Almost one in two respondents believe that journalists sometimes contribute to the creation of fake news (archives).
In a post-pandemic context, where news consumption habits are changing, Quebecers' trust in the media is eroding, according to a research report conducted in collaboration with the University of Sherbrooke (UdeS) and the University of Ottawa. According to the results of this survey, the credibility of all media is on the decline.
45% of respondents believe that journalists sometimes contribute to the creation of fake news. However, 54% of people who participated in the research and who are familiar with a subject believe that journalists are accurate in the facts they report.
While on the show Vivement le retour, professor in the communication department of the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences at UdeS, Marie-Eve Carignan, who participated in the carrying out this survey, argues that the purpose of his work was to understand the factors that explain the decline in trust in the media.
The bilingual survey was conducted among just over 1,500 people residing in Quebec, in April 2023. This opinion survey with a non-probability sample does not allow us to establish a margin of ;error.
We wanted to dig deeper with elements on the perception of accuracy, journalistic independence, accountability of the press, to understand what makes so that we are suspicious or not, she explains.
Investigation on the Quebec media, with Marie-Ève Carignan
ISSUE ICI PREMIÈRE • Vivement le retour
Among respondents, there is a perception of a lack of independence on the part of journalists, says Marie-Eve Carignan. So that creates a lot of mistrust.
Opinion journalism also contributes to undermining trust in the media. You can see that it feels like opinion journalism is not always based on facts and sometimes turns corners, she explains.
“We see that there is a misunderstanding of certain journalistic processes. We see that people are challenged on anonymous sources. It feels like the information is not necessarily accurate. And maybe that's because it's not explained enough what it is, an anonymous source. »
— Marie-Eve Carignan, professor in the communication department of the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences at UdeS
There is a duty to media education that emerges from this study as well, she puts forward. According to the professor, journalists could explain their work more, but this can also be done through conferences in schools as well as in the workplace.
Television is the media which remains the most credible, according to the results of the survey, since viewers can see images related to the news.
In Quebec, this decrease However, trust is less important and slower than in other Western countries, puts Marie-Eve Carignan into perspective.
