According to a recent Angus Reid Group and Canadian Corporate News study, 10% of
all Canadians report using the Internet “a great deal” as a news source.
The study, entitled “Canadians And The News Media,” reported that those who
go online for the news are most likely to be looking for information on
international news or world events (30%), or business/financial items
(25%). Others look for sports items (16%), or articles about the arts and
entertainment (13%).
Slightly less frequently sought information is current events (10%),
government/politics (10%), technology (9%), national news (8%), or just
general information/news (8%).
Most likely to follow news stories on the Internet are younger respondents
(31% of those aged 18 to 34), those with a household income of more than
$60K (30%), university graduates (25%), full-time workers (24%), and men
(25%).
Regionally, residents of Ontario (22%) are slightly more likely than others
to use the Internet. Least likely to surf the Net for news items are
part-time workers (11%), residents of Saskatchewan/Manitoba (10%), those
with an incomplete high school education (6%), and respondents aged 55 and
older (4%).
The nationwide poll was conducted by telephone between January 21 and 27,
1998 among a representative cross-section of 1,500 adult Canadians. The
data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample’s age composition
reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 1996
Census data.