Audiences are declining for traditional news media in the U.S. – with some exceptions
A declining share of U.S. adults are following the news closely, and audiences are shrinking for several older types of news media.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
A declining share of U.S. adults are following the news closely, and audiences are shrinking for several older types of news media.
The total number of journalists assigned to state capitol buildings is up 11% since 2014, though figures vary widely by state. And as newspapers employ fewer statehouse reporters, nonprofits are filling much of the void.
Here is how the average adult Twitter user in the U.S. tweeted about the news in 2021, as well as how these patterns have changed since 2015.
Americans inhabited different information environments, with wide gaps in how they viewed the election and COVID-19.
U.S. adults in this group are less likely to get the facts right about COVID-19 and politics and more likely to hear some unproven claims.
Some 61% of U.S. adults say they follow COVID-19 news at both the national and local level equally, and 23% say they pay more attention to local news.
Biden supporters are more likely than Trump supporters to be confident their news sources will make the right call in announcing a winner. And partisans remain worlds apart on how well the U.S. has controlled the coronavirus outbreak.
About half of U.S. adults say they get news from social media “often” or “sometimes,” and this use is spread out across a number of different sites. Facebook stands out as a regular source of news for about a third of Americans.
People in this group are most likely to say the outbreak has been made too big of a deal and journalists have been exaggerating the risks.
61% give equal attention to national and local coronavirus news.
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