☀️ Happy Thursday! The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. Sign up here!
In today’s email:
- Featured story: FCC approves Nexstar-Tegna local TV merger amid state suits
- New from Pew Research Center: Where do Americans turn first for information about breaking news?
- In other news: Jury holds Meta and YouTube liable in social media addiction case
- Looking ahead: CBS News Radio to shut down
- Chart of the week: Discussion of news and politics on U.S. religious radio
🔥 Featured story
The Federal Communications Commission last week approved the merger of two major local television companies, allowing Nexstar Media Group to buy Tegna for $6.2 billion. The deal creates a local TV news giant that will own 265 stations in 44 states. In recent weeks, attorneys general in eight states sued to block the merger, arguing that it would raise prices for consumers and hamper local journalism.
TV remains a major source of local news for Americans, although it has declined in prominence. About a third of U.S. adults (32%) prefer TV over any other platform for local news, according to a 2024 Pew Research Center survey. That’s down from 41% in 2018, though TV remains Americans’ most preferred source for this type of news, ahead of news websites/apps and social media.
A majority of Americans (64%) get local news and information from TV news stations at least sometimes, down from 70% in 2018. Among those who get news this way, 62% primarily use a traditional TV set, although a growing share access that news digitally (such as through a website, app or social media site).
🚨 New from Pew Research Center
When a breaking news event happens, 36% of U.S. adults say they typically turn first to their preferred news organization to get more information, according to a 2025 Pew Research Center survey from the Pew-Knight Initiative. Another 28% head for a search engine like Google, and 19% look to social media first.
Young adults, however, are more likely to say they turn to search engines or social media for breaking news than to a specific news organization.
📌 In other news
- Jury holds Meta and YouTube liable in social media addiction case
- Judge rules in favor of New York Times in lawsuit against Pentagon, which responded by closing office spaces for journalists
- Supreme Court declines to review Texas law allowing law enforcement to arrest reporters who get information from government employees
- Voice of America staff sue federal government, alleging Kari Lake violated its independence
- Veteran podcasters are moving away from the medium amid industry shifts
- Matt Brittin, former Google executive, named new head of BBC
- Australian Broadcasting Corporation staff strike over pay
- ProPublica union votes to authorize strike unless AI-related layoffs are banned
- A look at the use of AI-fabricated quotes in journalism
📅 Looking ahead
CBS News Radio plans to shut down this spring after nearly a century on the air. The closure will affect hundreds of local stations around the country that use its national news content.
Although just 5% of Americans say they prefer to get their news via radio over any other platform, 44% say they get news this way sometimes or often, according to a 2025 Pew Research Center survey. And radio stations continue to be an important source of local news for many Americans: 52% say they get local news this way at least sometimes, according to a separate Center study from 2024.
📊 Chart of the week
This week’s chart comes from our content analysis examining thousands of AM and FM religious radio stations across America, part of a new report from the Pew-Knight Initiative.
Religious radio stations devote airtime to a range of programming, from music and sermons to traditional talk shows. News and politics are among the many topics these stations address, though some place much more of a focus on these than others. Overall, religious radio stations discuss news and politics for an average of about two hours per day, often through the lens of religion.
👋 That’s all for this week.
The Briefing is compiled by Pew Research Center staff, including Naomi Forman-Katz, Christopher St. Aubin, Joanne Haner and Sawyer Reed. It is edited by Michael Lipka and copy edited by Anna Jackson.
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