QUÉBEC, June 16, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - 38 % of Canadians who have used a source of news in the last week said websites, social media and mobile apps were their main news sources. Digital platforms are dominant among younger users (62 % of respondents under 35), while only half as many older users (28 % of those aged 35+) gave them as their main news source. Social media was the principal news source for 15 % of all Canadians (31 % under 35).
These are a few of the Canadian findings from the Digital News Report, a study of 26 countries conducted by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University. For the fifth edition of the study, a first survey of Canada was made possible through a partnership between the Centre d'études sur les médias and the Reuters Institute. The Digital News Report examines different aspects of digital news consumption and is available online at www.digitalnewsreport.org.
Today, the Centre d'études sur les médias makes public initial findings from the Canadian study (www.cem.ulaval.ca). These include comparisons with selected other countries as well as between Francophone and Anglophone respondents. English-speaking Canadians are more likely than French-speaking Canadians to use a computer (57% vs. 51%) or smartphone to access news online (29% vs. 25%). Francophones are more likely to use a tablet (16% compared to 10% for Anglophones). The use of adblocking software across all Canadians is 22 %. Finally, just over three out of four (76%) Canadians who haven't paid for online news content in the last year said they wouldn't be prepared to do so in the future.
All figures are from YouGov. Total sample size was 2,011 adults. The survey was conducted online between February 2 and March 9, 2016. The figures have been weighted and representative of all Canadian adults (aged 18+).
About the Centre d'études sur les médias
Since 1992, the Centre d'études sur les médias produces analyses to better understand the evolution of media in Quebec and Canada. Our research focuses on public policy, media economics, changing consumption patterns and in journalism practice. The Centre's four academic partners are Université Laval (where the Centre's offices are housed), l'École des médias at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM), HEC Montréal and Université de Montréal.
SOURCE Centre d'études sur le médias (CEM)
Colette Brin, Director, Centre d'études sur les médias, Professor, Département d'information et de communication, Université Laval, [email protected]
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