--- title: "How Americans say the news they get makes them feel" description: "Nearly half of Americans (46%) say the news they get makes them feel informed extremely often or often." date: "2025-10-15" authors: - name: "Christopher St. Aubin" job_title: "Research Analyst" link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/christopher-st-aubin/" - name: "Kirsten Eddy" job_title: "Senior Researcher" link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/kirsten-eddy/" url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/10/15/how-americans-say-the-news-they-get-makes-them-feel/" categories: - "News Coverage" - "News Habits & Media" --- # How Americans say the news they get makes them feel Pew Knight Initiative The Pew-Knight Initiative supports new research on how Americans absorb civic information, form beliefs and identities, and engage in their communities. Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan, nonadvocacy fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. Knight Foundation is a social investor committed to supporting informed and engaged communities. [**Learn more >**](https://www.pewresearch.org/pew-knight/) Americans have mixed emotional responses to the news they get. And those responses vary based on the amount of news they are accessing. A recent [Pew Research Center study](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2025/05/13/what-is-news/) asked U.S. adults to indicate how often the news they get makes them feel each of several emotions. They are generally more likely to say they feel the negative emotions we asked about than the positive ones. This analysis is part of the Pew-Knight Initiative, a research program funded jointly by The Pew Charitable Trusts and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. [![A horizontal stacked bar chart showing that Americans are more likely to say news makes them feel negative emotions than positive ones, except when it comes to feeling informed.](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/SR_25.10.15_feelings-about-news_1.png?w=640)](https://www.pewresearch.org/?attachment_id=276931) However, there is one exception to this pattern: Nearly half of Americans (46%) say the news they get makes them feel **informed **extremely often or often. Meanwhile, roughly four-in-ten Americans say the news they get makes them feel **angry** (42%) or **sad** (38%) often or extremely often. And about a quarter say it makes them feel **scared** (27%) or **confused** (25%) with the same frequency. Smaller shares say the news they get makes them feel **hopeful** (10%), **happy** (7%) or **empowered** (7%). **How we did this** Pew Research Center conducted this analysis as a part of a larger [Pew-Knight Initiative study](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2025/05/13/what-is-news/) that explores what “news” means to Americans today. For this analysis, we surveyed 9,482 adults from March 10 to 16, 2025. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), a group of people recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses who have agreed to take surveys regularly. This kind of recruitment gives nearly all U.S. adults a chance of selection. Interviews were conducted either online or by telephone with a live interviewer. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education, and other factors. Read more about the [ATP’s methodology](https://www.pewresearch.org/our-methods/u-s-surveys/the-american-trends-panel/). Here are the [questions used](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/PJ_2025.05.13_what-is-news_questionnaire.pdf) for this analysis, the [topline](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/PJ_2025.05.13_what-is-news_topline.pdf) and the [survey methodology](https://www.pewresearch.org/jouranlism/2025/05/13/what-is-news-methodology/#the-american-trends-panel-survey-methodology). This is a Pew Research Center analysis from the Pew-Knight Initiative, a research program funded jointly by The Pew Charitable Trusts and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Find related reports online at [https://www.pewresearch.org/pew-knight/](https://www.pewresearch.org/pew-knight/). #### How emotions vary among people who follow news more or less closely [![A bar chart showing that Americans who get news more often are more likely to say it makes them feel certain emotions.](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/SR_25.10.15_feelings-about-news_2.png?w=620)](https://www.pewresearch.org/?attachment_id=276930) People who follow the news more often are more likely to say it often makes them feel certain emotions. For instance, those who follow the news all or most of the time are about three times as likely as those who only follow it now and then or hardly ever to say the news they get makes them feel **informed** extremely often or often (66% vs. 21%). Similarly, 46% of U.S. adults who follow the news the most closely say it frequently makes them feel **angry.** On the other hand, 38% of those who follow it the least say this. Relatively small shares of Americans overall say the news often makes them feel **hopeful,** **empowered **and** happy.** However, those who get news more often are also slightly more likely to say it makes them feel each of these emotions. For example, 14% of Americans who follow the news all or most of the time say the news makes them feel **hopeful** at least often. That compares with 8% of those who follow the news some of the time and 5% of those who get news less frequently. Similarly, Americans who get news *at least some of the time *are a bit more likely than those who follow it less often to say it makes them feel **sad** or **scared:** 39% say the news frequently makes them feel sad, and 28% say it frequently makes them feel scared. But this pattern flips when it comes to feeling **confused.** Americans who follow the news all or most of the time (19%) are *less* likely than those who follow it some of the time (27%) or less often (30%) to say the news they get makes them feel this way often or extremely often. *Note: Here are the [questions used](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/PJ_2025.05.13_what-is-news_questionnaire.pdf) for this analysis, the [topline](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/PJ_2025.05.13_what-is-news_topline.pdf) and the [survey methodology](https://www.pewresearch.org/jouranlism/2025/05/13/what-is-news-methodology/#the-american-trends-panel-survey-methodology). *