☀️ Happy Thursday! The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. Sign up here!
In today’s email:
- Featured story: Journalist whose home was searched by FBI wins Pulitzer
- New from Pew Research Center: Who are America’s health and wellness influencers?
- In other news: CNN founder Ted Turner dies at 87
- Looking ahead: France debates future of public media amid political divisions
- Chart of the week: Why teens use TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat
🔥 Featured story
The Washington Post was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for public service this week for its reporting on the Trump administration’s reorganizing of the federal government. Much of this reporting was led by Hannah Natanson, who relied on confidential sources inside the government. The FBI searched Natanson’s home and seized her devices in January in an attempt to investigate a government contractor who was suspected of leaking information.
According to a Pew Research Center survey from 2020, most Americans see a place for anonymous sources in news stories, including a two-thirds majority who said it’s acceptable to use them only in special cases and 15% who said it is always acceptable to use them. About one-in-five (18%) said the use of anonymous sources in news stories is never acceptable.
🚨 New from Pew Research Center
Four-in-ten U.S. adults – including half of those under 50 – get health and wellness information from social media influencers and podcasts, according to a new Pew Research Center study released today. We also conducted an in-depth analysis of almost 7,000 social media accounts belonging to wellness influencers to learn more about who they are and how they describe themselves.
📌 In other news
- CNN founder Ted Turner dies at 87; a look at how cable news changed America
- Hungarian media mogul with ties to Orban offers his companies to new government
- Federal agency sues New York Times over failure to promote White male employee
- Costa Rican newspaper executives barred from entering U.S.
- FBI reportedly investigating leaks around The Atlantic’s Kash Patel article
- Vice News to relaunch
- James Murdoch’s firm seeks to acquire New York Magazine, Vox Media podcasts
- Progressive donors plan investment in new media sources
- Photographer documents local newsrooms endangered by industry struggles
📅 Looking ahead
In France, a new parliamentary inquiry report published by a right-wing politician recommends sweeping cuts and overhauls to state-funded media. Although the government isn’t required to make the changes, the report is an indication that the future of public broadcasting will be an issue in France’s 2027 presidential election.
While a majority of French adults (61%) said in a 2024 Center survey that the media are at least somewhat free to report the news in their country, 37% said they are not very or not at all free. Similarly, 38% said people are not very or not at all free to say what they want in France, the highest share across 10 European countries surveyed. French adults who say there is not complete freedom of speech in their country are much less likely to express satisfaction with the way democracy is working there.
📊 Chart of the week
This week’s chart comes from a recent Pew Research Center report comparing teens’ experiences on TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat. When we asked teens who use these platforms why they do so, three reasons rose to the top: entertainment, keeping in touch with friends and family, and connecting with others who share their interests. Fewer cite news as a reason they use these platforms, although teens on TikTok and Instagram are more likely than those on Snapchat to say they are there to get news.
👋 That’s all for this week.
The Briefing is compiled by Pew Research Center staff, including Kirsten Eddy, Naomi Forman-Katz, Christopher St. Aubin, Sawyer Reed, and Joanne Haner. It is edited by Michael Lipka and copy edited by Anna Jackson.
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