Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Distinguishing Between Factual and Opinion Statements in the News

Acknowledgments

This report was made possible by The Pew Charitable Trusts, which received support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Ford Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Open Society Foundations. Support for the research is part of Knight Foundation’s Trust, Media and Democracy initiative, which aims to strengthen the role of strong, trusted journalism as essential to a healthy democracy.

This report is a collaborative effort based on the input and analysis of the following individuals. Find related reports online at www.pewresearch.org/pewresearch-org/journalism.

Primary researchers

Amy Mitchell, Director, Journalism Research                      Jeffrey Gottfried, Senior Researcher Michael Barthel, Research Associate                        Nami Sumida, Research Analyst                 

Research team

Elizabeth Grieco, Senior Writer/Editor Galen Stocking, Computational Social Scientist Elisa Shearer, Research Analyst                   Sophia Fedeli, Research Assistant                Mason Walker, Research Assistant              Claudia Deane, Vice President, Research Courtney Kennedy, Director, Survey Research Scott Keeter, Senior Survey Advisor            Kim Parker, Director, Social Trends Research                     Juliana Horowitz, Associate Director, Research Carroll Doherty, Director, Political Research                        Jocelyn Kiley, Associate Director, Research  Alec Tyson, Senior Researcher                      Lee Rainie, Director, Internet and Technology Research    Besheer Mohamed, Senior Researcher                    Andrew Mercer, Senior Research Methodologist     

Editorial and graphic design

Margaret Porteus, Information Graphics Designer Travis Mitchell, Copy Editor

Communications and web publishing

Rachel Weisel, Communications Manager Hannah Klein, Computational Social Scientist                                             Sara Atske, Assistant Digital Producer                     Ben Wormald, Web Developer

Pew Research Center also received helpful advice and feedback for this report from a panel of expert advisers: Miriam Metzger is a professor in the Department of Communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara; Daron Shaw is a professor in the Department of Government at the University of Texas at Austin; David M. Shribman is the executive editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Natalie Jomini Stroud is an associate professor of Communication Studies and Journalism and director of the Center for Media Engagement in the Moody College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin; and Magdalena Wojcieszak is an associate professor in the Department of Communication at the University of California, Davis.

While the analysis was guided by our consultations with these advisers, Pew Research Center is solely responsible for the interpretation and reporting of the data.

Icon for promotion number 1

Sign up for our weekly newsletter

Fresh data delivery Saturday mornings

Icon for promotion number 1

Sign up for The Briefing

Weekly updates on the world of news & information