---
title: "What does it mean to be a good news consumer?"
description: "☀️ Happy Thursday! The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. Sign up here! In today’s email: 🔥 Featured story A hantavirus outbreak that recently caused multiple deaths on a cruise ship has captured widespread media attention, even as public health officials say it’s extremely unlikely the virus will spread broadly. This discrepancy […]"
date: "2026-05-14"
authors:
  - name: "nformankatz"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/newsletter/the-briefing/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-good-news-consumer/"
---

# What does it mean to be a good news consumer?

**☀️ 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:** News coverage of cruise ship hantavirus outbreak

- **New from Pew Research Center:** What Americans think it takes to be a good news consumer

- **In other news:** ABC accuses U.S. government of violating its free speech rights

- **Looking ahead:** Former BBC chief delivers warning, advice for legacy media

- **Chart of the week:** Over half of Americans say it’s difficult to know what to trust when they see conflicting health information

🔥 **Featured story**

A **hantavirus outbreak** that recently caused multiple deaths on a cruise ship has captured [widespread media attention](https://www.cjr.org/the-interview/press-conference-would-be-nice-helen-branswell-hantavirus-outbreak-alarm-covid-cruise-ship-sick.php), even as [public health officials say](https://www.cdc.gov/han/php/notices/han00528.html) it’s extremely unlikely the virus will spread broadly. This discrepancy has prompted some [criticism of the news coverage](https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/jon-stewart-hantavirus-media-coverage-the-daily-show-1235561051/).

While the hantavirus and COVID-19 are very different, the outbreak has evoked memories of the pandemic in 2020. [Back in 2024](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2025/02/12/5-years-later-america-looks-back-at-the-impact-of-covid-19/#the-information-environment-many-say-the-media-exaggerated-the-risks-of-covid-19), **54% of Americans said the news media exaggerated the risks of COVID-19, **including 38% who said news organizations greatly exaggerated the risks.

Republicans were much more likely than Democrats to say the media exaggerated the risks of COVID-19. They were also much less confident than Democrats that they’d be able to find accurate information in the event of a new health emergency.

***Related:** [Where do Americans get health information, and what do they trust](https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2026/04/07/where-do-americans-get-health-information-and-what-do-they-trust/)?*

🚨 **New from Pew Research Center**

We asked Americans to describe in their own words **what they think it means to be a “good news consumer.” **Some of the key themes in the responses include:

- Being **discerning or skeptical, **including checking the facts on their own

- Following the news regularly and **staying informed**

- Getting news from only **high-quality news sources**

- Getting news from **multiple sources **or **different perspectives**

Read more in today’s [new Pew Research Center analysis](https://www.pewresearch.org/?p=304312&post_type=short-read&preview=1&_ppp=e858d92d53) from the Pew-Knight Initiative.

📌 **In other news**

- **ABC **[accuses U.S. government](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/08/business/media/abc-fcc-first-amendment-the-view.html) of violating its free speech rights

- **Trump **[seeks subpoenas for reporters](https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/11/politics/trump-doj-subpoenas-iran-war-leaks) to identify leaks related to Iran war

- **Israel **[says it will sue](https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5878126-israel-new-york-times-palestinian-prisoners-lawsuit/) **New York Times **over column on sexual abuse in prisons

- To keep audiences, [news outlets seek](https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/05/affiliation-not-just-access-newsrooms-try-to-move-beyond-membership-to-a-focus-on-belonging/) sense of **‘belonging’**

- **CBS News’ Tony Dokoupil** [fails to get visa](https://www.semafor.com/article/05/13/2026/cbs-news-tony-dokoupil-to-broadcast-from-taiwan-after-failing-to-get-china-visa-in-time) to report from **China **for Trump trip; the [number of U.S. journalists in China](https://www.thewirechina.com/2026/05/10/no-country-for-american-reporters/) is falling

- **ProPublica **[launching reporting hub](https://www.axios.com/2026/05/12/propublica-expands-to-california) in **California**

- **The Daily Wire **[faces challenges](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/05/09/ben-shapiro-daily-wire-maga-media/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzc4Mjk5MjAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzc5NjgxNTk5LCJpYXQiOjE3NzgyOTkyMDAsImp0aSI6ImUwYjNmMTZiLTFkMGUtNDc2Zi1iZGE3LWI1N2M3ZDE5OGVkYiIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS90ZWNobm9sb2d5LzIwMjYvMDUvMDkvYmVuLXNoYXBpcm8tZGFpbHktd2lyZS1tYWdhLW1lZGlhLyJ9.zjocnStRJMkdkDcnZW8bsXKTF5bwTEGI4_75mCY9CfI) after layoffs

- After stint at **U.S. Agency for Global Media, Kari Lake **[nominated to be ambassador to Jamaica](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/05/11/kari-lake-jamaica-trump/)

- **NBC **to [create game show](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/11/business/media/wordle-nbc-savannah-guthrie.html) based on **New York Times’ Wordle**

📅 **Looking ahead**

Earlier this week, **former BBC chief Deborah Turness** [delivered a speech](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/may/12/broadcasters-must-react-threat-creator-journalism-says-ex-head-bbc-news) on what she called an existential threat faced by **traditional news organizations** as audiences shift toward **personality-driven sources **and mediums for news, including podcasts and social media.

[Turness argued](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/12/warning-news-industry-act-now-joe-rogan-piers-morgan-ecosystem) that traditional media need to **regain viewers’ trust** with transparency and clarity in the news they report, **reconnect with audiences** by developing new ways for viewers to get to know journalists, and **reinvent how news is produced** and delivered to audiences across platforms.

In the U.S., we have [witnessed substantial growth](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/social-media-and-news-fact-sheet/) in recent years in the share of Americans who say they regularly get news on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. [Young adults](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2025/12/03/young-adults-and-the-future-of-news/) are much more likely than their elders to get news from social media and [news influencers specifically](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/news-influencers-fact-sheet/), and much less likely to turn to a preferred news organization to get [more information about breaking news](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/03/24/where-do-americans-turn-first-for-information-about-breaking-news/).

📊 **Chart of the week**

This week’s chart comes from a [recent Pew Research Center report](https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2026/04/07/where-do-americans-get-health-information-and-what-do-they-trust/) about where Americans get their health information. **About three-quarters of U.S. adults (76%) say they see conflicting health information at least sometimes,** including 27% who see it often or extremely often. And just over half (54%) say they have at least some difficulty knowing which information to trust when this happens.

![Over half of Americans say it’s difficult to know what to trust when they see conflicting health information](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/PS_2026.4.7._health_00-04.png)

*👋 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 David Kent.

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