☀️ Happy Thursday! The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. Sign up here!
In today’s email:
- Featured story: Musk claims coverage of DOGE is doxxing
- New from Pew Research Center: Virtual panel on America’s news influencers
- In other news: White House blocks AP reporter over organization’s use of “Gulf of Mexico”
- Looking ahead: Fox acquires digital media company Red Seat Ventures
- Chart of the week: Many Americans say the news media exaggerated COVID-19 risks
🔥 Featured story
This week, Elon Musk claimed that journalists reporting on his Department of Government Efficiency and its employees are “doxxing” his staff, or publishing private personal information about them.
As they have for the past four decades, most Americans say criticism from news organizations keeps political leaders from doing things they shouldn’t. But a 2022 Pew Research Center survey found that journalists are much more likely than U.S. adults overall to say that news organizations do a good job serving as a watchdog over elected leaders (52% vs. 29%).
A recent Center survey asked Americans about their opinions on Musk. More than half of Americans (54%) express unfavorable views of the billionaire, while 42% view him favorably – with views sharply divided by party.
🚨 New from Pew Research Center
ICYMI: Pew Research Center had a virtual panel discussion about influencers as a source of information on current events and civic issues in the U.S. You can access a recording of the full event here.
Or jump to conversations about:
- Changes to news consumption and creators as a news source – Timestamp: 16:06
- Difference between traditional journalists and news influencers – Timestamp: 23:47
- Expectations for the next few years – Timestamp: 36:28
📌 In other news
- White House blocks Associated Press reporter over AP style on “Gulf of Mexico”
- How Trump is using lawsuits to attack news organizations
- Jan. 6 video evidence removed from government website
- Federal Communications Commission to probe Comcast, NBC over DEI policies
- PBS removes DEI office to comply with executive orders
- Thomson Reuters wins the first major AI copyright case in the U.S.
- Committee to Protect Journalists says a record number of journalists were killed in 2024, mostly by Israel
- Independent media in Russia and Ukraine lose funding after USAID freeze
📅 Looking ahead
Fox Corporation is moving deeper into the podcast space, acquiring the digital media company Red Seat Ventures and its suite of media programming. Red Seat’s current brands include shows hosted by former Fox News hosts Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly as well as several true crime podcasts.
Two-thirds of U.S. podcast listeners in a 2022 Pew Research Center survey said they heard news discussed on the podcasts they listen to. And most podcast listeners said that hearing other people’s opinions (71%) and staying up to date about current events (64%) is each at least a minor reason they listen to podcasts.
Among those who hear news on the podcasts they listen to, Republicans and GOP-leaning independents are more likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners to say they trust that news more than the news they get from other sources (46% vs. 19%).
📊 Chart of the week
Five years after the outbreak of COVID-19 in the U.S., a new Pew Research Center report looks back at how COVID-19 changed American life. The pandemic arrived in a rapidly changing news environment, amid declining public trust in information from national news organizations.
And news about COVID-19 fit into that trend: Overall, 54% of Americans say the news media exaggerated the risks of COVID-19 at least slightly. This includes eight-in-ten Republicans who say the media greatly (65%) or slightly (15%) exaggerated the risks, compared with three-in-ten Democrats who express similar views.
👋 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 Michael Lipka and copy edited by David Kent.
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