--- title: "The Briefing 10.22.2026" 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 According to a report by Axios, the White House sent a letter this week warning Politico that it must retract or correct recent articles about Chief of Staff Susie […]" date: "2026-10-22" authors: - name: "jhaner" url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/newsletter/the-briefing/the-briefing-10-22-2026/" --- # The Briefing 10.22.2026 October 22, 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:** White House asks Politico to retract some reporting - **New from Pew Research Center:** Where Americans are getting their news in the digital age - **In other news:** FCC chairman warns broadcasters against airing “fake polls” - **Looking ahead:** C-SPAN to include YouTube creators in election night coverage - **Chart of the week:** News consumption across digital platforms ### 🔥 **Featured story** According to a [report by Axios](https://www.axios.com/2026/10/21/white-house-politico-retract-stories-or-face-consequences), the **White House** sent a letter this week warning **Politico** that it must retract or correct recent articles about **Chief of Staff Susie Wiles** or face consequences including possible legal action. At the center of the dispute: Politico reported last week that **President Donald Trump** was considering replacing Wiles, which Trump called “fake news.” In the letter, White House Counsel Will Scharf wrote that “freedom of the press is not a professional exemption from accountability.” Politico is also among three outlets that were banned from the White House last month, prompting [legal pushback from the news organizations](https://www.npr.org/2026/10/14/nx-s1-6001398/white-house-media-ban). We recently asked Americans **whether the U.S. government should be able to force a news organization to take down a story** in a few different circumstances. While about half of U.S. adults (51%) say this should be possible in cases where the story contains false information, far fewer say the government should be able to do this if a story clearly favors one political side (14%) or is critical of the government (10%), according to a [Pew Research Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2026/09/15/americans-value-press-freedom-but-differ-on-its-limits/) from the Pew-Knight Initiative. ### 🚨 **New from Pew Research Center** Earlier this week, we added new data from an August 2026 survey to **two fact sheets** looking at the [devices and platforms](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/news-platform-fact-sheet/) and [social media sites](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/social-media-and-news-fact-sheet/) Americans use to get news. Among the key findings from both fact sheets: - **Digital devices** are by far the most common way Americans get news, although a majority (63%) also get news from **television** at least sometimes. - Between 2025 and 2026, the share of Americans who say they *prefer* to get news from **television decreased** (from 34% to 28%), while the share who prefer **social media increased** (from 14% to 19%). - 40% of U.S. adults say they regularly get news on **Facebook,** and 34% say the same about **YouTube.** - Younger adults are much more likely than older people to be regular news consumers on **TikTok** and **Instagram.** *Related:* [*1 in 5 Americans Regularly Get News on TikTok*](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/10/19/1-in-5-americans-regularly-get-news-on-tiktok/) ### 📌 **In other news** - **FCC Chairman Brendan Carr** [warns broadcasters](https://deadline.com/2026/10/fcc-brendan-carr-fake-polls-trump-1237169718/) against airing **“fake polls”** - Competing newsrooms in **Alaska** are [working together](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/21/business/media/alaska-journalists-sullivan-peltola-senate.html) to cover the midterms - Judge orders **Meta** to [pay $25 billion](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/21/meta-new-mexico-cambridge-analytica-penalty.html) in **Cambridge Analytica** data privacy case - **President Trump** weighs moving **press corps** [out of the White House](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/20/us/politics/trump-white-house-media.html); **CNN** [threatens legal action](https://apnews.com/article/cnn-trump-media-ban-e116290b1f296604d69cabeae01ed5b9) over continued denial of access to **Air Force One** - **Trump** ordered to [sit for deposition](https://apnews.com/article/trump-bbc-media-defamation-0a26fa60b265f55a9bcf7ed88cfacab8?) in **BBC defamation lawsuit** - **BBC** cancels Gen Z-focused [nightly news round-up](https://deadline.com/2026/10/bbc-scraps-tiktok-generation-tv-bulletin-the-catch-up-1237169526/) - **Christiane Amanpour** [to leave CNN](https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/christiane-amanpour-cnn-exit-june-1236916503/) after 43 years - **Axel Springer** CEO [pitches deal](https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/axel-springer-open-role-any-potential-european-tiktok-deal-spokesperson-says-2026-10-22/) to buy **TikTok’s** European arm - How **CBS News** Editor-in-Chief **Bari Weiss** is [involved in coverage](https://www.semafor.com/article/10/18/2026/how-cbs-news-middle-east-war-spread-to-the-upper-midwest) of Michigan Senate candidate **Abdul El-Sayed** - **Washington Post** photographer [attacked by Israeli settlers](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/16/world/middleeast/israeli-settlers-washington-post-palestinians.html) in **West Bank** ### 📅 **Looking ahead** **C-SPAN** will [bring creator-led coverage into its election night lineup](https://thedesk.net/2026/10/c-span-taps-youtube-creators-for-election-night-coverage/), showing YouTube livestreams from The Young Turks and Patrick Bet-David’s PBD Podcast on C-SPAN2 and C-SPAN3. Its flagship channel will continue to offer C-SPAN’s traditional results coverage and nonpartisan analysis. The move is another example of traditional news outlets implementing newer forms of media into their programming. About **one-in-five U.S. adults (21%) regularly get news from news influencers on social media,** including 38% of adults under 30, according to a [2025 Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/news-influencers-fact-sheet/) from the Pew-Knight Initiative. And the share of Americans who regularly get news on YouTube has [risen in recent years](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/social-media-and-news-fact-sheet/) (from 23% in 2020 to 34% in 2026). Both The Young Turks and Bet-David bring a political perspective to their coverage, which is common among news influencers on social media, according to our [2024 study](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2024/11/18/americas-news-influencers/). ### 📊 **Chart of the week** This week’s chart comes from our recently updated [news platform fact sheet](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/news-platform-fact-sheet/). It shows **how often U.S. adults get news through various digital pathways.** More than half say they often or sometimes get news from search engines, news websites and apps, and social media, while about a third say the same about email newsletters and podcasts. Fewer get news from artificial intelligence chatbots such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini, but these have become a source of news for more Americans in the past year. As of August 2026, 15% say they get news from AI chatbots at least sometimes, up from 9% in 2025. ### News consumption across digital platforms *% of U.S. adults who say they get news from each digital platform …* | | Often | Sometimes | Rarely | Never | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | News websites or apps | 27 | 39 | 18 | 16 | | Social media | 26 | 33 | 17 | 23 | | Search | 25 | 45 | 19 | 11 | | Podcasts | 10 | 22 | 25 | 43 | | Email newsletters | 8 | 26 | 29 | 37 | | AI chatbots | 3 | 12 | 20 | 65 | Note: Respondents who do not use the internet did not receive the item about digital devices; they are included with those who said “Never.” Source: Survey of U.S adults conducted Aug. 24-30, 2026. *👋 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 David Kent. *Do you like this newsletter? 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