Reijo Ruokanen (46), Managing Editor of Iltalehti, has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of Ilta-Sanomat. He will assume his duties on 13 November 2007. Ruokanen currently works as a Managing Editor at Iltalehti responsible for news, sports and online operations.
"For me, it's a great opportunity and a tremendous challenge to be involved in the making of Finland's second largest newspaper. Ilta-Sanomat has a highly professional and experienced editorial staff that's capable of serving its readers excellently through both the newspaper and online," says Ruokanen.
According to Tapio Sadeoja, Senior Editor-in-Chief of Ilta-Sanomat, Ruokanen has extensive experience in and a solid understanding of the field of quality tabloids.
"Ruokanen's appointment brings valuable expertise and managerial power for us at Ilta-Sanomat. "It allows us to further strengthen Ilta-Sanomat's position as the leading quality tabloid and the leading conversational medium in Finland," adds Sadeoja.
"A quality tabloid is just as good as its makers. The best tabloid in Finland requires the best tabloid editorial staff in Finland. The professional expertise and commitment of the chief editors and the entire editorial staff are now at such a high level that there is no doubt whatsoever of our ability to meet future challenges."
Sadeoja stresses that Ruokanen's extensive journalistic experience gives him the required ability to further develop a quality tabloid that has set its editorial line a couple of steps towards more matter-of-fact journalism.
Ruokanen has served as Iltalehti's Managing Editor since 2003. He has previously held positions as a political editor and news editor at Iltalehti, as the paper's correspondent in Berlin and as an editor at MTV3, as well as the joint correspondent of Iltalehti and MTV3 in London.
Ilta-Sanomat is part of Sanoma, the newspaper division of SanomaWSOY.