Canada's leading pollster asks Canadians what they think about Rebel News — and the answers are very encouraging!

See the poll results:


Analysis

I’m very excited. I want to show you a new poll. It was conducted by Leger, which is Canada’s largest pollster. It’s a special poll that we asked them to do — we asked them to measure Rebel News’ reputation in Canada. We told them what we were interested in learning, and they wrote the questions to make sure the poll was neutral, and scientifically accurate, not a fake “push poll” that gets a predetermined result. I want to read to you Leger’s terms for doing polls like this, and then I’m going to dive into it:

QUALITY CONTROL
Stringent quality assurance measures allow Leger to achieve the high-quality standards set by the company. As a result, its methods of data collection and storage outperform the norms set by WAPOR (The World Association for Public Opinion Research). These measures are applied at every stage of the project: from data collection to processing, through to analysis. We aim to answer our clients’ needs with honesty, total confidentiality, and integrity.

Thanks for letting me read that to you — I want you to know that we had no control over the process or even the exact wording of the questions — we left that to the pros. And I’m so excited and proud of the results, and I want to tell you about them because it’s proof of our concept of citizen journalism, and it’s proof of our strategy of never taking government money or from a big corporation, never taking money from anyone who could control what we say.

“Have you heard of Rebel News?”

Because of our total independence, we have won the trust of millions of Canadians. Let me show you the incredible results. The first question was pretty basic: “Have you heard of Rebel News?”

Now, remember, only about half of Canadians consume any news at all. A recent Maru poll showed that only 16% of Canadians check the news all the time; another 35% check it frequently. That’s 51%. The rest follow the news only rarely — or never.

So the Leger poll found that 25% of Canadians have heard of Rebel News. We’re eight years old; we have a marketing budget of pretty much zero. It’s all word of mouth and friends sharing with friends. And yet 25% of Canadians have heard of us — which is about half the news-watching population. I think that’s amazing.

But that’s just the average. It’s higher and lower in different parts of the country. We only hired our Quebec team a couple of years ago — lead by the amazing Alexa Lavoie. And yet already, 13% of Quebecers have heard of us. That’s the lowest — and it’s amazing, given how new we are there, and that we don’t do a lot of French content. I think it was our pandemic and lockdown coverage that helped us break through.

So that’s the lowest. But it goes up from there! 15% in the Atlantic — I wish we could cover it more; 25% in B.C.; 27% in Ontario — very strong; 29% in the Prairies and an unbelievable 49% in Alberta. We are bigger than the so-called mainstream media in Alberta. And it shows — we had a major role in demonstrating the problems with Jason Kenney’s lockdown, which led to his ouster; and championing the liberty agenda of Danielle Smith, the new premier. We’re big in Alberta.

We skew male — 32% of men in Canada have heard of us. And would you look at that — our viewers are young. Often conservative organizations have older members or viewers. Look at us — we’re stronger with younger people. I love people of all ages; but we’re really connecting with young people, which is amazing, because it’s hard to get young people engaged with the news.

By the way, I’ve uploaded the entire poll on the website, RebelPoll.com — so check it out for yourself.

But look: just because someone has heard of Rebel News doesn’t mean they like us. I like to say, the other guys are bland. They’re vanilla. We’re Tabasco sauce. We’re not for everyone, but those who like us, like us a lot. And the opposite is true. If you’re a lockdown extremist, a mask wearing scold, if you have pronouns in your bio, if you love the carbon tax and think Trudeau is dreamy, you’re going to hate us. Which is appropriate. So whereas some media try to appeal to everyone by standing for nothing, we do the opposite: we take a clear point of view. But it works — because we really are one of the few contrarian voices in the country, especially during the past three years.

Love/hate relationship

So look at the results:

The question was: “Do you have a favourable or unfavourable impression of Rebel News?” Very neutral wording, right? “Canadians who have heard of Rebel News are split as to their opinion of the organization: 42% express a favourable impression and the same number believe the opposite.”

Fair deal. I’ll take 42% support. I’d be surprised if 42% of people support the CBC or the Globe and Mail, I’ll tell you that.

And again, it varies by demographic. Men support us more than women; young people support us more than older people. The absolute strongest support is in the Prairies — 52%. So, if you’re a young man in Saskatchewan, I haven’t seen the cross-tabs, but you’re probably at 65% support for Rebel News. You’re in Rebel country!

Hey, just a quick note on who really, really hates us. Can you see the pink bar near the bottom right? That’s the people who say “very unfavourable”. White people are 33% likely to say they hate us. That number falls to just 21% for visible minorities. Isn’t that interesting? I know that’s true, instinctively — everywhere I go, new immigrants, visible minorities come up to me very supportive, especially Sikh Canadians and people from the Caribbean.

That’s always been anecdotal, now I have statistical proof. Why is that? I think it’s because woke leftists in Canada are often rich white liberals who love being offended by things, whether it’s our conservative views or our irreverent style.

