Since the 1 September this year, Maarit Jaakkola has been the new assistant director of Nordicom. Jaakkola has been working at Nordicom as a researcher since 2016. In her new role, she will also be assisting the director with strategic issues concerning Nordicom’s activities. In addition, she will be responsible for Nordicom’s research collaboration and contacts with Nordic media researchers.
As assistant director, Jaakkola hopes to develop Nordicom as a meeting place for the Nordic research community.
“We have found that there is a great need among Nordic media researchers for having a closer contact with each other and in that way make it easier to find possible partners. The Nordic countries have a lot in common but they can also benefit from their differences”, says Jaakkola.
“I will be working on the basis of existing structures to strengthen the Nordic cooperation and to make Nordicom an active part in mobilizing and creating networks between researchers. The conference NordMedia is, for example, a great foundation to keep building on”, she says.
Nordicom’s director Jonas Ohlsson is looking forward to the cooperation.
“Maarit and I will complement each other in a good way. She is creative and energetic and has a wide network of contacts in the Nordic research environment, not least in Finland where she is originally from”.
A meeting place for the Nordic research community
Jaakkola will, among other things, lead a project aimed at building a new digital hub for Nordic media researchers.
“Today’s digital tools give us great opportunities to meet across borders. Hopefully, our efforts will eventually contribute both to increasing the quality of the Nordic media research and to help it reach society even better”.
In today’s Nordic social climate, free research and its credibility can no longer be taken for granted. Jaakkola sees this as another task for Nordicom.
“We must stand up for and defend the value of research by clarifying its purpose and objectives and demonstrate how it, in interaction with society, contributes to a healthy development”.
Mia Jonsson Lindell