Canadians believe journalism is important to democracy: study

Majority of respondents support government moves to help news organizations

A new study has found that overwhelming majority of Canadians believe in the critical role of journalism to democracy, and support more policies to defend the industry.

The poll suggests that 94 per cent of Canadians believe journalism is important to democracy. Of those, about three-quarters of respondents agreed it is critically important, according to the survey by Maru/ Matchbox’s Angus Reid Forum.

The survey, taken this month, had a sample size of1,500 respondents and was released Friday by News Media Canada.

Eight out of 10 respondents said they would support moves by the federal government to level the playing field for digital advertising by amending tax laws, which presently award companies such as Facebook and Google 85 cents on each advertising dollar for sharing content produced by news organizations.

Financial pressures have strained Canada’s news industry, with layoffs in newsrooms across the country.

News Media Canada has proposed overhauling the Canadian Periodical Fund, which currently provides funding only to print magazines and non-daily newspapers to offset their mailing costs.

That policy measure was supported by survey respondents, with 79 per cent in favour of amending the fund to include daily newspapers.

Increasing copyright protections for content from news aggregators, and removing obstacles to philan- thropic financing of news organizations was also popular among respondents.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau touted the federal government’s $675-million investment in CBC and its French language network, Radio-Canada, as evidence of Ottawa’s action.

“Reliable local and community news is essential for the functioning of our democracy,” he said during question period, which has meant journalists now cover “areas where they had never served before.”

However, John Hinds, president and CEO of News Media Canada, said Canada’s national broadcaster doesn’t have the same reach as local newspapers.

“Newspapers in this country from coast to coast do a fantastic job of covering local news . . . I don’t think the solution is to go and put public money to compete against private newspapers,” he said.

Questions that Canadian responded to in the Angus Reid Forum survey were based on recommendations from consultations facilitated by Ottawa. With files from Bruce Campion-Smith