Mistrust of the media — and particularly of journalists — continues to grow in the province: one out of two Quebecers fears that information professionals will try to mislead them by deliberately spreading false news. This is revealed by the latest probe from the Edelman firm, which published Monday the Quebec section of its annual barometer of confidence in institutions.
Conducted online between 1er and on November 24, 2021 among 1,500 Canadians, including 1,000 Quebecers, the survey sheds light on the perception of the media within the population.
Decryption in four figures and in interview with Martine St-Victor, general manager of Edelman Montreal.
56%
This is the percentage of Quebec respondents who say they are concerned about the fact that journalists deliberately seek to mislead them by disseminating erroneous or grossly exaggerated information. This is an increase of 9 percentage points compared to 2021. “It breaks my heart to see this distrust of the work of journalists. It’s also amazing how much the phrase “fake news“is now infiltrating everywhere as soon as something displeases us, as soon as we are contradicted”, laments Mme St Victor.
59%
This is the rate of trust in the media in Quebec, down one point compared to the pre-pandemic period. Of the four institutions analyzed, the media are thus at the back of the pack, behind companies (63%), NGOs (61%) and the government (60%). However, this is a better level than for Canada as a whole, where only 52% of the media are trusted, or even Australia (43%), the United States (39%), France (38%) and the United Kingdom (35%), points out the general manager of Edelman Montreal.
41%
This is the percentage of Quebecers surveyed who consider the media to be a polarizing force for society. Conversely, 35% of respondents in the province think the media can be a unifying force. Mme St-Victor would like to put these figures in parallel with the fact that 55% of respondents believe at the same time that their fellow citizens do not know how to lead a constructive and civilized debate in the event of a difference of opinion. “Yes, the polarization comes from the media, according to them, but it also comes from the rest of the population. It is therefore a collective responsibility. Everyone notices it on social networks: the social climate is tense, and nobody likes it. »
62%
This is the level of confidence of Quebecers surveyed in traditional media, more precisely. This is a drop of one point compared to the previous year. However, this type of media remains in the eyes of the participants a better source of information than search engines (58%), branded media (42%) and social media (27%).