The Campbell River Mirror is the preferred source of information about issues facing the City of Campbell River, according to a citizens survey conducted this spring.
Along with questions about satisfaction with services and which services are most important, the survey conducted by the city asked for feedback on the city’s COVID-19 response, including opinions about pandemic-related service cuts.
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The survey also asked questions about how community members prefer to receive information.
“The survey results reinforce the challenges and value of connecting with citizens during the pandemic,” says city manager Deborah Sargent. “In particular, the results indicate that local news outlets play a key role in sharing updates with community members – and we are grateful for the continued commitment of our local newspaper and the radio and TV stations to help us all stay in touch and informed.”
In fact, the survey indicated that 75 per cent of respondents prefer to learn about city issues from “news articles in the local newspapers (sic)” and 78 per cent of respondents receive information that way. This is similar to the last time a survey was conducted, in 2019, when 78 per cent of respondents preferred to learn their information from news articles in the local newspapers. The city’s press release refers to newspapers but there has only been one newspaper operating in town since 2015, the Campbell River Mirror.
The Mirror reports extensively on city council deliberations and other city issues as well as activities from recreation to infrastructure. The Mirror also carries City Currents a paid advertisement publicizing city information.
“Our prominence as a trusted source of city coverage is in no small part due to the diligence of our now-former city hall reporter, Mike Davies, who has only recently moved on from his journalism career to other opportunities,” Mirror Editor Alistair Taylor said. “We will continue to maintain Davies’ standard of excellence.”
“We would like to thank the community for utilizing the Mirror as its prime source of information as well as the trust it places in us,” Taylor added.
Research was conducted by a professional firm that specializes in community surveys. Responses were generated by mailing 1,300 surveys to randomly-selected households, with an online survey available for people who did not receive a survey in the mail.
All responses are anonymous, and the report is statistically-valid and representative of Campbell River’s population based on Statistics Canada’s most recent census information.
See the complete survey results, including satisfaction levels for departmental services at https://bit.ly/2S1vNpp
SURVEY RESULTS ON INFORMATION:
Preferred source of information about City issues – Local newspaper
75% prefer to learn about City issues from news articles in the local newspapers. This source was the most popular across all age groups, and 78% of respondents receive information that way
– 32% prefer learning through the City website
– 31% prefer social media, radio and newspaper advertisements
– 42% indicated they would participate in online community consultation
In 2019:
– 78% preferred to learn about city issues from news articles in the local newspapers
– 47% radio
– 42% newspaper advertisements
– 41% online sources.
In 2016:
– 57% felt the best source of information about city issues was articles in the local newspapers, and 76% of respondents received news that way
– 29% preferred to learn about issues through online sources, including social media.
In 2013, preferred methods for city to communicate information to citizens were:
– Newspaper: 45%
– Mail: 11%
– Internet (unspecified): 8%
– Email: 8%
– City website: 6%
– Newsletter/pamphlet/brochure: 5%
– Social media: 4%
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