The purpose of this study is to discover the main internal and external influences that determine the mass media content produced by the Finnish foreign correspondents in Russia. The study looks at the overall conditions, where the media products are being created and the processes behind news products, but not the products themselves.

The research material was collected from focused interviews in Moscow, Helsinki and Tampere during 2007 and 2008. The material consists of eight qualitative interviews with foreign correspondents. The hierarchy of influences model developed by Pamela Shoemaker and Stephen Reese creates the theoretical framework for my study. The Shoemaker and Reese model and Tuomo Mörä's more interactional liane model have all been used in order to create the themes for the focused interviews and for categorising the answers for further analysis. Finally, the data was analysed using a qualitative content analysis approach that uses a principally already existing theoretical framework.

Based on the Shoemaker and Reese model the internal and external influences have been divided into four chapters, although the model is not followed slavishly and, in some cases, different levels from the model are merged with each other. The four areas covered in the study are the correspondents as individuals and their know-how on Russia; representation of Russia in the Finnish media and the correspondents' goals, available sources in Russia; organisation and extramedia influences, including feedback from the audiences; and, finally, ideological differences between Finland and Russia. My findings do not support view represented by the model that outer influences always dominate the inner levels.

Although the correspondents regarded Russia as captivating due to the amount of drama it offers, four out of the eight interviewees mentioned that they would like to do more stories on everyday life and educate the Finnish audiences by showing them another side of Russia than what is currently available in the media. Still, the economics and politics are placed higher in the hierarchy of news. The correspondents are able to work more independently, because their language skills and knowledge of Russia are on a more advanced level than that of their colleagues. The difficulty of accessing official sources means that the correspondents have had to seek alternative ways for accessing information and they use more ordinary people, non-governmental organisations, scholars and the Russian media as sources.

Having strong language skills and knowledge of Russian society does not automatically mean that one is familiar and comfortable with the culture. Going deeper into the culture often trigger feelings that are not always approving and positive. This indicates that there is something more valuable than knowledge; strong professional capabilities and the will to discover something new. Some interviewees had developed a fairly negative attitude toward Russia during their assignment, which can be partly explained by the fact that their work is so concentrated on the political and economical life that it casts a shadow on the other aspects of the Russian society.

Asiasanat:Foreign correspondents, Moscow, Russia