Americans Who Mainly Get Their News on Social Media Are Less Engaged, Less Knowledgeable
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.
Elisa Shearer is a senior researcher at Pew Research Center, where she focuses on U.S. media consumption and attitudes. She is the author of reports on news consumption on social media, U.S. media polarization, Americans’ changing media habits, and media sector data. She has a master’s degree in communication studies from Georgetown University.
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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.
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About Seven-in-Ten U.S. Adults Say They Need to Take Breaks From COVID-19 News
61% give equal attention to national and local coronavirus news.
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U.S. Media Polarization and the 2020 Election: A Nation Divided
As the U.S. enters a heated 2020 presidential election year, Republicans and Democrats place their trust in two nearly inverse news media environments.
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Americans Are Wary of the Role Social Media Sites Play in Delivering the News
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Social media outpaces print newspapers in the U.S. as a news source
One-in-five U.S. adults often get news via social media, slightly higher than the 16% who often do so from print newspapers.
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