News Use Across Social Media Platforms 2018
Most Americans continue to get news on social media, even though many have concerns about its accuracy.
Many Facebook users don’t understand how the site’s news feed works
Around half of U.S. adults who use Facebook say they do not understand why certain posts but not others are included in their news feed. Older users are particularly likely to say they do not understand the workings of the news feed.
5 facts about the state of the news media in 2017
Audiences for nearly every major sector of the U.S. news media fell in 2017 except for radio. Cable news revenue continued to rise, as did digital ad revenue.
About a third of large U.S. newspapers have suffered layoffs since 2017
Newspaper layoffs have far from abated in the past year, and digital-native news outlets are also suffering losses. At least 36% of the largest U.S. newspapers and at least 23% of the highest-traffic digital-native news outlets experienced layoffs between January 2017 and April 2018.
Activism in the Social Media Age
As the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag turns 5 years old, a look at its evolution on Twitter and how Americans view social media's impact on political and civic engagement
Many tweeted about immigration news in Trump’s first month in office, but frequent users drove traffic
About eight-in-ten Twitter users who tweeted about immigration with a link in the first month of the Trump presidency shared at least one tweet that had a link to a news site.
The news that bots share on Twitter tends not to focus on politics
On Twitter, suspected bots are far more active in sharing links to news sites focusing on nonpolitical content than to sites with a political focus.
Distinguishing Between Factual and Opinion Statements in the News
The politically aware, digitally savvy and those more trusting of the news media fare better in differentiating factual statements from opinions.
Q&A: Telling the difference between factual and opinion statements in the news
Read a Q&A with Amy Mitchell, director of journalism research at Pew Research Center, on a new report that explores Americans' ability to distinguish factual news statements from opinions.
Across Western Europe, public news media are widely used and trusted sources of news
In seven Western European countries surveyed, the top main source for news is a public news organization – such as the BBC in the UK, Sveriges Television/Radio (SVT/Radio) in Sweden or ARD in Germany – rather than a private one.
