--- title: "Americans’ views of press freedom" description: "Plus, the launch of the first audio platform dedicated to women’s sports" date: "2024-04-25" authors: - name: "Jacob Liedke" url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/newsletter/the-briefing/americans-views-of-press-freedom/" --- # Americans’ views of press freedom ![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/prc-logo.png){.aligncenter width=409} --- April 25, 2024 # 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:** Launch of the first audio platform dedicated to women’s sports - **New from Pew Research Center:** Americans' views of press freedom - **In other news:** Where jurors in the Trump trial say they get their news - **Looking ahead:** Biden signs bill requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban - **Chart of the week:** Majority of Americans say they see TikTok as a threat to national security 🔥 **Featured story** **iHeartMedia** and **Deep Blue Sports + Entertainment** announced on Tuesday that they are launching the first audio platform [exclusively for women’s sports](https://www.axios.com/2024/04/23/iheart-deep-blue-womens-sports-audio-network). The **Women’s Sports Audio Network** (WSAN) will be free to use and will include podcasts, sports reports, and stories about athletes. This comes at a time of increasing media coverage of women’s sports as well as [growing audiences for audio media](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/audio-and-podcasting/#:~:text=According%20to%20survey%20data%20from%20Edison%20Research%2C%20the%20share%20of%20the%20public%20listening%20to%20online%20audio%20has%20slightly%20increased%20in%20recent%20years.). According to a [2022 Pew Research Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2023/04/18/podcasts-as-a-source-of-news-and-information/), about half of Americans said they had listened to a podcast in the past year – and that number rises to two-thirds among those ages 18 to 29. About **one in five U.S. podcast listeners (22%) regularly listen to sports podcasts**. 🚨 **New from Pew Research Center** A [new Pew Research Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/04/23/most-americans-say-a-free-press-is-highly-important-to-society/) explores how Americans view the freedom of the press and how much influence political and financial interests have on U.S. news organizations. Key findings include: - Nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults (73%) say the freedom of the press is extremely or very important to the well-being of society. - Most U.S. adults (79%) believe the media are *at least somewhat *free to report the news in the country. However, only a third say they’re *completely *free to do so. - Republicans and independents who lean toward the GOP are consistently more likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners to express concerns about press freedom. Read more about the findings [here](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/04/23/most-americans-say-a-free-press-is-highly-important-to-society/). 📌 **In other news** - Where **jurors in the Trump trial** say they [get their news](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/19/nyregion/trump-trial-jury-news.html) - A study looking at [the state of local news](https://www.poynter.org/locally/2024/university-maryland-merrill-college-journalism-local-news-crisis-study/) in **Maryland** - **Columbia University's student newspaper** strives to [avoid national media misreporting on protests](https://www.thedailybeast.com/columbia-u-newspaper-kids-working-overtime-to-get-protests-right) - How reporters are learning to cover [climate change stories](https://www.cjr.org/investigation/retka-mccabe-huang-cji-cpi-futuro-toxins-disaster-restoration.php) - **New York state **approves $90 million in tax credits [to hire local journalists](https://www.axios.com/2024/04/21/ny-state-budget-local-journalism-tax-credits) 📅 **Looking ahead** Yesterday, [President Biden signed a bipartisan bill into law](https://www.npr.org/2024/04/24/1246663779/biden-ban-tiktok-us) that forces** ByteDance to sell TikTok**, or the platform will **face a ban in the United States**. The share of **U.S. adults who say they would support the U.S. government banning TikTok declined** between spring and fall 2023, according to [Pew Research Center surveys](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/12/11/a-declining-share-of-adults-and-few-teens-support-a-us-tiktok-ban/). Half of Americans said they would support a ban in March 2023, and this share declined to 38% later that year. 📊 **Chart of the week** In a [2023 Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/07/10/majority-of-americans-say-tiktok-is-a-threat-to-national-security/), about six-in-ten Americans (59%) said they **see TikTok as a major or minor threat to national security** in the United States. These views vary by age: **Just 13% of adults ages 18 to 29 say TikTok is a major threat**. This share climbs steadily across age groups, reaching 46% among Americans 65 and older. [![A bar chart showing that a majority of Americans say TikTok is a national security threat, but this varies by party, ideology and age.](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/04/tiktok_natl_security-1.webp?w=420){.aligncenter width=400}](https://www.pewresearch.org/?attachment_id=142217) --- *👋 That's all for this week. * The Briefing is compiled by Pew Research Center staff, including Naomi Forman-Katz, Jacob Liedke, Sarah Naseer, Christopher St. Aubin, Luxuan Wang and Emily Tomasik. It is edited by Kirsten Eddy and Elisa Shearer, and copy edited by David Kent. *Do you like this newsletter? 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