Over half have high level of trust in Canadian news outlets
OTTAWA – Media Technology Monitor (MTM), released today its report MTM Newcomers 2021, which looks at the news habits of those who arrived in Canada in the last five years and what they think about Canadian news.
Of those surveyed, two in three indicated they consumed news in the previous month through TV, online, radio or newspapers, the report says. This means they are nearly 25% less likely than those who are born in Canada to consume news.
Newcomers are more likely to get their news from social media than those who are Canadian-born, and less likely to get their news from television (see chart above), according to the report.
“As a younger group on average, Newcomers may be using social media as a launch point for news content from various parts of the world. Social media gives them an opportunity to follow a number of news sources from different places, all in one place,” the report says.
“We have seen that Newcomers are less likely to subscribe to a linear TV service or use an antenna than those who are Canadian-born. As a result, it isn’t surprising to see that they are less likely to use the TV as their main source of news content.”
Newcomers are almost as likely to watch news clips or news programs online as Canadian-born.
The report says that three-fifths of newcomers rated Canadian news outlets highly (in the top two points on a five-point trust scale) and that newcomers have generally rated their trust in Canadian news sources higher than news sources in their home countries.
“Newcomers put similar trust in Canadian news sources as they do International news sources, like CNN and the BBC,” the report says.
More than half of newcomers feel Canadian news outlets reflect a diversity of opinions. “They are more likely to see this diversity in Canadian media than do those who were born in Canada,” says the report.
The report relied on in-person surveys, conducted in major Canadian cities, an online panel of newcomers, and a targeted online survey. There were eight languages the survey could be answered in including English, French, Tagalog, Mandarin, Spanish, Arabic, Cantonese and Punjabi.
The research for this report was conducted from Jan. 15 to Mar. 29, 2021.
Chart borrowed from MTM report.