Visible minorities, I’m just guessing, like our take on the issues — such as opposing transgender extremism, or opposing taxes — and they’re also not quite as dainty and politically correct. I don’t know, but I love it. If you are a young, visible minority man from the Prairies, it’s pretty much guaranteed you’re a Rebel!

That’s what this Leger poll says! Feel free to really study the results at RebelPoll.com — I thought it was really interesting.

How many people have seen Rebel videos or articles?

Next question: “When is the last time you saw a Rebel News video (e.g. on YouTube) or read a Rebel News article or social media post?”

That’s a good question. Let me read the summary — again, you can go through the tables yourself at RebelPoll.com:

Of those aware of Rebel News, six-in-ten have seen a Rebel News video or read a Rebel News article or social media post.

One-in-four have seen or heard something within the past week. Although Quebecers are less likely to have heard of Rebel News (just 13%), 77% of those who are aware have ever seen or read something from Rebel News (vs. 59% in the rest of Canada). Canadians who identify as BIPoC are significantly more likely to have ever seen a Rebel News article, video, or post (77% vs. 58% of those who identify as White).

Isn’t that interesting? I’m not sure what it means. I mean, I want people of every race and every age and both sexes to love Rebel News. It just defies liberal stereotypes, doesn’t it, that the people who visit our website the most are minorities!

And really, for everyone — 24% of people looking at us at least once a week! And 11% of people coming to our site every day! No wonder Trudeau hates us so much. Seriously. Did you know we were so big? I always had a secret hope, but I didn’t know it until Leger did a statistically valid national survey.

OK, let me speed up. But the next three questions, which were asked together, are just amazing. And really, I’ve saved the best for last:

“Thinking about Rebel News, do you agree or disagree with the statements provided below?”

And the first one is: “Rebel News covers the stories the mainstream media outlets don’t want to cover.”

Well, even our enemies would agree that we do that, right? 57% of people say, yes, that’s what Rebel News does. Isn’t that valuable? I mean, seriously. In an age where all the mainstream media just repeat the same talking points — seriously, they all just run Canadian Press wire stories, same as the other guys — isn’t it good to actually have someone writing news that is ignored?

Independent media is rising

OK, how about this statement: “agree or disagree: Media organizations like Rebel News do a better job than the mainstream media at holding governments and politicians to account.”

And would you look at that. 46% of people say yes, we do. In fact, 27% are adamant about it. That’s so encouraging. And actually, not surprising. Over the past five years, Trudeau has colonized the media with his bail-outs and subsidies, and it shows. Most journalists are just Trudeau’s mouthpiece now — on every key issue, they just echo him.

People notice. And they don’t like it. 46% of people believe we hold politicians to account better than the regime media. Which is why we are always kicked out of press conferences by Trudeau, and roughed up by his police — while the Media Party are allowed in for their softballs. I mean, if I ever had Justin Trudeau trapped in a small airplane with me, and I could ask him anything and the only way he could avoid it was to parachute out, I guarantee you I wouldn’t waste a question asking about shampoo: Yeah, well, Tom Clark knew what he was doing. He was later appointed by Trudeau to a sweet patronage gig in New York. You don’t think people notice? The day I ask a politicians what shampoo he uses is the day I should be fired.

Media Party trust issues

But this next one is my favourite. We’ve saved the best for last: “agree or disagree: I trust the reporting of Rebel News more than the mainstream media.”

Wow. Well let’s get to it: 41% say yes, including 22% of strongly agree. Now, many don’t. In fact, 36% strongly disagree. Fair enough. And it would be really weird if a Liberal supporter or NDP supporter trusted us more than they trust, say, Trudeau’s CBC state broadcaster.

It’s just like the poll question about whether or not people like us — some love us, some hate us. It’s the same for this question about trust.

But still: 41% of people in this country are so repulsed by how journalists conduct themselves, that they are willing to trust our band of citizen journalists, in a little, rickety company started in my living room eight years ago, no government money, no marketing budget, 41% of people trust us more than they trust the oligopoly — the CBC, CTV, Global, the Toronto Star, even Postmedia.

We're just getting started

In just eight years, we have earned the trust of 41% of people so deeply that they no longer believe the old guard. That’s incredible. We’re just getting started.

But of course it’s not just our good work — it’s the atrocious misconduct of the Media Party, who have gladly, eagerly, sold out to Trudeau.

I found this poll very encouraging. And if you did, too, please go to RebelPoll.com to read it carefully for yourself. And if you feel as excited and encouraged and vindicated as I do, maybe consider chipping in a little bit right there at the page, RebelPoll.com.

This poll isn’t just a validation of our editorial quality. It’s a validation of our fundraising strategy — never take a dime from the people we cover; never take money from governments; always rely on the people.

If you’re as happy with the results as I am, please go to RebelPoll.com to help us keep up the good work. Thanks!

Ezra Levant

Rebel Commander

Ezra Levant is the founder and owner of Rebel News and the host of The Ezra Levant Show. He is the author of multiple best-selling books including Ethical Oil and most recently, China Virus.

COMMENTS

Be the first to comment

Please check your e-mail for a link to activate your account.