Knowledge, insights and experiences 

Otava’s publishing houses have a diverse and multi-voiced publishing programme. We publish books and literature representing a wide range of viewpoints and values, as well as literature that broadens perspectives and renews the Finnish language.

High-quality content fulfils our social mission by creating and providing our audience with knowledge, insights and experiences. In learning materials, it is important that different learners can see themselves represented and that our content reflects the diversity of Finnish society.

The general literature publishing programme promotes reading and the vitality of the Finnish language 

The year 2025 was an excellent one for Otava’s publishing houses across all literary genres. Otava’s books were nominated for numerous literary awards, including all categories of the Finlandia Prize. Hannu Salmi’s book Frans Leijon: The Remarkable Life of a Deaf-Blind Man was awarded the Lauri Jäntti Prize for non-fiction. 

We develop our publishing programme in a customer-oriented manner, while also making value-based publishing decisions. We safeguard the conditions for the creation, production, and distribution of literature in Finland.

Authors are at the heart of our operations, and we support their success.

Learning materials are an important part of the school experience, and the wording and illustrations used in these materials communicate our values: every student, regardless of their background, is an equally important part of the class.

Diversity, equity and inclusion with regard to learning materials

Otava Learning aims to provide all learners with equal opportunities to learn. We want everyone to see themselves represented in our learning materials in some way or another.

When designing our learning materials, we consider the different ways in which children and young people learn and absorb information in order to enable an equal and equitable learning experience for all. 

Learning materials form an important part of the school experience, and the wording and illustrations of content communicate our values: every student, regardless of background, is an equally important part of the class. Through our content, we can influence whether every learner feels seen and represented.

In 2025, we implemented our principles for how diversity, equity and inclusion are taken into account in our learning materials. These principles are based not only on Otava’s own values, but also on international human rights conventions, national curricula and Finnish legislation. 

In 2025, a number of our textbook authors were awarded with the Textbook Writers’ Award. In addition, our textbook authors received the Learning Material Award from the Otava Book Foundation. Otava Learning was also awarded the Sanasto Creators’ Recognition Award.

The Tähtipöllö reading challenge encourages reading

Our Tähtipöllö (Star Owl) reading challenge, designed to inspire primary school pupils to read, was organised for the third time.  During the nationwide competition held in autumn and winter 2025, a record-breaking number of pages were read: over 54 million pages.

A total of 373 classes participated in the competition organised by Otava Publishing Company and Otava Learning. According to feedback from schools, the challenge has also encouraged less enthusiastic readers to pick up a book.

Responsible journalism

We comply with legislation, adhere to good journalistic practice, and follow the guidelines issued by the Council for Mass Media in Finland. Although we may utilise AI in our work, the decision to publish is always made or supervised by a journalist. 

We constantly survey public opinion on our content. We fulfil our social mission by creating and providing our audience with information, insights and experiences.

Otavamedia’s journalists once again did well in the Edit competition. Suomen Kuvalehti won the award for General-interest Media of the Year, and the winner in the Magazine Media Article of the Year category was a first-of-its-kind piece from Tekniikan Maailma 20/2024 in which 40 children tested and compared 17 pairs of skis. The Magazine Media Layout of the Year award was presented to Parnasso and its AD Marjo Leskinen. The Special Edit award went to Jarmo Wright, photo journalist at Suomen Kuvalehti.

The Åkerlund Journalism Award was granted to Elina Järvinen, reporter for Suomen Kuvalehti. This award is presented every two years in recognition of media work representing exceptional quality, social responsibility or groundbreaking innovation.

Although we may utilise AI in our work, the decision to publish is always made or supervised by a journalist.