M.Soc. Riikka Venäläinen (age 40) has been appointed as the Editor-in-Chief of Helsingin Sanomat as of 11 April. She succeeds Reetta Meriläinen who will retire in the summer."Helsingin Sanomat is a great newspaper and a dynamic workplace. It is inspiring to start working in the middle of the major media transition. With this team of professionals, we will be able to tackle the challenges of ever-tighter competition and provide readers with increasingly meaningful content through all channels," says Venäläinen.Venäläinen is currently the supervisor of the HS news editors. Her previous posts include being an editor in different sections of HS, the city editorial supervisor of HS, and the managing editor of Me Naiset magazine.Venäläinen has a master's degree in Social Sciences from the University of Tampere, where she studied journalism and mass communication, international relations and economics. She has also completed the financial journalist course of the Sanoma School of Journalism."Riikka is a journalist with diverse experience, and she is an excellent supervisor. She is familiar with Helsingin Sanomat and its editorial staff. She sees the big picture of creating a newspaper. She has a strong development vision concerning Helsingin Sanomat. She is an excellent person to carry on the brilliant work by Reetta Meriläinen," says Publisher and Senior Editor-in-Chief Mikael Pentikäinen.Venäläinen is the deputy to the Senior Editor-in-Chief. She is a member of the Helsingin Sanomat management Group.The job descriptions of the HS managing editors will also be further clarified in conjunction with the appointment on 11 April.Managing editor Antero Mukka (age 43) will be in charge of the new desk editors. The supervisors of the financial editors and the archives will also report to him.Managing editor Reetta Räty (age 37) will be in charge of the newspaper content, and the supervisors of the theme and Sunday editors, supplement and book editors, Nyt supplement and Radio Helsinki will report to her.Venäläinen, Mukka and Räty will take turns at managing the newspaper's news days.Managing editor Kimmo Pietinen (age 53) will be in charge of HR matters and the management of the pending publishing system project. Managing editor Paula Salovaara (age 47) will be in charge of digital development. Managing editor Hannu Pulkkinen (age 59), starting as of August, will be in charge of the newspaper design operations.The supervisors of the picture editing and design staff will report to Pulkkinen as of August, and before that to Mukka.More information:Mikael Pentikäinen, Publisher and Senior Editor-in-Chief, Helsingin Sanomat, tel. +358 9 122 23210Riikka Venäläinen, tel. +358 40 750 6852Helsingin Sanomat belongs to Sanoma Group's Sanoma News Division. 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.