Canadians value ‘Canadian perspective’ on news, Decima survey reveals

Canadians value a "Canadian perspective" on news and current events and believe that the volume of foreign media is threatening to overwhelm Canadian voices in Canadian media, according to a survey conducted for the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) and the Canadian Newspaper Association. Attitudes Towards Canadian Media, a report summarizing the custom survey conducted by Decima Research Inc. that was released at the CAB convention this week, reveals that about 84% of Canadians report a need for a "Canadian perspective" in news coverage. Similarly, if given the choice, 69% of Canadians would prefer to watch a sports event that features Canadian athletes or teams rather than a sports event that does not. Yet, 61% of Canadians agree that the volume of U.S. or international media from such sources as the Internet and satellite services threaten to overwhelm Canadian voices in the country’s media. The report also notes that Canadian content is so important that seven in 10 would accept that a greater proportion of tax dollars be used to ensure that Canadian content is available to Canadians for many years to come. "As for maintaining or improving the quality and accessibility of the programming Canadians have come to expect from Canadian radio and television broadcasters, fully 82% of Canadians believe the government should dedicate the same or more funds and resources to broadcasting in Canada," the report states. "What the poll doesn’t do is that it doesn’t ever ask with regard to spending money, how you prioritize," CRTC vice-chair of broadcasting Andrée Wylie noted during a panel discussion on the research at the CAB convention. "…There is only one question asked on how much money are you prepared to spend on Canadian content but what if it were balanced against other issues (i.e. health care) to see how Canadians would react." While Canadians indicate a desire for a "Canadian perspective" on news, that genre of Canadian content is not currently supported on the private networks by taxpayers’ dollars. CAB president and CEO Glenn O’Farrell confirmed that the CAB is soliciting more public funding for what he terms "non-sustainable Canadian content," such as drama, rather than news. Michel Lucas, a partner at Decima Research, indicated that one of the most important findings of the research is that Canadians are more interested in a "Canadian perspective" on news rather than entertainment. "When we asked our respondents to focus on the media and how they value media I don’t think it came as a surprise to anyone that nine out of 10 Canadians agreed that they want to be informed by the media. What surprised me was how few people see the media as a source of entertainment," he noted. "And I see that as something of a shift in public opinion." The research is based on a 15-minute survey that was conducted between October 22 and 29, 2003, and was collected from a final sample of 1,014 adult Canadians. The survey results are considered accurate to within +/-3.1%, 19 times out of 20.

Canadians value ‘Canadian perspective’ on news, Decima survey reveals

News | 11/14/2003 5:00 am EST

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Reuse & Permissions

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us