---
title: "How Americans are engaged with news, politics, religion and civic life"
description: "The Briefing ☀️ Happy Thursday! The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. Sign up here! In today’s email: 🔥 Featured story German regulators said this week that the country’s media laws apply to content generated by artificial intelligence after a court ruled last month that Google is liable for inaccurate […]"
date: "2026-07-16"
authors:
  - name: "nformankatz"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/newsletter/campaign/the-briefing-2026-07-16/"
---

# How Americans are engaged with news, politics, religion and civic life

July 16, 2026

## The Briefing

---

**☀️ Happy Thursday!** *The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. [**Sign up here!**](https://www.pewresearch.org/sign-up-for-the-briefing/)*

**In today's email:**

- **Featured story:** Germany says AI-generated information is subject to its media laws

- **New from Pew Research Center:** How Americans are engaged with news, politics, religion and civic life

- **In other news:** DOJ subpoenas New York Times reporters as Trump administration cracks down on leaks

- **Looking ahead:** Tech startup plans to put reporters in statehouses, plug information into AI model and sell subscriptions

- **Chart of the week:** How four groups vary by key measures of social and civic engagement

### 🔥 **Featured story**

**German regulators** [said this week](https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/german-media-regulator-says-googles-ai-overviews-subject-german-media-law-2026-07-14/) that the country’s media laws apply to **content generated by artificial intelligence** after a [court ruled last month](https://www.dw.com/en/german-court-holds-google-liable-for-fake-ai-answers/a-77527661) that **Google** is liable for inaccurate information in its AI summaries.

In a [Pew Research Center survey last year](https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2025/10/15/trust-in-own-country-to-regulate-use-of-ai/), seven-in-ten German adults said they had at least some trust in their country to **regulate the use of AI effectively.** This is a higher share than in most other European countries surveyed.

Meanwhile, two-thirds of U.S. adults say they have little to no confidence in the **U.S. government** to regulate the technology effectively, according to a [February survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2026/06/17/americans-and-ai-2026-chatbots-smart-devices-and-views-on-impact/).

### 🚨 **New from Pew Research Center**

**How many Americans show up in public life – and in what ways?** A [new Pew Research Center study](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2026/07/16/how-americans-are-engaged-with-news-politics-religion-and-civic-life/) from the [Pew-Knight Initiative](https://www.pewresearch.org/collections/pew-knight-initiative/) looked across a range of behaviors from political involvement to news consumption and found that, rather than falling along a single spectrum, U.S. adults can be sorted into four distinct groups that reflect different patterns of participation.

### 📌 **In other news**

- **DOJ** subpoenas **New York Times** journalists over [reporting about Air Force One](https://thehill.com/media/5968197-trump-feud-new-york-times-subpoenas/) as Hegseth [announces anti-leak task force](https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5965945-hegeseth-crackdown-media-leaks/)

- 12 states [file lawsuit](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/states-sue-to-block-paramount-warner-bros-discovery-merger/) to block **Paramount-Warner Bros.** merger

- **FCC** to vote on [repealing national ownership cap](https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/fcc-end-cap-national-broadcast-ownership-1236811655/) for TV stations

- More print reporters are [learning how to make videos](https://digiday.com/media/inside-the-newsroom-push-to-turn-print-reporters-into-video-talent/) about news

- **New York Times** announces Twin Cities newsletter as part of [local news initiative](https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/07/the-new-york-times-will-launch-a-local-newsletter-pilot-in-the-twin-cities-next-month/)

- **California** pledges $20M contribution to [local news fund](https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article316507243.html), **Google **to match

- Journalists [attacked by Israeli settlers](https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/11/middleeast/settlers-arrested-attack-on-journalists-intl) in the **West Bank**; offices of two news organizations [vandalized in Tel Aviv](https://www.timesofisrael.com/door-to-haaretz-offices-smashed-in-second-attack-on-media-this-week/)

- The [physical challenges](https://www.theguardian.com/membership/2026/jul/12/tech-reporting-physical-world-ai-revolution-datacentres) of reporting on data centers

- **The Associated Press** [joins SPUR coalition](https://www.amediaoperator.com/news/ap-becomes-first-us-member-of-ai-news-licensing-coalition-spur/), dedicated to shared licensing standards for AI content

- French journalist identifies thousands of [fake AI news sites](https://wan-ifra.org/2026/07/hes-found-15000-fake-ai-news-sites-heres-what-you-need-to-know/)

### 📅 **Looking ahead**

Media startup **State Affairs** plans to [deploy statehouse reporters](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/07/14/this-tech-start-up-is-hiring-local-reporters-feeding-their-work-ai/) and use **AI **to share the information they gather. Access would come through high-cost subscriptions for companies and government offices. The startup has gained high-profile funders in Silicon Valley, including **Peter Thiel** and other figures who have long been critical of news organizations.

The total number of statehouse reporters in the U.S. increased modestly between 2014 and 2022, but **fewer reporters were covering state government full time** by the end of that period, according to a [Pew Research Center study](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2022/04/05/total-number-of-u-s-statehouse-reporters-rises-but-fewer-are-on-the-beat-full-time/). The number of statehouse reporters employed by newspapers [declined noticeably](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2022/04/05/statehouse-reporters-by-outlet-type-nonprofit-news-grows-as-newspaper-presence-declines/), while most growth came from nonprofit news outlets. And there were 91 statehouse reporters working for commercial digital outlets in 2022, more than double the number in 2014 (36).

### 📊 **Chart of the week**

This week’s chart comes from our new Pew-Knight Initiative study on [how Americans engage with society](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2026/07/16/how-americans-are-engaged-with-news-politics-religion-and-civic-life/), which sorts U.S. adults into four categories based on their patterns of participation.

**Mobilizers,** the most engaged group, are among the most likely to report participating in all the activities we asked about, such as volunteering and contacting elected officials. **Connectors** are also highly engaged in many ways, but less so when it comes to direct political action. **Spectators** follow the news but participate less in other ways. And **Outsiders** are consistently less involved across all measures of engagement.

### How 4 groups vary by key measures of social and civic engagement

*% of U.S. adults in each engagement group who say they …*

|  | Mobilizers | Connectors | Spectators | Outsiders |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Say they voted in 2024 | 87 | 87 | 49 | 41 |
| Contacted an elected official in the past year | 65 | 13 | 7 | 3 |
| Volunteered in the past year | 77 | 42 | 17 | 13 |
| Made a nonpolitical donation in the past year | 83 | 90 | 21 | 21 |
| Attend religious services in person at least monthly | 45 | 43 | 25 | 24 |
| Follow national news at least somewhat closely | 95 | 88 | 84 | 41 |

Note: Engagement groups are based on a cluster analysis that sorted Americans into four groups based on their responses to 19 questions about political activity, civic involvement, religious attendance and attention to news.

Source: Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted July 9-Dec. 5, 2025. “How Americans Are Engaged With News, Politics, Religion and Civic Life”

*👋 That's all for this week.*

The Briefing is compiled by Pew Research Center staff, including Naomi Forman-Katz, Christopher St. Aubin, Emily Tomasik, Joanne Haner and Sawyer Reed. It is edited by Michael Lipka and copy edited by Anna Jackson.

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