While the First Amendment protects the press from government interference, many Americans perceive a subtler – but substantial – form of influence on U.S. news organizations from both corporate and political interests.
Americans see this influence as taking a few different forms: Most say corporate and political interests have at least somewhat of an impact on which stories get covered, the balance of political perspectives in the news and the accuracy of the news.
Overall views on these forms of influence on the news have been largely stable since 2024, but the gaps between the two major political parties on these questions have narrowed. Republicans have become less likely to view the government as exerting a great deal of influence on the press, and Democrats have become somewhat more likely to say they see both financial and political pressures on the media.
These findings are part of a Pew Research Center study from the Pew-Knight Initiative exploring how Americans think about freedom of the press today. Read key findings from the full study, which included two surveys of U.S. adults and a series of 10 focus groups.
Many see a great deal of financial and political influence in U.S. news
A large majority of Americans say they think U.S. news organizations are at least somewhat influenced by corporate and political interests. This includes roughly half who say they think U.S. news organizations are influenced a great deal by corporations and financial interests (54%) or government and political interests (49%).
“Americans Value Press Freedom but Differ on Its Limits”
| Influence | A great deal | Somewhat | Not very much/Not at all | Not sure | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Corporations and financial interests | 51 | 33 | 6 | 9 |
| 2025 | Corporations and financial interests | 55 | 30 | 6 | 8 |
| 2026 | Corporations and financial interests | 54 | 29 | 7 | 10 |
| 2024 | Government and political interests | 49 | 34 | 8 | 9 |
| 2025 | Government and political interests | 57 | 29 | 6 | 7 |
| 2026 | Government and political interests | 49 | 34 | 7 | 9 |
“Americans Value Press Freedom but Differ on Its Limits”
Fewer than 10% of U.S. adults each say they think news organizations are not very or not at all influenced by money or politics, although about one-in-ten say they aren’t sure how much influence there is on each of those fronts.
In 10 focus groups we conducted with 74 everyday Americans, many participants expressed concerns about outside pressures on the freedom of the press, with some seeing financial influences as intertwined with political forces that shape what news gets covered and how stories get presented. One common perspective is that this influence plays out behind closed doors, hidden from public scrutiny.
Party gaps in perceptions of outside influence on news have narrowed
While overall opinions on corporate and political influence on the media have not changed much since we first asked these questions in 2024, there have been shifts within each major political party.
The share of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who say they think U.S. news organizations are influenced a great deal by political interests has dropped since 2024, from 67% to 54%.
“Americans Value Press Freedom but Differ on Its Limits”
| Interest | Rep/Lean Rep | Dem/Lean Dem | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Government and political interests | 67 | 34 |
| 2025 | Government and political interests | 64 | 51 |
| 2026 | Government and political interests | 54 | 46 |
| 2024 | Corporations and financial interests | 60 | 45 |
| 2025 | Corporations and financial interests | 60 | 51 |
| 2026 | Corporations and financial interests | 58 | 52 |
“Americans Value Press Freedom but Differ on Its Limits”
In contrast, Democrats and Democratic leaners are now more likely to say they think the news media are heavily influenced by the government. After 34% of Democrats expressed this view at the end of the Biden administration in 2024, that number jumped to 51% in 2025 and now stands at 46%.
A left-leaning man in his 20s said, “It’s not a dictatorship in that regard, but I feel like the sentiment by the government is discouraging people, and threatening shutting people down, and certainly in a roundabout way like [Stephen] Colbert such that I feel like it would dissuade a lot of people who might otherwise speak out.”
Despite these shifts, Republicans remain modestly more likely than Democrats to say political interests influence news organizations a great deal.
“I think [news organizations are] highly influenced,” said a right-leaning woman in her 50s. “Maybe there is a financial reason for that, because of their owner’s links with so-and-so or they have a different agenda … but what I see is a highly polarized media, divided media. There’s an extreme right and left extreme. There’s nothing in the middle.”
“Americans Value Press Freedom but Differ on Its Limits”
| group | Corporations and financial interests | Government and political interests | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All U.S. adults | group1 | 54 | 49 |
| Conservative Rep/Lean Rep | group2 | 64 | 59 |
| Moderate/Liberal Rep/Lean Rep | group2 | 48 | 46 |
| Moderate/ Conservative Dem/Lean Dem | group2 | 46 | 42 |
| Liberal Dem/ Lean Dem | group2 | 61 | 52 |
“Americans Value Press Freedom but Differ on Its Limits”
In the same group, a right-leaning man in his 30s said, “I think [the] Democratic side of the house has a much stronger relationship with legacy media or just media in general than a Republican side.”
There has been less movement within each party when it comes to perceptions of corporate influence over news, but the gap between the parties has also narrowed on this question. Democrats are slightly more likely today to say they think financial interests influence U.S. news organizations a great deal (52% in 2026 vs. 45% in 2024), while Republicans’ views have remained mostly stable (58% in 2026 vs. 60% in 2024).
Conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats are more likely than others in each party to say they think U.S. news organizations are influenced a great deal by both corporate and political interests.
“I think sometimes it’s money over truth,” said a right-leaning woman in her 50s.
How do corporate and political interests influence the media, according to Americans?
Not only do Americans overwhelmingly think both financial and political interests influence U.S. news organizations, but they see this impact in a variety of ways.
“Americans Value Press Freedom but Differ on Its Limits”
| Influence | A great deal | Somewhat | NET | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Which news stories get covered | Corporate and financial interests | 49 | 32 | 81 |
| The balance of political perspectives in the news | Corporate and financial interests | 47 | 33 | 79 |
| The accuracy of the news | Corporate and financial interests | 39 | 37 | 76 |
| Which news stories get covered | Government and political interests | 47 | 34 | 81 |
| The balance of political perspectives in the news | Government and political interests | 44 | 34 | 79 |
| The accuracy of the news | Government and political interests | 38 | 38 | 77 |
“Americans Value Press Freedom but Differ on Its Limits”
Large majorities of U.S. adults say they think both financial and political interests affect three aspects of news coverage at least somewhat:
- Which news stories get covered
- The balance of political perspectives in the news
- The accuracy of the news
In focus groups, participants expressed nuanced views about how and why they believe financial and political interests influence the U.S. news media. Some drew distinctions between individual journalists and the constraints placed on them by their employers. Others emphasized ways that news organizations alter their coverage because of financial factors affecting the entire industry or because they are seeking the favor of the government:
