Americans See Skepticism of News Media as Healthy, Say Public Trust in the Institution Can Improve
72% of U.S. adults say news organizations do an insufficient job telling their audiences where their money comes from.
Most Americans Think Social Media Sites Censor Political Viewpoints
Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to say major tech companies favor the views of liberals over conservatives. At the same time, partisans differ on whether social media companies should flag inaccurate information on their platforms.
A growing share of voters say it’s important to them to hear from the Trump and Biden campaigns
A majority of voters said it is very or somewhat important to them to get messages from the presidential campaigns about important issues.
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.
A look at the Americans who believe there is some truth to the conspiracy theory that COVID-19 was planned
Most Americans (71%) have heard of a conspiracy theory that alleges that powerful people intentionally planned the coronavirus outbreak.
Most Americans say social media companies have too much power, influence in politics
Roughly half of Americans think social media companies should be regulated more than they are now, our survey found.
Congress Soars to New Heights on Social Media
Democratic lawmakers post more content on Twitter, while the median Republican member now averages more audience engagement than the median Democrat across platforms.
Key facts about digital-native news outlets amid staff cuts, revenue losses
Traffic to digital-native news sites has plateaued in recent years. After rising from 2014 to 2016, it remained steady through 2019.
Younger adults differ from older ones in perceptions of news about COVID-19, George Floyd protests
Those ages 18 to 29 differ from older Americans in their news consumption habits and in their responses to major news events and coverage.
Local news is playing an important role for Americans during COVID-19 outbreak
Some 61% of U.S. adults say they follow COVID-19 news at both the national and local level equally, and 23% say they pay more attention to local news.