By Connie Thiessen, Broadcast Dialogue October 5, 2018
Canada’s first-ever Trust in News survey finds that online news is the leading go-to medium for news audiences, while radio scored top points for credibility.
Conducted by Vividata and Kantar in April, the survey of 2,000 adults examined how Canadians feel about news sources in the era of ‘fake news’, which sources they prefer and trust, and their feelings on the importance of quality journalism. The study also attempted to uncover areas of strength and opportunity for news organizations in Canada.
The findings suggest 70 per cent of Canadians access news from an online platform weekly, including digital-only news outlets, social media, or the websites or apps of newspaper, magazine, radio or TV outlets. The rise of digital platforms continues to be driven by those age 18-34, with three quarters of that demographic accessing news online.
Television was the secondary dominant source, either news programs or 24 hour news channels, with total reach of 70 per cent across all audiences, but slightly smaller audiences than online in the 18-34 and 35-54 demos. Social media followed television with 40 per cent reach, while newspaper brands came in at 36 per cent.
READ MORE HERE AT THE BROADCAST DIALOGUE WEBSITE
This must come as a surprise to the suits at the Globe and Mail and National Post who are still under the impression that people will read their “paper”.
Even with a pay wall, I will give these publications 5 years under their current format before they disappear forever.
When I go to the G&M website, I browse the headlines and maybe – MAYBE- once a week I will select a story that I care to read. It, of course, is unavailable unless I pay. So I enter the subject in a search engine and come up with two or three other sources for this story – these sources are rarely behind a pay wall.
And as for the “free” sites that require you to register to read beyond the 5 or so articles that they allow in a month – well, just reset your cookies to zero!
This newfangled Internet is really something!
Has anyone bought a copy of the Sunday Province lately? Once upon a time that was my favorite way to spend a rainy miserable Sunday. I bought one recently $3.50. That wont happen again.
BCTV news at 6pm . For years the go to for TV news. Now if you turn that show on someone always comments “fake news time” or ” great we get to see todays story on cat up a tree”.
The problem with the online news sites is all the embedded video ad’s. I stopped using Global’s site because it is so media rich with advertising it takes two minutes to open a page. Pop up video’s make it impossible to use in an office setting without blasting ads suddenly appearing when one scrolls down reading an article. They are all doing it. Worse than radio or TV.