About two-thirds of Americans have heard about social media bots. Many are concerned that bots are used maliciously and negatively affect how well-informed Americans are about current events.
News stories about the beginning of Trump administration’s presidency that included one of his tweets were more likely to have an overall negative assessment.
Just 5% of more than 3,000 news stories from the first 100 days of the Trump presidency cited a member of the public.
Among the challenges U.S. police officers perceive on the job is a widespread feeling that police are mistreated by the media.
About two-in-three U.S. adults say fake news stories cause a great deal of confusion about the basic facts of current issues. And nearly a quarter say they have ever shared completely made-up news.
A majority of U.S. adults (59%) reject the idea of adding interpretation, saying that the news media should present the facts alone
As the news media cover the turbulent 2016 presidential election, there’s been considerable debate around how much emphasis they should put on inaccurate or potentially offensive statements made by candidates.
Enshrined in the Bill of Rights, free expression is a bedrock American principle, and Americans tend to express stronger support for free expression than many others around the world.
Americans are divided in what they consider the most positive and negative attribute of the news media, and much of that divide follows party lines.
Only a slim minority thinks the news media’s coverage of Trump and Clinton is too tough, a view the public also held in previous general elections.
