Canadian data from 2018 Digital News Report released

The Canadian results from theĀ 2018 Digital News ReportĀ confirm that Canadians have a positive opinion of the work by news media in Canada, particularly for breaking news and depth of coverage.

Trust is a key issue and more than half of Canadians reported that they trust ā€œmost news, most of the timeā€ which compares favourably to other countries in the report.Ā  Trust in news found through social media site and search engines is considerably lower with more than six in ten reporting that they ā€œwere concerned about what is real and what is fake on the Internet.ā€

The majority of Canadians exercise caution when accessing news and take precautions to ensure the truthfulness of the information they consult or share on a daily basis. Seven out of ten say they take at least one of following precautions:

  • Refrain from sharing a news story because unsure of accuracy (24%)
  • Checked a number of different sources to see if the news story was reported the same way (39%)
  • Started relying more on sources of news that are considered more reputable (30%)
  • Stopped using certain news sources because unsure of accuracy (20%)
  • Discussed a news story with a trusted person (23%)
  • Stopped paying attention to news shared by an untrusted person (21%)

The Digital News Report (DNR) is an international survey led by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University. It was conducted in 38 countries in 2019 and focuses on practices and perceptions of news by consumers, with a special interest in digital issues. The Canadian component of the survey is supervised by the Centre dā€™Ć©tudes sur les mĆ©dias (CEM). www.digitalnewsreport.org.Ā  The Canadian report can be accessed online byĀ clicking here.