A new study has found that overwhelming majority of Canadians believe in the critical role of journalism to democracy, and support more policies to defend the industry. The poll suggests that 94 per cent of Canadians believe journalism is important to democracy. Of those, about three-quarters of respondents agreed it is critically important, according to the survey by Maru/Matchbox’s Angus Reid Forum. The survey, taken this month, had a sample size of 1,500 respondents and was released Friday by News Media Canada. Financial pressures have strained Canada’s news industry, with layoffs in newsrooms across the country.

Source: thestar February 16, 2018 21:56 UTC