☀️ Happy Thursday! The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. Sign up here!
In today’s email:
- Featured story: AP offers buyouts amid changing content strategy
- In other news: Trump threatens to jail journalists for protecting sources
- Looking ahead: The Washington Post partners with influencers
- Chart of the week: Use of e-books, audiobooks grows over time
🔥 Featured story
On Monday, The Associated Press announced it is offering buyouts to a number of its U.S.-based journalists as it pivots away from print journalism and shifts its focus to visual journalism and developing new revenue sources. Meanwhile, the organization recently learned that Lee Enterprises, one of the largest independent local newspaper companies, is seeking to end its news licensing agreement with AP before the contract expires at the end of this year.
According to a 2025 Pew Research Center survey on Americans’ use of 30 major news sources, 66% of U.S. adults have heard of The Associated Press, and about one-in-five (21%) regularly get news from it. About a third (31%) say they trust it as a source of news, while 14% distrust it.
📌 In other news
- Trump threatens to jail journalists for protecting sources in Iran coverage
- OpenAI buys tech news live-streaming show TBPN
- Federal appeals court upholds injunction against ICE that limits use of force against journalists in Southern California
- Fox will integrate Kalshi prediction market data into its platforms
- Former military employee indicted for allegedly leaking classified information to a journalist
- Report shows links in X posts may hurt engagement
📅 Looking ahead
The Washington Post is launching new partnership deals with independent news influencers on a series of creator-produced videos. The news organization says the collaborations will help the brand expand their audience and generate new revenue from sponsored content while allowing the influencers to retain editorial control and ownership over what they produce.
Roughly one-in-five Americans (21%) say they regularly get news from news influencers on social media, according to a 2025 Center survey, including 38% of Americans under 30 years old. About half of adults who get news this way (52%) say most of the influencers they get news from operate independently and are not affiliated with any news organization.
📊 Chart of the week
This week’s chart comes from a new Pew Research Center analysis of Americans’ reading habits.
Three-quarters of U.S. adults say they have read all or part of at least one book in the past 12 months – and print continues to be the only book format used by a majority of Americans, with much smaller shares saying they have read an e-book or listened to an audiobook.
But digital and audiobooks have become more widely used over time. About three-in-ten adults (31%) now report reading an e-book in the past year, up from 17% in 2011. Audiobooks have seen similar growth, with use of this format more than doubling in the same period.
👋 That’s all for this week.
The Briefing is compiled by Pew Research Center staff, including Naomi Forman-Katz, Christopher St. Aubin, Benjamin Toff, Joanne Haner, and Sawyer Reed. It is edited by Kirsten Eddy and copy edited by David Kent.
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