assignments, if need be I’m there with the news commentary in the evening and on the morning news, too.’

Life in the newsroom is hectic at times and tasks can frequently change. It helps to work in a flexible organisation with a good atmosphere.

‘We don’t really have a hierarchy at the foreign news desk because many of us have done this work for so long,’ says Hopsu. ‘We all know what to do. We are confident and we know each other. If I give an assignment to a co-worker, I know that they will get it done and I don’t have to watch over them the whole time.’

In February, 2015, Hopsu did his first piece as a news producer. In that role he was responsible for both evening news programmes on MTV News.

‘When it’s your responsibility to ensure that the entire news broadcast is ready to roll, it’s a little crazy at first,’ says Hopsu. ‘Reporters tug on my sleeve the whole time, asking if some little detail is good or suggesting something new, and I work on content with the anchors. The director, writer and graphic designer ask about the broadcasting issues. Then there are last minute changes. It’s great to be able to constantly develop your skills without having to constantly change jobs.’