Over half of Canadians felt negative about the news in 2024, according to a recent survey.
Pollara, a Toronto based research firm, released its annual year-end poll analyzing news consumption trends to discover what news stories get Canadians’ blood pumping.
Its 2024 “Rage Index” found that 63 per cent of Canadians felt negative emotions about the stories they’re seeing in the news.
Pollara measured recall from 21 different stories covering topics from global affairs to pop culture and found that Donald Trump was the most dominant figure in the Canadian news cycle in 2024, with three of the five most recalled stories involving him.
“Our polling has consistently found high levels of anger towards Trump in Canada, it is no wonder Canadians were feeling gloomy about the news in 2024,” the report says.
According to the survey, 86 per cent of Canadians paid attention to news about Donald Trump winning the U.S. election, making it the year’s most followed story in Canada, while his tariff threat, assassination attempt, and felony convictions were also followed closely.
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Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas conflict continued as closely followed news stories, though not as much as last year.
Other news stories heavily followed by Canadians were the solar eclipse, the Bank of Canada’s rate cuts, and the Jasper forest fires, which were the most closely followed story in Alberta this year, the report says.
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The study also noted the significance of generational divides in news searches.
Younger Canadians, between the ages of 18-to-34, were four times more likely than seniors to search for news about Australian breakdancer Raygun who competed in this year’s Paris Olympics, (12 per cent vs. 4 per cent), and over 20 times more likely to search the Drake and Kendrick Lamar feud (11 per cent vs. 0.4 per cent).
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“What Canadians are interested in varies by age and the way they absorb the news. Seniors still largely rely on traditional media, so they paid a lot more attention to ‘hard news’ – things like US politics and wars overseas,” Dan Arnold, chief strategy officer for Pollara, told Now Toronto.
“Gen Z are getting their news via Tik Tok memes, so they were more focused on things like the Drake-Kendrick Lamar feud or Raygun’s breakdance routine at the Olympics,” he continued.
Other news stories that captured Canadians’ attention were Princess of Wales Kate Middleton battling cancer, the Justin Trudeau government changing capital gains tax regulations, Taylor Swift’s live shows in Toronto and Vancouver, and the Kansas City Chiefs winning the Superbowl.
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In Ontario specifically, the most searched news stories were Trump winning the U.S. election, (34 per cent), total solar eclipse, (26 per cent), tariff threats, (25 per cent), Israel-Hamas war, (26 per cent), Bank of Canada’s rate cut, (21 per cent).
When it came to sports, men were more likely to search for these types of stories than women. For example, 12 per cent of men searched about the Edmonton Oilers cup run, compared to six per cent of women.
In addition, some stories elicited stronger emotions than others.
Canadians were happiest about the Bank of Canada’s rate cut and the solar eclipse. On the other hand, Trump’s election win made Canadians the most angry, followed by his tariff threat and the Israel-Hamas war.
Pollara surveyed 1,506 Canadians aged 18 and over between Dec. 4 and 13. Data has been weighted using the most current gender, age, and region census data, to ensure the sample reflects the actual population of adult Canadians. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
