OTTAWA – Fewer Canadians say they follow the news and current affairs every day, and those who do still favour television as their medium of choice, according to new data from Statistics Canada.
From 2003 to 2013, the proportion of Canadians who said they followed the news and current affairs daily fell from 68% to 60%. At the same time, the proportion of Canadians who said they rarely or never followed the news and current affairs almost doubled to 13% in 2013, compared with 7% in 2003.
This trend was more prevalent among young people, with the proportion of Canadians aged 15 – 34 who said they rarely or never followed the news and current affairs nearly doubling from 11% in 2003 to 21% in 2013. By comparison, for Canadians aged 55 and older, this proportion rose from 4% to 6%.
In 2013, as in 2003, television was the most common medium used by individuals who followed the news and current affairs several times a month or more. However, the proportion of those who said they followed the news and current affairs on television declined from 90% in 2003 to 78% in 2013.
The proportion of Canadians who read newspapers was also down. In 2003, 69% of people who followed the news and current affairs at least several times per month did so by reading newspapers. In 2013, this proportion stood at 51%. Conversely, use of the Internet to follow the news and current affairs grew from 30% in 2003 to 59% in 2013.
Young people and people with a high level of education were more likely to use the Internet to follow the news and current affairs, while older people and people with a lower level of education tended to watch television.
Regionally, Quebec (82%) had the highest proportion of people who watched television to follow the news and current affairs. By comparison, the lowest proportions were in Alberta (69%) and British Columbia (70%).
The data is from Spotlight on Canadians: Results from the General Social Survey, released Monday.
