In partnership with Kantar, Vividata recently released the “Trust in News Study.” This study delves into how Canadians feel about their news sources in the era of “fake news,” their preferred and trusted sources, and the importance of quality journalism.

The study, unsurprisingly, shows there is a scarcity in trust with the proliferation of fake news online. While fake news is not a new phenomenon, present occurrences spread rapidly via social media platforms. As of late, the worldwide impact such fake news has had on elections and referendums has demonstrated cause for concern. Just last month, Facebook Canada even announced it will launch a third-party, fact-checking programme to root out fake news; how effective this programme will be remains to be seen.

What is fake news?

The Trust in News Study shows nine out of 10 Canadian adults are aware of the term “fake news,” but the term seems to mean several things to Canadians:

• Six out of 10 believe fake news means a mainstream news organisation has deliberately fabricated news. 
• 43% believe it is a story put out by someone pretending to be a news organisation.
• 42% also believe it implies a story is factually incorrect (possibly by mistake).

The Ethical Journalism Network defines fake news best, as disinformation, misinformation, and mal-information. However, looking beyond the proper definition of fake news, one out of four Canadians say they now trust mainstream news organisations less. But all is not lost, as audiences do see the importance of quality news and journalism.

Building on a heritage of trust

Eight out of 10 Canadians believe the health of our democracy depends on journalists reporting the facts accurately. Also, half of the adult population feels people choosing to use more credible news sources is an effective way to tackle fake news. This is where traditional media, such as newspaper brands, begin to matter.

Fake news has had more of a detrimental impact on trust in digital-only news outlets and social media than it has on traditional or mainstream news. This makes sense as traditional news organisations have a greater reputation for producing quality content and have built a history of trust with audiences.

This is a reputation that should continue to be leveraged as audiences filter through what they deem credible or not.

In fact, printed national daily newspapers show 70% of their audience rates them high on trust, versus just 32% who do so for digital-only news outlets and 19% for social media.

While newspaper brands may fall slightly behind radio and TV for overall trust, when it comes to providing audiences with in-depth commentary and analysis, printed national daily newspapers come out on top.

While leveraging a heritage of trust and a reputation for providing in-depth content is crucial for retaining and growing an audience, it’s also crucial for advertisers. It’s well known ad effectiveness increases in trusted environments. Newspaper brands provide such an environment for audiences and advertisers to develop their own relationship.

Newspaper brands are the informed friend providing sound advice. Such a position is important to maintain and develop with the amount of snake oil sales that are now prevalent.

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