Young Adults and the Future of News
The ways Americans get news and information have transformed dramatically in the 21st century. The news habits of the youngest adults reflect this shift – and may offer some insight into what the future holds.
Digital News Landscape
News Influencers Fact Sheet
About one-in-five U.S. adults say they regularly get news from news influencers on social media, and this is especially common among younger adults.
How Americans’ trust in information from news organizations and social media sites has changed over time
Overall, 56% of U.S. adults now say they have a lot of or some trust in the information they get from national news organizations – down 11 percentage points since March 2025.
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Digital News Landscape
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Americans who primarily get news through social media are least likely to follow COVID-19 coverage, most likely to report seeing made-up news
More than half of these social media news consumers say they have encountered made-up news about COVID-19.
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Confidence in public acceptance of election results connects to following political news, relying on social media
Americans who closely follow political news are more likely to have confidence that the public will accept election results. And that’s true across party boundaries.
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An oasis of bipartisanship: Republicans and Democrats distrust social media sites for political and election news
Both Democrats and Republicans express far more distrust than trust of social media sites as sources for political and election news.
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Americans favor mobile devices over desktops and laptops for getting news
Roughly six-in-ten U.S. adults often get news on a mobile device, compared with 30% who often do so on a desktop or laptop computer.
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Americans Are Wary of the Role Social Media Sites Play in Delivering the News
Getting news from social media is an increasingly common experience; nearly three-in-ten U.S. adults do so often.
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Key findings about the online news landscape in America
The share of Americans who prefer to get their news online is growing. More Americans get news on social media than from print newspapers.
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A Week in the Life of Popular YouTube Channels
The media landscape was upended more than a decade ago when the video-sharing site YouTube was launched. The volume and variety of content posted on the site is staggering. The site’s popularity makes it a launchpad for performers, businesses and commentators on every conceivable subject. And like many platforms in the modern digital ecosystem, YouTube […]
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About three-quarters of Americans favor steps to restrict altered videos and images
A majority of Americans say altered videos and images create confusion about current issues, and most support restrictions on such content.
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Men Appear Twice as Often as Women in News Photos on Facebook
Photos that exclusively show men make up the majority of photos that show people; representational differences persist across topics
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For Local News, Americans Embrace Digital but Still Want Strong Community Connection
Nearly as many U.S. adults prefer to get local news online as through a TV set. And while Americans prize community connection from their local news providers, they are largely unaware of the financial challenges they face.
