Canadian community newspapers still play an important role in their readerships’ lives, states a recent report by News Media Canada. A representative sample of over 2 400 Canadians was surveyed for the study.

The amount of time Canadians spend by reading community newspapers is not showing signs of decline. Simultaneously, a shift in platforms was observed: 39 per cent of readers reported an increase in the time of online reading. Digital reading is especially common among the “Millenial” demographic, whose favourite platform for reading community newspapers is the mobile phone (88 per cent).

Aside from Millenials, all other demographic groups still prefer the print edition. Yet most (80 per cent) read local news on more than one platform. Furthermore, 44 per cent read community papers on all four platforms: print, mobile, computer, and tablet. This kind of heavy usage was most common among the wealthier demographic.

Unsurprisingly, the most important motivation for reading community papers is local news. Many readers, however, are also especially interested in the flyers and other inserts often delivered with the papers. The results also suggests readers find printed ads more trustworthy than digital ads, and that printed ads are more likely to lead to action, for example visiting stores or purchasing products.

The report “Community Newspapers Drive Results” is freely available online on the News Media Canada website.

Picture: Untitled by Ron Porter, licence CC0 1.0.