With brand safety and brand trust top of mind, a new study indicates that Canadian media companies shouldn’t forget that they, too, are brands, and must work hard to keep readers’ trust.

A new report from the Media Technology Monitor finds that 85% of online Canadians report having some level of concern surrounding the impact of so-called fake news in the world today (Gen Z reports a slightly higher level of concern over the impact of fake news – 89% – than other generations, seniors, the lowest reported group at 82%).

These are some of the results based on the organization’s Fall 2018 survey. The MTM surveyed 8,208 people in a mixed method survey as part of an effort to gain more insights into the news and media consumption of Canadians.

The report also finds that news readers might not be getting the full story – literally. One in eight online news users only read the headlines and 13% of Canadians who read online news admit to not finishing a single article that they begin to read in a typical day.

When it comes to consuming news more traditionally, just over half watch daily local news programming, with that number jumping to 75% for “heavy” users (defined in the survey as those who watch 15 hours or more per week, a group that comprises about one-third of Canadians).

Four in 10 Canadians consume media in a language other than one of the two official ones:  41% of new Canadians, 31% people of colour and nearly 30% of Gen Z-ers watched TV or a movie in another language in the past month.