Across eight Western European countries, people with populist leanings have more negative attitudes about the news media than do those with non-populist views.
U.S. adults are mostly against government action that could limit people’s ability to access and publish information online. There is more support for steps by technology companies.
A global median of 75% want their news media to be unbiased when covering political issues, yet many say the news media do a poor job of reporting on political issues fairly.
During the early days of the administration, similar storylines were covered across outlets, but the types of sources cited and assessments of Trump’s actions differed.
Overall, 36% of Americans get science news at least a few times a week and three-in-ten actively seek it. Most get science news from general news outlets, but more see specialty sources as being accurate.
Roughly nine-in-ten Democrats say news media criticism keeps leaders in line (sometimes called the news media’s “watchdog role”), while only about four-in-ten Republicans say the same.
This project – using the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, as a case study model – examines the question of how media coverage of a current issue in the news relates to public interest in the issue and its relevance to their own lives.
Many Americans turned to Google to learn about the Flint water crisis. An analysis of aggregated searches over time illustrates how, in today's digital environment, public interest shifts as a story unfolds.