Press release 17/9/2012Teejuttu.fi users are provided with writing and photography trainingToday, Monday 17 September, free sheet Metro published its first reader-written column. Starting today, Metro will publish reader columns every Monday.”All our studies and experiences unambiguously show that the most interesting content is created with readers. Reader columns are a significant step to building a new urban medium,” says Metro Editor-in-Chief Janne Kaijärvi.The columns are a natural next step to publishing photos sent by readers. In August 2012, Metro received more than 3,000 photos from readers, and hundreds of them were published in Metro and almost all of them online.”The topic is free for readers to choose, from politics to sport, from everyday feelings to marveling at the wonders of nature. The chance of your text published is better if your topic is totally different than that of other contributors," says Ismo Uusitupa, Metro's managing editor.Column writing is made as easy as possible. The Teejuttu.fi service, introduced in the autumn, has a designated section for columns. It has instructions for how a column should be, and a convenient calculator that measures the size of the column. The author will get EUR 100 if their column is published in Metro.”For years now, we have created content with readers and have gained a lot of experience in it. Teejuttu.fi takes teamwork to a whole new level. So far, we have mainly received photos from readers, but the online service also enables text creation and editing with readers," says Santtu Parkkonen, who is in charge of the development of Teejuttu.fi.Teejuttu.fi is part of the Next Media research project. In addition to Metro's editorial staff, the service development is contributed to by researchers from Aalto University's Department of Media Research and Tampere University of Technology, as well as by the software company 2General. During the rest of the year, the researchers will provide training for those interested in writing and photography. Teejuttu.fi will include further information about the training kickoff and registration.www.teejuttu.fiAdditional information:Janne Kaijärvi, Editor-in-Chief of Metro, tel. +358 400 443552Free sheet Metro is part of Sanoma News. Sanoma News is the leading newspaper publisher in Finland, and its products in both print and digital format have a strong presence in the lives of their readers. In addition to Helsingin Sanomat, the largest daily in the Nordic region, the Division publishes Ilta-Sanomat, Finland’s largest quality tabloid and Taloussanomat, the number one digital financial media, as well as regional newspapers. Sanoma News is also among the most significant digital actors in Finland. Sanoma News is part of the Sanoma, a strong European group operating in diverse fields of media and learning in some 20 countries.