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Journalists Sense Turmoil in Their Industry Amid Continued Passion for Their Work

June 14, 2022

Much of Pew Research Center's earlier research on the U.S. news environment has focused on the public's news consumption habits and views toward the news media. This major new undertaking was designed to capture the other side of the equation, asking U.S.-based journalists to provide their own perspective on the industry they work in.The main source of data for this study is a Pew Research Center survey of 11,889 U.S.-based journalists who are currently working in the news industry and said that they report, edit or create original news stories in their current job. The survey was conducted online between Feb. 16 and March 17, 2022. 

Total Number of U.S. Statehouse Reporters Rises, but Fewer Are on the Beat Full Time

April 5, 2022

From voting rights and redistricting to abortion and public education, state capitols across the United States are at the epicenter of the nation's key public policy debates. This has been especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic, as state capitol buildings became ground zero in the debate over mask and vaccine mandates and other pandemic policies.A new Pew Research Center study finds that the total number of reporters assigned to the 50 state capitols to inform citizens about legislative and administrative activity has increased by 11% since 2014, the last time this study was conducted. The gain comes largely from two main developments: new nonprofit news outlets that are employing statehouse reporters, and a shift to more part-time statehouse reporting.

Americans See Skepticism of News Media as Healthy, Say Public Trust in Institutions Can Improve

August 31, 2020

In a year filled with major news stories – from impeachment to a contentious election, from a global pandemic to nationwide protests over racial injustice – Americans continue to have a complicated relationship with the news media. While large swaths of the public often express negative views toward journalists and news organizations, a major Pew Research Center analysis – culminating a yearlong study on Americans' views of the news media – also finds areas where U.S. adults feel more affinity toward the media and express open-mindedness about the possibility that their trust in the industry could improve.

Distinguishing Between Factual and Opinion Statements in the News

June 18, 2018

In today's fast-paced and complex information environment, news consumers must make rapid-fire judgments about how to internalize news-related statements – statements that often come in snippets and through pathways that provide little context. A new Pew Research Center survey of 5,035 U.S. adults examines a basic step in that process: whether members of the public can recognize news as factual – something that's capable of being proved or disproved by objective evidence – or as an opinion that reflects the beliefs and values of whoever expressed it.

Most Say Tensions Between Trump Administration and News Media Hinder Access to Political News

April 4, 2017

According to a new Pew Research Center survey, 94% of Americans say they have heard about the current state of the relationship between the Trump administration and the news media. And what they've seen does not reassure them: Large majorities feel the relationship is unhealthy and that the ongoing tensions are impeding Americans' access to important political news. Moreover, both of these concerns are widely shared across nearly all demographic groups, including large majorities of both Democrats and Republicans.

The Modern News Consumer: News Attitudes and Practices in the Digital Era

July 7, 2016

Wave after wave of digital innovation has introduced a new set of influences on the public's news habits. Social media, messaging apps, texts and email provide a constant stream of news from people we're close to as well as total strangers. News stories can now come piecemeal, as links or shares, putting less emphasis on the publisher. And, hyper levels of immediacy and mobility can create an expectation that the news will come to us whether we look for it or not. How have these influences shaped Americans' appetite for and attitudes toward the news? What, in other words, are the defining traits of the modern news consumer?A new, two-part survey by Pew Research Center, conducted in early 2016 in association with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, reveals a public that is cautious as it moves into this more complex news environment and discerning in its evaluation of available news sources.To be sure, news remains an important part of public life. More than seven-in-ten U.S. adults follow national and local news somewhat or very closely – 65% follow international news with the same regularity. Fully 81% of Americans get at least some of this news through websites, apps or social networking sites. And, this digital news intake is increasingly mobile. Among those who get news both on desktop computers and mobile devices, more than half prefer mobile.In this digital news environment, the role of friends and family is amplified, but Americans still reveal strong ties to news organizations. The data also reinforce how, despite the dramatic changes witnessed over the last decade, the digital news era is still very much in its adolescence.These findings come from a two-part study which asked U.S. adults a wide range of questions about their news habits and attitudes, and then over the course of a subsequent week asked them in real time about news they had gotten in the last two hours. The first survey was conducted Jan. 12-Feb. 8, 2016, among 4,654 U.S. adults ages 18 and older who are members of Pew Research Center's American Trends Panel. The second survey consisted of 14 short, online surveys that were administered two per day from Feb. 24-March 1, 2016. Survey invitations were sent at different times each day, and responses were accepted for two hours after the invitations were sent. Panelists who completed the January wave on the web and reported that they get news online were asked to participate in the experiential study; 2,078 panelists participated and completed at least 10 of the 14 surveys.

