☀️ Happy Thursday! The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. Sign up here!
In today’s email:
- Featured story: WaPo publisher and incoming editor face questions about their journalistic records after new reporting
- In other news: WSJ reporter’s Russian trial to be held behind closed doors
- Looking ahead: Daily Mail will launch a dozen shows on YouTube
- Chart of the week: Different sources for news on TikTok, X, Facebook and Instagram
🔥 Featured story
Washington Post publisher Will Lewis and incoming editor Robert Winnett have faced questions about their journalistic records this week following new reports of their past newsgathering practices in the United Kingdom, including their ties to hacking and fraud. The Post’s own reporting about its new leadership also has spurred discussion of how outlets cover themselves.
Our surveys have found that many Americans have doubts about the ethical standards and transparency of journalists. In a 2020 Pew Research Center survey, for example, more than half of U.S. adults (56%) said they think journalists have low or very low ethical standards. That same year, a similar share of Americans (57%) said news organizations do “not too well” or “not at all well” at telling their audiences about how they choose and find sources.
📌 In other news
- Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich’s Russian trial will be held behind closed doors
- Pentagon pushed anti-vaccine content in the Philippines during COVID-19 pandemic aimed at undermining China’s influence
- ISIS mimicked news outlets in propaganda videos
- French National Rally party says it will privatize public broadcasting if elected
- YouTube is testing a new crowdsourced feature allowing users to add context to videos
- A look at BBC News Arabic’s emergency radio service in Gaza
- Sinclair Broadcast Group pushes local news stories alleging Biden is mentally unfit for office
📅 Looking ahead
Daily Mail is set to launch a dozen shows on YouTube by the end of this year, a strategic push into long-form video aimed at generating more ad revenue. The British tabloid has previously had success with short-form video, with about a billion monthly views on TikTok.
According to a 2023 Center survey, 82% of U.S. adults use YouTube, while 26% regularly get news there. Meanwhile, 31% of U.S. adults use TikTok and 14% get news there.
📊 Chart of the week
Americans who regularly get news on four major social media platforms report getting news from different sources on each site, according to our recent survey.
For example, most news consumers on Facebook and Instagram get news from friends, family and acquaintances on those sites, which is not the case on TikTok or X (formerly Twitter). TikTok news consumers are more likely than those on other sites to get news from influencers or celebrities, while those who regularly get news on X more commonly see news from journalists or news organizations there.
👋 That’s all for this week.
The Briefing is compiled by Pew Research Center staff, including Naomi Forman-Katz, Jacob Liedke, Sarah Naseer, Christopher St. Aubin, Luxuan Wang and Emily Tomasik. It is edited by Katerina Eva Matsa, Michael Lipka and Mark Jurkowitz, and copy edited by David Kent.
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