Canadians Spotting Bias in ‘Mainstream’ News Coverage, Seeking Alternative Sources: CRTC

Newspapers sit near a laptop computer in this file photo. More Canadians are exploring alternative news outlets or reducing their overall news consumption in response to an increased perception of bias in coverage from "mainstream" news outlets, according to the CRTC. Kozyr/Shutterstock

Canadians are becoming “more attentive” to potential biases in news coverage from “mainstream” media outlets, leading them to either explore alternative news outlets or reduce their overall news consumption, Canada’s telecommunications watchdog says.

The public has developed a “more critical attitude towards traditional news sources” over the past few years by applying more scrutiny to media outlets’ potential biases, a Feb. 17 report from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) says. The report is based on the results of an online survey of 1,226 Canadians.

In response, Canadians are also becoming more likely to seek out alternative sources of news, become more “selective” about the news they watch, or watching more political commentary, according to the study, which was first covered by Blacklock’s Reporter.

More than eight in ten Canadians surveyed (86 percent) said they are at least somewhat confident that they can identify misinformation or “fake news,” including 36 percent who said they are “very confident.” Eleven percent said they are “not very confident” in their ability to spot fake news, while 2 percent were “not at all” confident.

Media Habits

Fifty-nine percent of Canadians surveyed consumed Canadian news daily, while 25 percent did a few times a week, 10 percent did once a week, and 7 percent rarely did so, the report found. Respondents under 35 years of age were the least likely to consume news on a regular basis.

When participants were asked how well Canadian news sources covered a variety of political viewpoints, 14 percent said the media did it “very well,” while 43 percent said “somewhat well.” Twenty-one percent said “not very well” and 18 percent said “not well at all.”

When asked which specific news sources they trusted the most, “relatively few” participants gave answers. Some of the news sources given included CBC and Radio Canada, CTV, TVA, Reuters, La Presse, and Le Devoir. Some participants said they mostly trust independent news sources, as opposed to outlets that receive funding from government subsidies, and a few specified that they most trust local sources. Others said there was no single source they trusted the most and that they “tend to consult a variety of news sources to see how perspectives differ or to validate the consistency of what is reported.”

Ninety percent of respondents cited “trustworthiness,” as the top priority when choosing news sources followed by “local or regional focus,” at 56 percent. Forty-six percent identified “ease of access,” as key while 31 percent described “timeliness,” and 17 percent “user-friendliness” as important.

Six main sources were cited as the most popular ways to consume news. Sixty-six percent identified online news as their primary source, followed by cable or satellite TV at 49 percent, social media at 46 percent, radio at 43 percent, and print newspapers and podcasts at 15 percent each.