☀️ Happy Thursday! The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. Sign up here!
In today’s email:
- Featured story: Status of CNN in limbo as Netflix and Paramount both bid to take over Warner Bros. Discovery
- In other news: Meta announces AI deals with several news organizations
- Looking ahead: Australia bans social media for users under 16
- Director’s note: The great media divide
🔥 Featured story
After Warner Bros. Discovery struck a deal last week to sell its studio and streaming services to Netflix, Paramount Skydance responded by launching a hostile takeover bid. But there is a key difference between the two potential transactions: While the Netflix deal would not include CNN and other cable networks, Paramount is seeking to acquire WBD’s cable properties.
Government approval is also a wild card in the process, and President Donald Trump said this week that it is “imperative that CNN be sold.”
CNN is one of the most common news sources for Americans: A third of U.S. adults regularly get news there, according to a March 2025 survey. But there are stark partisan differences when it comes to whether people both use and trust CNN. Nearly half of Democrats say they regularly get news from CNN (48%), compared with 20% of Republicans and GOP leaners.
📌 In other news
- Meta announces AI deals with several news organizations
- EU fines X $140 million, citing the platform’s “deceptive design”
- Trump admininstration proposes plan to require tourists from 42 countries to submit five years of social media history
- Journalists in Israel report media censorship and suppression
- Washington Post analysis explores TikTok’s algorithm
- New research analyzes AI chatbots’ ability to persuade and share misleading information
- Utah judge will determine media’s access to details of Charlie Kirk murder case
- Public Media Bridge Fund announces recipients of first round of grants totaling $26 million
📅 Looking ahead
An Australian law restricting social media access for users under the age of 16 took effect earlier this week. The law, which requires social media companies to identify and deactivate accounts owned by young users, is part of a larger effort by the Australian government to protect young people from the potential harms of social media use.
In the U.S., social media use among teens ages 13 to 17 is widespread: 92% say they ever use YouTube, 68% use TikTok and 63% use Instagram, including majorities who use each of these three platforms daily, according to a 2025 Pew Research Center survey.
In a different Center survey conducted in 2024, U.S. teens expressed mixed views about social media’s impact on their lives. Nearly half of U.S. teens (48%) said social media has a mostly negative effect on people their age, although far fewer (14%) said it has a negative effect on them personally.
While many teens said that social media hurts their productivity (40%) and amount of sleep (45%), majorities also reported that what they see on social media makes them feel more connected to their friends (74%) and able to express creativity (63%).
💡 Director’s note
Introducing an occasional Briefing feature with insights from Katerina Eva Matsa, director of news and information research.
As we reflect on 2025, one recurring theme is how partisanship continues to shape trust in news. In a recent report, we found that Fox News is the news source trusted by the largest share of Republicans – but is distrusted by most Democrats. There is a similar pattern in reverse for CNN, which is the source Republicans are most likely to distrust, even as Democrats generally trust it.
This isn’t just about two networks – it’s about the massive partisan gap in where Americans turn for information. Democrats tend to trust a broad range of outlets, while Republicans concentrate their trust in a few. These divides matter not only for what information people receive but also what they believe to be true.
In a year defined by major news stories – from a presidential return to rapid advances in AI – shared facts are more important than ever. Yet as trust fractures along partisan lines, finding common ground becomes harder. Understanding these dynamics is essential for anyone navigating today’s polarized media landscape.
👋 That’s all for this week.
The Briefing is compiled by Pew Research Center staff, including Katerina Eva Matsa, Naomi Forman-Katz, Jacob Liedke, Christopher St. Aubin, Luxuan Wang, Emily Tomasik, Joanne Haner, and Sawyer Reed. It is edited by Michael Lipka and copy edited by David Kent.
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