Majority of Canadians oppose government funding of newsrooms, media outlets: Poll
The majority of Canadians oppose government funding of media organizations and newsrooms, and most want the consolidation of news outlets discouraged to maintain healthy competition in the industry, according to a new survey by Angus Reid.
A July 13 press release of the polling firm says two possible solutions to declining newsroom revenues, a smaller journalist workforce and fewer readers have been rejected by Canadian pollsters.
“A majority (59 percent) oppose government funding of private editors, believing it ‘endangers journalistic independence,'” said Angus Reid.
A similar proportion of those surveyed (57 percent) say that the consolidation of media such as the recently considered merger between Torstar and Postmedia which has since collapsed should be discouraged “so that there is more competition in Canada’s news coverage.”
A number of questions were asked in the survey. While government funding of private newsrooms is an unpopular concept among Canadians, half (47 percent) of those surveyed disagreed with the federal government cutting off funding for CBC entirely.
Only a third (36 percent) of respondents said they wanted to cut off funding from CBC entirely. That number is much higher (72 percent) among former Conservative Party voters.
Very few Canadians supported the now-failed merger between the two media giants, Torstar, which operates the Toronto Star, and Postmedia, which runs the National Post and newspapers across the country. Less than one in five, or 17 percent, said they were in favor of the merger, while 43 percent were against and 40 percent were unsure.
The majority of older Canadians surveyed still rely on television for their news. Three-quarters, or 74 percent, of those over the age of 54 said they turn on the TV every day to watch the news. Only 26 percent of 18 to 34 year olds said the same. The 18 to 34 age group is the most likely (93 percent) to rely on the Internet for their news.
The majority of Canadians want media outlets to remain competitive by avoiding consolidation.
“Large organizations, including Rogers, Bell, Corus and Quebecor Inc., own a vast network of websites, radio stations and newspapers in Canada that tends to improve prospects for advertisers, but increases the challenge for quality local journalism,” suggested Angus Reid.
57 percent of Canadians surveyed want consolidation discouraged. Only 20 percent say mergers are necessary to keep newspapers going. The survey found that fewer than one in six (15 percent) Canadians reported currently paying for an online news subscription, Angus Reid said.
The federal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a nearly $600 million support package for media outlets in 2018, including financial support for print magazines, non-daily newspapers, digital magazines and tax credits on wages paid to editorial staff and for Canadians who are subscribe to digital news.
“The government has also succeeded Bill C-18 in an attempt to pressure the ‘Big Tech’ companies to compensate Canadian news companies for their content linked on sites such as Google News and Facebook,” said Angus Reid.
The platforms responded by announcing that they will block Canadian news content when the law officially takes effect.
The Angus Reid Institute conducted the online survey July 4-6 of a representative randomized sample of 1,610 Canadian adults who are members of the Angus Reid Forum.
