A new poll has found that the majority of conservatives in Canada feel that the legacy media covers their political views unfairly, while Canadians who identify themselves as on the political left are comfortable with how the legacy media cover their beliefs.
According to the latest Angus Reid poll, of the participants who identified themselves as on the political right, 67% said that media coverage of their political views was ‘unfair,’ while 22% found the coverage fair.
On the flip side, 61% of respondents who identified themselves as being on the political left said the media coverage of their political views was fair. In comparison, only 23% found the media to be unfair.
The poll surveyed 4,000 people. A probability sample this size carries a margin of error of +/- 2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Most respondents generally agree that media coverage should present the facts to viewers and allow them to come to their own conclusions instead of the media presenting views that they believe will benefit viewers.
The poll found that 88% of conservatives and 82% of leftists agree that “(n)ews outlets should reflect a range of different views and leave it up to viewers to decide,” instead of networks presenting what they think will be beneficial for viewers.
The poll also surveyed Canadians who identified as moderate. Of the respondents who view themselves as being centre-right, those who believe the media is unfair are about the same as those who find media fair.
Further, centre-left voters were more satisfied than their centre-right counterparts as 48% said media coverage is fair as opposed to 29% who believe the media is unfair to their beliefs.
There is also an overall lack of institutional trust, and this distrust in societal elites continues to grow.
The same Angus Reid poll found that only 19% of Canadians have confidence in their political leaders. At the same time, conservatives distrust the federal government, teachers, and labour leaders more than left-wingers.
Similar findings were echoed by another Edelman’s 2022 Trust Barometer, finding that 61% of people felt that the legacy media was purposely misleading them.
