---
title: "How Americans are getting election news"
description: "Plus, how podcasts play a key role in the presidential campaigns"
date: "2024-10-10"
authors:
  - name: "Jacob Liedke"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/newsletter/the-briefing/how-americans-are-getting-election-news/"
---

# How Americans are getting election news

**☀️ 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:** Podcasts are playing a key role in the Harris and Trump campaigns

- **New from Pew Research Center**: Americans' sources for presidential election news

- **In other news:** The White House joins Reddit

- **Looking ahead:** OpenAI announces deal with Hearst

- **Chart of the week:** The platforms Americans use to get election news vary by age

🔥 **Featured story**

Kamala Harris has [given several interviews this week](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/06/harris-media-whirlwind-trump-battleground-states) after [generally avoiding media appearances](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/06/us/politics/kamala-harris-interviews-the-view-stern-stephen-colbert.html) since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee. This includes an appearance on Call Her Daddy, a podcast [popular mostly with young women](https://www.politico.com/news/2024/10/07/kamala-harris-media-strategy-call-her-daddy-00182781). Meanwhile, Donald Trump has also appeared on a series of podcasts with [younger audiences](https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2024/10/why-trump-and-harris-are-turning-to-podcasts/680199/?gift=otEsSHbRYKNfFYMngVFweI5WU48PUoYuKl8Z9vkS1rI).

**Podcasts have become a common part of younger Americans' media diet** in recent years, according to a [2023 Center study](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2023/04/18/podcasts-as-a-source-of-news-and-information/). A [2024 survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/news-platform-fact-sheet/?tabItem=e54e0c8d-6f0d-486f-809a-274eec12517d) found that about a third of U.S. adults under 50 (34%) say they at least sometimes get news from podcasts, higher than the share in older age groups. And 6% of American adults under 50 say podcasts are their *most common *source of [political and election news](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2024/10/10/where-americans-turn-for-election-news/).

🚨 **New from Pew Research Center**

As Americans navigate the abundance of information about this year's presidential election, many of them are seeing news they think is inaccurate – and having a hard time distinguishing fact from fiction. Our [new survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2024/10/10/americans-views-of-2024-election-news/) looks at Americans’ views and consumption of election news.

Among the key findings:

- Overall, **about seven-in-ten Americans say they are following news about the candidates in the 2024 presidential election very (28%) or fairly (40%) closely.** This is up from 58% in April and 65% in July, mirroring a pattern also seen in 2020 in which attention increases closer to Election Day.

- About three-quarters of U.S. adults (73%) say they have seen election coverage that they think is inaccurate at least somewhat often. And roughly **half (52%) say they generally find it difficult to determine what is true** and what is not when getting election news.

- **Views toward election coverage often differ by party. **For example, more than half of U.S. adults say the media have done very (13%) or somewhat (45%) well covering the election. But Democrats are about twice as likely as Republicans to hold this opinion (77% vs. 39%).

Read more about how Americans are getting news about the 2024 U.S. presidential election [here](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2024/10/10/americans-views-of-2024-election-news/).

📌 **In other news**

- **The White House **is sharing hurricane information on its new [Reddit account](https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/08/the-white-house-joins-reddit-and-shares-hurricane-information/)

- Brazil **lifts ban on X **after company [complies with court orders](https://apnews.com/article/brazil-x-elon-musk-supreme-court-de-moraes-e32c4b4171e78cbe8994f53713a922f7)

- The role of **amateur radio** in the aftermath of [Helene and Milton](https://www.wired.com/story/hurricane-helene-milton-north-carolina-florida-amateur-radio/)

- **Fox News** to debut [Spanish-language](https://www.axios.com/2024/10/08/fox-news-spanish-language-show-election) program

- **Social media influencers** are [reshaping the political news landscape](https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/tiktok-news-influencers-social-media-politics-14c1595d)

- **Local Ohio newspaper** [spread dubious claims about solar power](https://www.propublica.org/article/ohio-mount-vernon-frasier-solar-fossil-fuel-metric-media) amid fossil fuel campaign

- [Disagreement at CBS](https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2024/10/09/shari-redstone-cbs-dokoupil-coates/) over **Ta-Nehisi Coates** interview

📅 **Looking ahead**

**OpenAI** recently announced its latest content partnership with a media company. The [deal with Hearst](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/08/openai-announces-content-deal-with-hearst-cosmopolitan-elle-womens-health-san-francisco-chronicle.html) will enable content from dozens of the company's publications, including the Houston Chronicle, Esquire and Cosmopolitan, to be used by **ChatGPT** and other products.

Americans are slightly more likely to say that artificial intelligence helps people in their **ability to find accurate information online **(33%) than to say that it hurts (27%), according to a [2023 Pew Research Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/08/28/growing-public-concern-about-the-role-of-artificial-intelligence-in-daily-life/). But many Americans are still unsure about the impact of AI in this area and several others.

📊 **Chart of the week**

This week’s chart looks at the very different ways that younger and older Americans are getting news about the presidential election. In a [new Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2024/10/10/americans-views-of-2024-election-news/), nearly half of U.S. adults under 30 (46%) name social media as their most common source of election news. But among U.S. adults ages 65 and older, a majority (63%) say TV is their top source.

![Bar chart showing nearly half of adults under 30 say social media are their main source of political and election news](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/10/PJ_2024.10.10_2024-election-news_0-06_4b817c.webp?w=620)

*👋 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 Michael Lipka and copy edited by Anna Jackson.

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