Canadian news story of the year: Federal elections

Montreal, December 13, 2011 - For a fifth consecutive year, Influence Communication has published its annual summary of the most widely reported news in Canada over the past 12 months. Canadian News Review: 2011 Report© analyzes the trends in the media as well as all  news items published or broadcast in Canada between January 1 and December 9, 2011. The study also reveals the results of similar analyses of media in 160 countries around the world.

The federal election, which saw the Conservatives win a majority and the NDP become the official opposition, was the number one story in Canadian media in 2011. Over a seven-day period, it attracted 14.79% of the total coverage in print and broadcast media across Canada.

The electoral campaign, the NDPs new deputies, the death of Jack Layton, and the first days in office of a Conservative majority government: these and other events accorded federal politics a significant portion of media space. Sports commanded a large media presence as well; together, these two themes represented 23% of the news in Canada this year.

Sports are always a major theme in this country's news, and this year was no exception. 2011 saw  NHL hockey  return to Winnipeg, as well as an exciting Stanley Cup final between the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins. In 2010, sports were among the most widely covered topics, thanks to the Vancouver Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup.

The Vancouver Stanley Cup riots (June 12.12%), the death of Jack Layton (August 9.22%), Remembrance Day commemoration (November 9.02%) and the 9/11 commemoration (September 8.48%) also topped the list of the most dominant Canadian news stories of 2011.

The Canadian story most covered in world media in 2011 was Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to Canada.

The most widely reported stories and events in international media were climate change, the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the Greek debt crisis, the American debt crisis, and the Republican leadership race in United States.

News Review: 2011 Report is also available in 2 versions:

Canadian News Review
International News Review

About Influence Communication

Established in 2001, Influence is Canada's premier news information broker. From its head office in Montreal, Influence conducts media monitoring for the majority of Canada's largest corporations. With its Interactive Communication Environment (ICE) system and network of partners across Canada and in 160 countries, Influence offers comprehensive monitoring, aggregation and analysis of print and broadcast media and more than 7,000 Internet news sites. Each day, Influence collects over 700,000 news items from around the world.

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Caroline Gravel
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