---
title: "Public says news coverage of health care law shortchanges practical information"
description: "A majority of Americans say the news media’s coverage of the law has been focused on politics and controversies, rather than how it will impact people."
date: "2013-09-30"
authors:
  - name: "Bruce Drake"
    job_title: "Former Senior Editor"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/bruce-drake/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2013/09/30/public-says-media-coverage-of-health-care-law-shortchanges-practical-information/"
---

# Public says news coverage of health care law shortchanges practical information

As the major provisions of the Affordable Care Act start kicking in this week with the [rollout of new insurance exchanges](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/28/your-money/health-insurance/a-guide-to-the-new-health-insurance-exchanges.html?pagewanted=all) where consumers can shop for coverage, a [Kaiser Health Tracking Poll](http://kff.org/report-section/kaiser-health-tracking-poll-september-2013/) conducted in mid-September finds that nearly two-thirds of the public – and almost three-quarters of the uninsured – say they don’t know the exchanges open on Oct. 1.

[![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2013/09/FT_Israel_Obama.png?w=146)](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2013/09/FT_Israel_Obama.png)

[![Credit: Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll, Sept. 12-18](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2013/09/DN_Pie_Chart.jpg)](http://kff.org/report-section/kaiser-health-tracking-poll-september-2013/)
*Credit: Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll, Sept. 12-18*

The survey finds that Americans have not found the news media to be a big help in getting information about its provisions. A majority (56%) say the news media’s coverage has been “mostly about politics and controversy” while only 6% say it has been mostly about how the law will affect people. A third say the coverage has been a balance of the two.

More than half (53%) of those surveyed say there is not a news media source that they trust for information about the health law; 44% said there were news outlets they trusted. Of those who said they trust one or multiple news sources, 19% cited cable TV, with 10% naming Fox News and 5% naming CNN. Broadcast TV outlets and newspapers ranked second at 7% each.

In the 30 days prior to the time the survey was conducted, 43% said they saw ads or commercials having to do with the health care law. Of those, 31% saw ads opposed to the law, 24% saw ads in support of it and 17% saw ads that provided information about how to get coverage.