News Habits & Media

The State of the News Media fact sheets use a range of different methodologies to study the health of the U.S. news industry, including custom analysis of news audience behavior, secondary analysis of industry data and direct reporting to solicit information unavailable elsewhere.

Many Americans think declining trust in the government and in each other makes it harder to solve key problems. They have a wealth of ideas about what’s gone wrong and how to fix it.

Americans have complicated views about the role social media companies should play in removing offensive content from their platforms.

The audio news sector in the U.S. is split by modes of delivery: traditional terrestrial (AM/FM) radio and digital formats such as online radio and podcasting.

Newspapers are a critical part of the American news landscape, but they have been hit hard as more and more Americans consume news digitally.

Republicans largely say fact-checking by news outlets and other organizations favors one side. Democrats mostly think it is fair to all sides.

Local television news programming has shed audience over the past decade, but it still garners more viewers on average than cable and network news programs.

A majority of Americans say altered videos and images create confusion about current issues, and most support restrictions on such content.

Politicians viewed as major creators of it, but journalists seen as the ones who should fix it

Republicans and Democrats are particularly divided on how closely they connect made-up news to the news media or to President Trump.