Audiences are declining for traditional news media in the U.S. – with some exceptions
A declining share of U.S. adults are following the news closely, and audiences are shrinking for several older types of news media.
Journalism
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Digital News Fact Sheet
In the U.S., roughly nine-in-ten adults (93%) get at least some news online (either via mobile or desktop), and the online space has become a host for the digital homes of both legacy news outlets and new, “born on the web” news outlets.
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Newspapers Fact Sheet
Newspapers are a critical part of the American news landscape, but they have been hard hit as more and more Americans consume news digitally.
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State of the News Media methodology
The State of the News Media fact sheets use a range of different methodologies to study the health of the U.S. news industry, including custom analysis of news audience behavior, secondary analysis of industry data and direct reporting to solicit information unavailable elsewhere.
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How Black Americans engage with local news
About three-quarters of Black adults in the United States say they see or hear news coverage about their local community at least sometimes.
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Americans are following the news less closely than they used to
In 2016, 51% of U.S. adults said they followed the news all or most of the time, but that share fell to 38% in 2022.
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Black Americans’ Experiences With News
Black Americans see a range of problems with how Black people are covered in the news. Almost two-thirds of Black adults (63%) say news about Black people is often more negative than news about other racial and ethnic groups. And while few are optimistic that will change in the foreseeable future, many see ways in which that coverage could be improved.
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Local TV News Fact Sheet
Local TV companies generated more revenue in 2022 than in 2021, consistent with a cyclical pattern in which advertising revenue rises in election years and falls in non-election years.
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Cable News Fact Sheet
In 2022, both prime-time and daytime cable news audiences increased for Fox News but decreased for CNN, MSNBC and Newsmax.
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Network News Fact Sheet
Financially, advertiser expenditures for the news programs of the three major networks have declined substantially since 2020.
© 2024 Pew Research Center