News Habits & Media

As the U.S. enters a heated 2020 presidential election year, Republicans and Democrats place their trust in two nearly inverse news media environments.

For more details about the American News Pathways project, find answers to frequently asked questions.

A step-by-step guide on how to use the American News Pathways interactive tool, which displays how Americans’ news habits and attitudes relate to what they hear, perceive and know about the 2020 U.S. presidential election and COVID-19.

Our director of journalism studies explains how we determined what media outlets Americans turn to and trust for their political news.

An exploration of more than 50 Pew Research Center surveys confirms the overwhelming impact party identification has on Americans’ trust in the news media. And divides emerge within party – particularly the Republican Party – based on how strongly people approve of Trump.

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.

About one-in-five newsroom employees (22%) live in these three metro areas, which, by comparison, are home to 13% of all U.S. workers.

These users make up just 6% of all U.S. adults with public accounts, but they account for 73% of tweets from adults that mention politics.

Getting news from social media is an increasingly common experience; nearly three-in-ten U.S. adults do so often.

Americans are spreading their book consumption across several formats, and the use of audiobooks is on the rise.