by Rex Wockner
International News
The incoming editor of the Finnish provincial newspaper Lapin Kansa says she was fired before starting work because management found out she is in a registered same-sex partnership.
Johanna Korhonen also says she was offered 100,000 euros (US$133,000) to keep quiet about the situation.
However, Alma Media CEO Kai Telanne said the company terminated Korhonen because she failed to reveal that her partner is involved in politics.
Reports said Korhonen's spouse was running for a seat on the City Council in Vantaa, a city of 190,000 people near Helsinki.
Korhonen countered that the political issue was irrelevant if the couple was moving hundreds of miles to the Lapland capital of Rovaniemi for Korhonen's new job.
Finnish President Tarja Halonen said she was shocked by Korhonen's firing.
