Three in 10 online Canadians are actively avoiding news content, according to a newly-published report from Media Technology Monitor (MTM).
The report, gauging Canadian perspectives towards news and journalism in general, indicates that news avoidance is more common among younger Canadians, women and English-speakers. Anglophones are more likely to say they avoid news because of its negative impact on their mental health, while Francophones were more likely to cite negativity and a lack of solutions offered to the issues being reported on.
MTM found that Canadians generally feel well-informed with 56% rating their satisfaction with their level of current events knowledge at four out of five, with five being the highest ranking. Older Canadians are more likely to feel well-informed.
When it comes to trust in the news, more than half of online Canadians said they feel Canadian news source are trustworthy. Less than 10% completely disagree.
Despite that confidence in Canadian news outlets, less than half (44%) of Canadians agree news organizations are doing a good job at fending off the spread of fake news and misinformation.
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