--- title: "How urban, suburban and rural Americans engage in society" 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 Prosecutors this week reopened an investigation into a former Cornell University student’s claim that multiple men raped her at a campus fraternity house in 2024. The woman also filed […]" date: "2026-10-01" authors: - name: "Emily Tomasik" url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/newsletter/campaign/the-briefing-2026-10-01/" --- # How urban, suburban and rural Americans engage in society October 1, 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:** The student journalists covering the Cornell rape case - **New from Pew Research Center:** How urban, suburban and rural Americans engage in society - **In other news:** Favorable Trump television ad was paid for with public funds - **Looking ahead:** NPR’s moves to grow its video content - **Chart of the week:** Is social media good or bad for democracy? ### 🔥 **Featured story** Prosecutors this week [reopened an investigation](https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/what-we-know-about-cornell-university-rape-investigation-2026-10-01/) into a former **Cornell University** student’s claim that multiple men raped her at a campus fraternity house in 2024. The woman also filed a lawsuit against the university, the fraternity and others. The student-run **Cornell Daily Sun** has [made headlines](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/nyregion/cornell-daily-sun-newspaper-rape.html) for [its coverage](https://www.cornellsun.com/article/2026/09/tccsuykuvb4z) – including its decision to publish the names of the men accused – and for [running an editorial](https://www.cornellsun.com/article/2026/09/editorial-cornell-won-t-we-will) calling on Cornell to better protect its students. This issue speaks to the broader question of advocacy among journalists. According to a [2025 Pew Research Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2025/08/20/what-do-americans-want-from-their-news-providers/) on how Americans understand the role of journalists, most U.S. adults say the people they get news from should definitely (32%) or probably (31%) **advocate for the communities they cover** in their daily work. A large majority also think the people they get news from should definitely (41%) or probably (31%) **keep an eye on powerful people.** ### 🚨 **New from Pew Research Center** **Urban, suburban and rural Americans** engage with their communities at broadly similar rates. But they differ in some of the [specific ways they get involved](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/09/28/how-urban-suburban-and-rural-americans-engage-in-society/), from how they participate in politics to whether they are more likely to meet with people online or offline. This data comes from a [recent 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/) about **how Americans engage with politics, civic life, religion and news.** ### 📌 **In other news** - **Pro-Trump TV ad** was [paid for with taxpayer money](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-tv-ads-customs-border-protection-money-rcna600527) intended for U.S. Customs and Border Protection - **California Gov. Gavin Newsom** signs bill to [help struggling newsrooms](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-09-30/newsom-signs-bill-aimed-at-giving-lifeline-to-struggling-california-newsrooms) - How **Black voting groups** are setting up to [combat disinformation](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/business/media/black-voters-disinformation-midterm-elections.html) ahead of the midterms - **Trump administration** [launches AI chatbot](https://www.axios.com/2026/09/30/trump-america-gov-ai-chatbot-conflicting-answers) and is using AI for help with [FOIA requests](https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2026/09/26/government-is-enlisting-ai-help-decide-what-public-records-you-get-see/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzkwMzk1MjAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzkxNzc3NTk5LCJpYXQiOjE3OTAzOTUyMDAsImp0aSI6ImY4YjYzZWIwLWJmNDgtNDVkYS1iZmNhLWMyZTNkZjNmNWVmZSIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9pbnZlc3RpZ2F0aW9ucy8yMDI2LzA5LzI2L2dvdmVybm1lbnQtaXMtZW5saXN0aW5nLWFpLWhlbHAtZGVjaWRlLXdoYXQtcHVibGljLXJlY29yZHMteW91LWdldC1zZWUvIn0.zAu4NheqwA4cR4iQ78X-6GRIXdN-rkdANBumxe8sjh8) - News publishers