Canadians have less appetite for news and are less inclined to pay for news online, according to the latest findings from the 2023 Digital News Report survey by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford.
The Digital News Report, conducted by an international team of scholars, is one of the most comprehensive surveys about digital news consumption around the world. It’s based on a survey of more than 90,000 online news consumers in 46 countries, including Canada — covering half of the world’s population.
The new data on Canadian news habits shows payment for online news or access to paid services (via a library, for example), which had been growing slowly in recent years, slipped by four percentage points — from 15 per cent in 2022 to 11 per cent in 2023. This is the first decline since 2016, when Canadian data was first collected, and the lowest result since 2019.
There was a drop in the number of Canadians who are paying for news in 2023. Reuters Institute/Oxford University, Centre d’études sur les médias, CC BY
Canadians also seem less and less interested in news: 80 per cent say they’re interested in news in 2023, a drop of six percentage points since 2021. However, fewer say they actively avoid the news (63 per cent) compared to 2022 (71 per cent).
Social media less used for news
In this context of relative disinterest in news, and while Meta is reducing the importance its platforms place on news content, more Canadians say they did not access news via social media in the week preceding the survey. This share rose from 26 per cent to 36 per cent between 2022 and 2023 — the highest result since 2018.
All major social media platforms are down with the exception of Twitter, which remains stable at 11 per cent for this first survey since its acquisition by Tesla founder Elon Musk. Facebook remains the most used social media when interacting with the news, at 29 per cent, but down 11 percentage points from 2022 (40 per cent) and by far its lowest result since 2016.
Facebook remains the most popular social media channel for news among Canadians, although more people say they aren’t using social media for news. Reuters Institute/Oxford University, Centre d’études sur les médias, CC BY
Still, one in four Canadians gets news primarily from social media. Television news shows remain the main source of information for the largest number of respondents (40 per cent), followed by websites and news apps (27 per cent). Those figures are the same as last year.
Mobile phones remain the most popular device for consulting news online, used by one in two people (52 per cent) in the week preceding the survey. But this number is down nine percentage points from 2022. This is the lowest result since 2019, which seems consistent with declining interest in current affairs and less contact with news on social media.
Trust continues to decline
Trust in the news continues its slow descent among the country’s anglophones: 37 per cent say they trust most news, most of the time. For French-speaking Canadians, this confidence is higher (49 per cent) and up slightly from a year ago (47 per cent in 2022).
Trust in news media is continuing to decline, although francophone Canadians trust French-speaking media more than Canadian anglophones. Reuters Institute/Oxford University, Centre d’études sur les médias, CC BY
Francophones more optimistic
As in previous years, Canadian francophones show an overall more positive view of their news ecosystem than anglophones, perhaps due to the language barrier and the francophone market being less oriented towards foreign media.
In addition to a more generalized confidence in the news, one of many examples is the level of concern about the possibility of sorting out the truth from the false online. This concern is much less widespread among francophones (47 per cent) than anglophones (65 per cent). French-speaking Canadians are also more likely to rate both algorithms and news professionals favourably as intermediaries for news access.
The Digital News Report looks extensively into people’s perceptions of having social platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Google push news stories to readers based on their past habits. In Canada, 29 per cent of francophones and 25 per cent of anglophones find algorithms based on past consumption “a good way” to access news.
Canadians were slightly more skeptical about news stories selected by editors and journalists at media outlets — 26 per cent of francophones and 19 per cent of anglophones agree that having stories selected by editors and journalists is a good way to get news. All of these figures are down by around 10 percentage points since 2016.
Almost half of the Canadians surveyed felt publicly funded news services were important to society. Reuters Institute/Oxford University, Centre d’études sur les médias, CC BY
In these challenging times for the country’s news ecosystem, publicly funded news services are not widely seen as part of the problem.
More than half of francophones (54 per cent) and 45 per cent of anglophones believe in the importance to society of publicly funded news outlets, such as CBC and Radio-Canada. Only 13 per cent of francophones and 20 per cent of anglophones feel they are not important, with the remainder either in between or refusing to comment.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
