Jack Webster Awards 2003: BC's Newsmaker Of The Year
Public Selects Robert Pickton (37%) As BC's Newsmaker Of The Year; Premier Gordon Campbell Is A Close Second (28%)
Public Thinks Media Important To Society (95%) And Themselves Personally (83%)
Ipsos-Reid has once again joined with the Jack Webster Foundation to conduct this public opinion poll in BC on the BC media. The poll is launched in conjunction with the 2003 Jack Webster Awards Dinner taking place on Thursday, October 23rd at the Westin Bayshore Resort and Marina in Vancouver. Additional results of the Ipsos-Reid poll will be released at the dinner, including the public's picks for the year's top BC and Canadian news stories. The Jack Webster Foundation was formed in 1986 to recognize excellence in journalism in British Columbia.
Vancouver, BC - A new Ipsos-Reid public opinion poll, conducted in partnership with the Jack Webster Foundation, reveals that British Columbians consider accused downtown eastside murderer Robert Pickton (37% selected) to be BC's top newsmaker of the year. Premier Gordon Campbell, who began the year in national headlines for all the wrong reasons, finishes a strong second (28%) to Pickton. Poll respondents were presented with a list of 7 prominent BC newsmakers from the past year and asked to select the top newsmaker of the year. The poll results also show that the vast majority of British Columbians acknowledge the importance that media plays in society overall (95%) and to themselves personally (83%).
These are the findings of a BC Ipsos-Reid poll conducted between October 7th and 14th, 2003 among a representative cross-section of 800 British Columbian adults. These data are statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional, age and sex composition reflects that of the actual BC population according to 2001 Census data. With a provincial sample of 800, one can say with 95 percent certaint that the overall results are within 1773.5 percentage points of what they would have been had the entire adult BC population been polled. The margin of error will be larger for population sub-groups.
Public Selects Robert Pickton (37%) As BC's Newsmaker Of The Year; Premier Gordon Campbell Is A Close Second (28%)
Nearly four-in-ten (37%) British Columbians name accused downtown eastside murderer Robert Pickton as BC's top newsmaker of the year. Poll respondents were asked to select the top newsmaker from a list of 7 prominent BC newsmakers from the past year. Premier Gordon Campbell is selected by three-in-ten (28%) British Columbians to easily capture second place. Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell (9%) is a distant third place.
The complete list of BC newsmakers is as follows:
Public Thinks Media Important To Society (95%) And Themselves Personally (83%)
The vast majority of British Columbians see the media as important to society as a whole (95%), and to them personally (83%). And, they share these sentiments with some degree of intensity - fully 67 percent believe the media is "very important" to society overall, and 45 percent say it's "very important" to them personally.
These results are consistent with last year's Ipsos-Reid/Jack Webster Awards survey conducted in October 2002. At that time 96 percent said the media is important to society overall (67% "very") and 88 percent said the media is important to them personally (49% "very").
Kyle Braid
Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid
604.257.3200 Visit The Jack Webster Foundation website for more information about the 17th Annual Jack Webster Awards.
Vancouver, BC - A new Ipsos-Reid public opinion poll, conducted in partnership with the Jack Webster Foundation, reveals that British Columbians consider accused downtown eastside murderer Robert Pickton (37% selected) to be BC's top newsmaker of the year. Premier Gordon Campbell, who began the year in national headlines for all the wrong reasons, finishes a strong second (28%) to Pickton. Poll respondents were presented with a list of 7 prominent BC newsmakers from the past year and asked to select the top newsmaker of the year. The poll results also show that the vast majority of British Columbians acknowledge the importance that media plays in society overall (95%) and to themselves personally (83%).
These are the findings of a BC Ipsos-Reid poll conducted between October 7th and 14th, 2003 among a representative cross-section of 800 British Columbian adults. These data are statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional, age and sex composition reflects that of the actual BC population according to 2001 Census data. With a provincial sample of 800, one can say with 95 percent certaint that the overall results are within 1773.5 percentage points of what they would have been had the entire adult BC population been polled. The margin of error will be larger for population sub-groups.
Public Selects Robert Pickton (37%) As BC's Newsmaker Of The Year; Premier Gordon Campbell Is A Close Second (28%)
Nearly four-in-ten (37%) British Columbians name accused downtown eastside murderer Robert Pickton as BC's top newsmaker of the year. Poll respondents were asked to select the top newsmaker from a list of 7 prominent BC newsmakers from the past year. Premier Gordon Campbell is selected by three-in-ten (28%) British Columbians to easily capture second place. Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell (9%) is a distant third place.
The complete list of BC newsmakers is as follows:
- Accused Vancouver downtown eastside murderer Robert Pickton (37%)
- Premier Gordon Campbell (28%)
- Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell (9%)
- Accused Air India bombers Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri (7%)
- Convicted Vancouver Island child killer Jay Handel (6%)
- Vancouver Canuck Captain Marcus Naslund (4%)
- NDP leader Joy MacPhail (3%)
Public Thinks Media Important To Society (95%) And Themselves Personally (83%)
The vast majority of British Columbians see the media as important to society as a whole (95%), and to them personally (83%). And, they share these sentiments with some degree of intensity - fully 67 percent believe the media is "very important" to society overall, and 45 percent say it's "very important" to them personally.
These results are consistent with last year's Ipsos-Reid/Jack Webster Awards survey conducted in October 2002. At that time 96 percent said the media is important to society overall (67% "very") and 88 percent said the media is important to them personally (49% "very").
- Demographic groups more likely to say the media is "very important" to society overall include those with more than a high school education (72% vs. 58% high school or less) and higher income residents (74% vs. 63% lower/middle).
- Older residents (53%, 55+ years) are more likely than younger and middle aged residents (40%, 18 to 54 years) to say the media is "very important" to themselves personally.
Kyle Braid
Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid
604.257.3200 Visit The Jack Webster Foundation website for more information about the 17th Annual Jack Webster Awards.