oppose **Justice Department** involvement in [copyright lawsuit](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/28/openAI-new-york-times-copyright-lawsuit) against **OpenAI,** alleging bias - **Google** [launches pilot program](https://www.theverge.com/tech/1002665/google-paying-publishers-ai-search-features) to **pay publishers for AI search results** - Hundreds of media executives plan to [push Congress](https://digiday.com/media/conde-nast-hearst-among-300-media-execs-to-push-federal-bad-bots-bill-on-ai-scraping/) on **AI scraping bill** - **Mexican journalists** are [facing lawsuits](https://apnews.com/article/press-freedom-mexico-journalism-campeche-3ad70476773da1cb776d7984d11bcd0f) at increasing rates - **Brazilian news site** will [not cover upcoming election](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/30/brazil-newspaper-threats-tapajos-de-fato) after threats ### 📅 **Looking ahead** Radio news giant **NPR** recently acquired the video-first **AI and technology podcast** **Machine Gods** amid a [broader shift toward watchable news content](https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/09/npr-the-quintessential-audio-news-brand-adapts-to-a-video-first-future/). The podcast will be available as a radio show on NPR stations, but it will also be posted as video on the NPR app and other platforms. Many Americans report a preference for visual formats when getting news: 44% of U.S. adults say they prefer watching the news (rather than reading it or listening to it), according to a [2025 Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/11/20/more-americans-prefer-to-watch-the-news-than-read-or-listen-to-it/). This is more than double the share who prefer listening to the news (19%). ### 📊 **Chart of the week** This week’s chart comes from a [new Pew Research Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2026/10/01/across-the-globe-people-increasingly-say-social-media-is-harming-democracy/) of 37 countries and looks at global views about the **impact of social media on democracy.** Majorities in many countries say social media has been more of a good thing than a bad thing for democracy where they live. But more than half of Americans (64%) and Canadians (55%) see its effects as bad. People in some Western European countries, including the Netherlands, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, are also **more likely to say social media has been a bad thing rather than a good thing for their democracy.** ### Most say social media has been good for democracy but many in high-income nations disagree *% who say social media has been more of a __ for democracy in their country* | Country | Bad thing | Good thing | Grouping | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Canada | 55 | 40 | North America | | U.S. | 64 | 34 | North America | | Poland | 35 | 55 | Europe | | Italy | 44 | 54 | Europe | | Greece | 43 | 53 | Europe | | Hungary | 42 | 49 | Europe | | Spain | 47 | 49 | Europe | | Sweden | 47 | 49 | Europe | | U.K. | 56 | 41 | Europe | | Germany | 61 | 37 | Europe | | France | 65 | 31 | Europe | | Netherlands | 70 | 27 | Europe | | Thailand | 21 | 77 | Asia-Pacific | | Singapore | 22 | 77 | Asia-Pacific | | Philippines | 23 | 74 | Asia-Pacific | | Malaysia | 27 | 71 | Asia-Pacific | | Bangladesh | 28 | 67 | Asia-Pacific | | India | 23 | 66 | Asia-Pacific | | Pakistan | 33 | 62 | Asia-Pacific | | Indonesia | 43 | 55 | Asia-Pacific | | Sri Lanka | 35 | 54 | Asia-Pacific | | South Korea | 38 | 52 | Asia-Pacific | | Japan | 43 | 48 | Asia-Pacific | | Australia | 52 | 46 | Asia-Pacific | | Israel | 22 | 65 | Middle East | | W. Bank/E. Jerusalem | 35 | 60 | Middle East | | Turkey | 35 | 55 | Middle East | | Nigeria | 11 | 80 | Africa | | Kenya | 24 | 75 | Africa | | Ghana | 21 | 72 | Africa | | South Africa | 28 | 66 | Africa | | Mexico | 26 | 69 | Latin America | | Brazil | 29 | 65 | Latin America | | Colombia | 33 | 63 | Latin America | | Peru | 34 | 59 | Latin America | | Argentina | 35 | 56 | Latin America | | Chile | 43 | 51 | Latin America | | 37-country median | 35 | 55 | Median | Note: Those who did not answer are not shown. Source: Spring 2026 Global Attitudes Survey."Across the Globe, People Increasingly Say Social Media Is Harming Democracy" *👋 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. *Do you like this newsletter? 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