☀️ Happy Thursday! The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. Sign up here!
In today’s email:
- Featured story: Washington Post analysis shows DHS shared misleading footage
- New from Pew Research Center: Perceptions of accuracy and trust in information
- In other news: CNN launches new streaming service called All Access
- Looking ahead: NBC News launches ads addressing low trust in media
- Chart of the week: Trust in national and local news organizations varies by age and party
🔥 Featured story
According to a new Washington Post analysis, the Department of Homeland Security has released several videos of protests and law enforcement operations labeled with incorrect dates or locations on social media over the past few months. Spokespeople for DHS and the White House did not dispute the errors, but one of them told The Washington Post that “the Trump administration will continue to highlight the many successes of the president’s agenda through engaging content and banger memes on social media.”
About half of U.S. adults (53%) say they at least sometimes get news from social media, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. Meanwhile, a new Center analysis shows that many Americans often encounter news that they think is inaccurate and find it difficult to determine what’s true and what’s not. Nine-in-ten U.S. adults say they at least sometimes come across news they think is inaccurate, including 42% who say this happens extremely often or often. And about half (51%) say they generally find it difficult to determine what’s true and what’s not when they get news, similar to the share who find it easy (49%).
🚨 New from Pew Research Center
This week, we released two new analyses on Americans’ perceptions of the news they get – how they feel about the accuracy of the news and how much they trust information from news organizations and social media sites.
- Accuracy of news: Many Americans often encounter news they think is inaccurate, and those who do are more likely to find it difficult to determine what’s true and what’s not.
- Trust in news organizations and social media: Americans’ trust in information from national and local news organizations has declined after a slight increase earlier this year. The decline has occurred in both major political parties and across all age groups.
📌 In other news
- CNN launches new streaming service called All Access
- Layoffs hit CBS News after Paramount sale; anchor John Dickerson announces departure from the network
- Jon Stewart’s future with The Daily Show uncertain as current contract nears end
- NPR accuses Corporation for Public Broadcasting of bending to political pressure in legal filings
- Radio Free Asia to shut down news operations
- BBC journalist blocked from leaving Vietnam
- The Salt Lake Tribune prepares to remove its paywall as it launches a new, free print newspaper
- Times of London quotes man with same name as former NYC mayor in retracted story about Mamdani
- Recent Washington Post editorials have not mentioned Bezos’ financial interests
📅 Looking ahead
Earlier this week, NBC News began a national advertising campaign responding to citizen frustration and distrust in the media. The 60-second video, which will be aired on television channels and connected streaming platforms, sports the slogans “Facts. Clarity. Calm.” and “Reporting for America.”
Declining shares of Americans trust information from news organizations, according to a September Pew Research Center survey. Overall, 56% of U.S. adults have a least some trust in the information they get from national news organizations – down 11 percentage points since March 2025 and 20 points since 2016. Democrats remain much more likely than Republicans to trust the national media, although they have also become less likely to express trust in recent months.
When it comes to NBC News in particular, 42% of U.S. adults said in March that they trust it as a source of news, while 25% distrust it. Again, Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to express trust (60% vs. 25%).
📊 Chart of the week
This week’s chart comes from a new Center analysis looking at Americans’ trust in information from local and national news organizations and social media. Trust in national and local news organizations varies not only by political party but also by age, especially among Democrats. For example, 79% of Democrats ages 65 and older say they have at least some trust in information from national news organizations, compared with 61% of Democrats ages 18 to 29.
👋 That’s all for this week.
The Briefing is compiled by Pew Research Center staff, including Naomi Forman-Katz, Jacob Liedke, Christopher St. Aubin, Luxuan Wang, Emily Tomasik, Joanne Haner and Sawyer Reed. It is edited by Michael Lipka and copy edited by Rebecca Leppert.
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