How Americans Navigated the News in 2020: A Tumultuous Year in Review
Americans inhabited different information environments, with wide gaps in how they viewed the election and COVID-19.
American News Pathways 2020 Project
How the public navigated news in 2020
Pew Research Center’s yearlong initiative focusing on how Americans’ news habits and attitudes related to what they heard, perceived and knew about the 2020 U.S. presidential election and COVID-19. MORE >
Republicans who relied on Trump for news more concerned than other Republicans about election fraud
In studying voters’ views of election fraud, we found these views varied by whether people got their news from the Trump campaign.
Explore our 2020 data tool
A new analysis of open-ended responses to a survey of U.S. adults looks at the specific storylines or claims about COVID-19 that Americans said they were exposed to.
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Early in outbreak, Americans cited claims about risk level and details of coronavirus as made-up news
A new analysis of open-ended responses to a survey of U.S. adults looks at the specific storylines or claims about COVID-19 that Americans said they were exposed to.
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As newsrooms face coronavirus-related cuts, 54% of Americans rate media’s response to the outbreak positively
Many U.S. news organizations are covering the coronavirus pandemic while themselves facing financial pressure from the outbreak.
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5 facts about Fox News
While U.S. Democrats turn to a variety of outlets for political news, no source comes close to matching the appeal of Fox News for Republicans.
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Nearly three-in-ten Americans believe COVID-19 was made in a lab
While 43% of Americans say the new coronavirus most likely came about naturally, nearly three-in-ten say it most likely was created in a lab.
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Cable TV and COVID-19: How Americans perceive the outbreak and view media coverage differ by main news source
Responses to cable news coverage and the pandemic vary notably among Americans who identify Fox News, MSNBC or CNN as their main source of political news.
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QAnon’s conspiracy theories have seeped into U.S. politics, but most don’t know what it is
Despite the spread of the conspiracy theories, about three-quarters of U.S. adults say they have heard or read nothing at all about them.
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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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Hispanics more likely than Americans overall to see coronavirus as a major threat to health and finances
Hispanics are more concerned than Americans overall about the threat COVID-19 poses to Americans’ health, their own finances and daily life.
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Most white evangelicals satisfied with Trump’s initial response to the COVID-19 outbreak
77% of white evangelicals say they are at least somewhat confident that the president is doing a good job responding to the outbreak.
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