Media Watch

Canadians say they won?t pay

A new survey predicts only 4 percent will pay for news
Online news is the only area showing growth

The Globe & Mail , the Canadian equivalent of the New York Times and/or Wall Street Journal, reports that a new survey by the Canadian Media Research Consortium predicts that only 4 percent of our neighbors to the north will pay for online news. The survey also suggests that another 15 per cent of the 1,682 Canadian adults polled for the study said they were unsure if they’d pay for their favorite news site.

Perhaps more importantly, an overwhelming 81 per cent said they definitely wouldn’t.

But only online news showing readership growth

The same newspaper, however, reports in another story that online news consumption only area of industry growth. The Globe & Mail quotes an AP report showing that Local, network and cable television news, newspapers, radio and magazines all lost audience last year, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism, a research organization that evaluates and studies the performance of the press. News consumption online increased 17 per cent last year from the year before, the project said in its eighth annual State of the News Media survey.

Read how to start your own virtual newspaper here.

The survey states;
The internet survey showed that Canadians are overwhelmingly opposed to fees for content. Ninety-two per cent of those who get news online said they would find another free site if their favorite news sites started charging for content.
Somewhat surprisingly, there is little or no difference among age groups, educations levels or urban and rural populations on this question. At present, approximately 85 per cent of internet users in Canada get news online at least once a month.

Read the Globe & Mail survey story here.
Read the Canadian Media Research Consortium here.
Read the Globe & Mail story on online news gains here.