State of News Media 2016

June 15, 2016

Eight years after the Great Recession sent the U.S. newspaper industry into a tailspin, the pressures facing America's newsrooms have intensified to nothing less than a reorganization of the industry itself, one that impacts the experiences of even those news consumers unaware of the tectonic shifts taking place.In 2015, the newspaper sector had perhaps the worst year since the recession and its immediate aftermath. Average weekday newspaper circulation, print and digital combined, fell another 7% in 2015, the greatest decline since 2010. While digital circulation crept up slightly (2% for weekday), it accounts for only 22% of total circulation. And any digital subscription gains or traffic increases have still not translated into game-changing revenue solutions. In 2015, total advertising revenue among publicly traded companies declined nearly 8%, including losses not just in print, but digital as well.This is the Pew Research Center's annual analysis of the state of the organizations that produce the news and make news available to the public day in and day out. Understanding the industry in turn allows researchers to ask and answer important questions about the relationship between information and democracy. Within this report we provide data on 13 separate segments of the news industry, each with its own data-filled fact sheet. Each individual fact sheet contains embeddable graphics that also link to a full database of roughly 80 charts and tables that pull from roughly 20 different sources. This overview highlights and weaves together audience, economic, newsroom investment and ownership trends across the industry.

Political Polarization & Media Habits

October 21, 2014

When it comes to getting news about politics and government, those with consistent liberal or conservative views have information streams that are distinct from individuals with mixed political views -- and very distinct from each other, according to a report by the Pew Research Center. The MacArthur-supported research examines the media habits of those at the furthest left and right of the political spectrum, who together comprise about 20 percent of the American public. It finds consistent conservatives tend to trust and rely on a single news source more than others: Fox News. Conservatives are also more likely to distrust other news sources, and more likely to have friends who share their own political views. Consistent liberals, by contrast, rely on a greater range of news outlets, tend to trust more news outlets, and are more likely to block someone on a social network -- as well as end a friendship -- because of politics.

The State of the News Media 2013

March 18, 2013

The State of the News Media 2013 is the tenth edition of the annual report on the status of American journalism. The study contains special reports on how news consumers view the financial struggles of the industry and how the local, cable and network TV news landscape has changed in recent years. It also includes analysis of the main sectors of the news media and an essay on digital developments.

Newspapers Turning Ideas into Dollars: Four Revenue Success Stories

February 11, 2013

The report follows a year-long effort to identify newspaper successes in the search for new business models. This report analyzes four such dailies -- the Naples (Fla.) Daily News, the Santa Rosa (Calif.) Press Democrat, the (Salt Lake City) Deseret News, the Columbia (Tenn.) Daily Herald -- whose executives explained, in detail, the motivation and strategy behind their experiments and shared internal data about the results. Their innovations-ranging from sales force restructuring to rebranding the print product to web consulting for local merchants-are generating significant new income.

Digital Advertising and News: Who Advertises on News Sites and How Much Those Ads Are Targeted

February 13, 2012

Analyzes trends in advertising in twenty-two news operations, including shifts to digital advertising, use of consumer data to target ads, types of ads, and industries represented among advertisers by media type.

Where People Get Information About Restaurants and Other Local Businesses

December 14, 2011

Presents survey findings about the demographics and technology profiles of those who seek information about restaurants, bars, and local businesses and their sources of information, including the Internet, newspapers, word of mouth, and local television.