A Global Journalism Study: How Canadians Compare

The academic project Worlds of Journalism Study has released their 2025 global survey. There were 75 countries participating including Canada. The survey covered fieldwork done between 2021-2024 and there were 32,354 journalists who responded globally, 383 from Canada (which included 29% French-speakers). Let’s dive into the data.

The average age of a Canadian journalist was exactly in line with the global average of 41 years old.  In Canada, 57% of journalists have at least a college or bachelor’s degree, while the global average was only 49%.

Of the Canadian journalists surveyed, 85% were full-time, compared with 72% of journalists worldwide. The average number of years in the industry was similar, with Canadian journalists having only one more year of experience than the world average of 16 years.

According to a survey question on the role of journalists in society, international journos are more inclined to inject their opinion into stories than Canadian reporters.  In Canada, there is a consensus that journalists should refrain from advocating or influencing within their work. Canadian journalists described their role as providing information, monitoring/scrutinizing politicians and businesses, all while abiding by journalism standards and ethics.

In Canada, 93% of journalists agreed that audiences should be alerted when a source's claim is untruthful, 74% said that the facts should speak for themselves and 61% of Canadian respondents concurred that it is possible to represent objective reality in reporting.

In some notes of concern, 37% of Canadian respondents said they are worried about losing their job in the next 6 months. 18% said they’re often on the end of demeaning or hateful speech. A very distressing number came in that 61% said they are concerned with their own mental and emotional well-being.

These results show the substance of Canadian journalism is professional and ethical and the biggest issues our journalists are facing come from a lack of support systems.

MAP and Unifor Media work tirelessly to bridge these gaps. For journalists facing online harassment or abuse, we developed a website to consolidate digital support resources at www.uniformedia.ca/helpishere. We also support the CAJ’s peer-to-peer program, CNIPS, which provides assistance to journalists and media workers in need.