American News Pathways Methodology
Data in the American News Pathways project is drawn from The American Trends Panel, a nationally representative panel of randomly selected U.S. adults. Read for more information about this survey’s methodology.
Journalism
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5 key findings from our latest Election News Pathways survey, from impeachment to the Democratic race
59% of Americans are following news about the 2020 candidates closely, but far fewer are following it very closely at this stage of the race.
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Democrats see Biden and Sanders as very different ideologically
There are differences among Democrats in perceptions of the front-runners’ political views by race and ethnicity, age, education and ideology.
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Fast facts on the challenges Americans see for female political candidates as Warren exits 2020 race
In 2018, 59% of U.S. adults said there were too few women in high political offices, including 69% of women and 48% of men who said this.
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Far more Americans see ‘very strong’ partisan conflicts now than in the last two presidential election years
About nine-in-ten Americans say conflicts between Democrats and Republicans are strong or very strong; 71% say these conflicts are very strong.
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About one-fifth of Democrats and Republicans get political news in a kind of media bubble
In total, 20% of all Democrats get political news only from outlets with left-leaning audiences, while 18% of all Republicans do so only from outlets with right-leaning audiences.
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Most say journalists should be watchdogs, but views of how well they fill this role vary by party, media diet
Nearly three out of four U.S. adults say that, in general, it’s important for journalists to function as watchdogs over elected officials.
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Americans’ news fatigue isn’t going away – about two-thirds still feel worn out
66% of Americans feel worn out by the amount of news there is these days – a feeling that has persisted for several years now.
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Concern about influence of made-up news on the election is lowest among those paying the least attention
Concern is highest among people who follow political news most closely, older adults and those who display more knowledge about politics in general.
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Fast facts about the newspaper industry’s financial struggles as McClatchy files for bankruptcy
U.S. newspaper circulation fell in 2018 to its lowest level since 1940, and newspaper revenues declined dramatically between 2008 and 2018.
