Categories
Alberta Politics

How Young Voters are accessing information about elections, from the National Youth Voter Survey

Young people don’t vote,” is a common refrain heard in Canadian politics and until recently, low voter turnout by younger voters supported that claim. The recently released National Youth Voter Survey conducted by Elections Canada following the 2015 federal elections suggests that things may have changed.

According to Elections Canada data, turnout among voters aged 18 to 24 in Alberta jumped from 33.7 percent in the 2011 federal election to 59.5 percent in the October 2015 vote. Turnout among voters aged 24 to 34 jumped from 37.8 in 2011 to 58.2 percent in 2015.

The survey also asked young Canadian voters about their main sources of information about the election, which revealed some interesting numbers.

A significant percentage identified social media as their main information source:

  • 18-22 year olds: 22 percent
  • 23-29 year olds: 19 percent
  • 30-34 year olds: 15 percent
  • 35+ years old: 7 percent

Media websites, blogs and other online sources were also a significant source of information:

  • 18-22 year olds: 18 percent
  • 23-29 year olds: 28 percent
  • 30-34 year olds: 22 percent
  • 35+ years old: 19 percent

Television was less of a notable source of information among younger voters:

  • 18-22 year olds: 16 percent
  • 23-29 year olds: 17 percent
  • 30-34 year olds: 26 percent
  • 35+ years old: 37 percent

A much, much lower percentage identified newspapers and magazines as their main source of information:

  • 18-22 year olds: 4 percent
  • 23-29 year olds: 6 percent
  • 30-34 year olds: 7 percent
  • 35+ years old: 16 percent

While there is little doubt that the mainstream media has had a decline in readership over the past decade, I suspect that newspaper websites and links to mainstream media websites would have also been included in the social networking and website categories of this survey.


Voter turnout in Alberta increased in nearly every category in the 2015 election compared to the 2011 election:

  • 18-24 voter turnout rose from 33.7 percent in 2011 to 59.5 percent in 2015.
  • 24-34 voter turnout rose from 37.8 percent in 2011 to 58.2 percent in 2015.
  • 35-44 voter turnout rose from 48.8 percent in 2011 to 61.5 percent in 2015.
  • 45-54 voter turnout rose from 59.8 percent in 2011 to 65.5 percent in 2015.
  • 65-74 voter turnout rose from 72.2 percent in 2011 to 76.5 percent in 2015.
  • 75+ voter turnout was in 66.6 percent in 2011 and 66.6 percent in 2015.

A full description of the methodology used to conduct the National Youth Voter Survey can be found on the Elections Canada website.

Categories
Alberta Politics

Exclusive: Daveberta.ca now available exclusively in print paper editions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 1, 2016

Edmonton – Marking the first complete Blog-to-Paper jump, daveberta.ca is now available exclusively in paper form.

“I am really excited about this new historic initiative,” said daveberta.ca publisher and founder Dave Cournoyer. “I believe there is a real demand for a paper print news publication in Edmonton.”

dave cournoyer daveberta
Daveberta.ca publisher Dave Cournoyer

“I’m thinking about calling it a ‘news-on-paper’ because it will be news printed on paper,” Cournoyer said. “Readers have become accustomed to reading my blog on their computer screens and mobile devices, but I really think the next frontier is paper.”

“From the bottom of my heart I want to thank the thousands of loyal readers who have followed this blog on the internet over the past 11 years,” Cournoyer said. “I know you’re all really going to love the convenience of the new paper format.”

“While blogs like AlbertaPolitics.ca have foolishly chained themselves to the limitations of the internet, I’m not afraid to make the leap into the next frontier,” Cournoyer said. “And that frontier is paper.”

He likened the blog-to-paper transformation to the resurgence in vinyl record sales and barber shops.

“Like classic LPs and old timey barber shops, news-on-paper is very retro,” Cournoyer said. “I really think 2016 is the year news-on-paper will take off and I will be at the forefront of it.”

The news-on-paper will include a regular feature called “Paper Twitter” in which messages from readers will be printed in each edition. “The beauty of Paper Twitter is that your opinions won’t be limited to 140 characters,” Cournoyer said. “It’s genius!”

Cournoyer also thinks there is an excellent opportunity to generate revenue because news-on-paper will only be available to those who pay for it.

News-on-paper editions of daveberta.ca will be available in street corner boxes across the city starting on April 1, 2016.

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For more information contact:
Dave Cournoyer
Publisher, Daveberta.ca
david.cournoyer@gmail.com