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Information and Products
Journalists were asked to recall what specific information they were looking for in their interactions with Elections Canada. Not surprisingly, responses varied from very vague topics such as "general background information" to very specific topics such as "how many same day voter registrations there were in Saskatchewan on Election Day."
Participants were then prompted with a list of different information requests. Many journalists reported having contacted Elections Canada about information on candidates and political parties (65%), voter turnout (65%) and rules under the Canada Elections Act (64%). A fair number of journalists claimed to have contacted Elections Canada for information about how and
where electors can register (44%), vote (41%) and the voter identification requirements (41%). Fewer (29%) claimed to have sought information regarding statistics on political/election financing. A strong majority (84%) claimed they used the information from Elections Canada to write their stories.
In terms of the utility of the information, quite a few journalists (59%) proclaimed the information to be very or extremely useful to them. Most attributed that the level of utility can be attributed to the fact that information from Elections Canada is very credible. This is useful to journalists insofar as Elections Canada is a source that provides reliable and accredited information which is very functional for journalists in their story writing preparation and process.
Unprompted, few journalists (16%) reported receiving any products from Elections Canada that assisted them in writing their stories. However, when prompted, journalists claimed to have received or used the following:
- Elections Canada's website (94%)
- Press releases/ media advisories (68%)
- Backgrounders and Information sheets (62%)
- Media section of the website (56%)
The media calendar was used by some journalists (35%).
Very few claimed to have used audio clips from the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, video footage or pre-written stories.
Participants were then asked to attribute a utility score to the products they used. The media calendar was deemed the most useful (64%) to journalists. The online media section (60%) and media advisories (49%) were deemed very useful, as were the backgrounders and information sheets (59%). Press releases were also noted as being useful (49%).
The Elections Canada website was widely used by almost all journalists who participated in this research and was deemed very useful. Journalists proclaimed that the information that is on the website is very valuable and practical for writing stories, it's getting to that information which posed a hurdle for journalists. Many experienced difficulty in the operability and navigational aspects of the website. The journalists noted that one of the most common concerns during an election is that time is of the essence. The Elections Canada website poses grand opportunity for journalists to be able to get information quickly and in a hassle-free manner. However, many felt that the information was not easy to find and that "you have to jump through hoops to find what you want." They also said that during peak times, the website was very slow and seemed to freeze quite a lot.
Approximately one respondent in five (18%) received Elections Canada's "what's new" alerts. And those who did use it, on average said that it was useful. Roughly, two in five (37%) felt that an RSS feed would be something that would be useful to journalists.