News Habits & Media

A 46% plurality of U.S. adults say the president did something wrong regarding Ukraine and it was enough to justify his removal from office.

There are notable differences between white and black Democrats in news consumption habits and assessments of recent political events and figures in the news.

Data in the American News Pathways project is drawn from The American Trends Panel, a nationally representative panel of randomly selected U.S. adults. Read for more information about this survey's methodology.

59% of Americans are following news about the 2020 candidates closely, but far fewer are following it very closely at this stage of the race.

There are differences among Democrats in perceptions of the front-runners’ political views by race and ethnicity, age, education and ideology.

In total, 20% of all Democrats get political news only from outlets with left-leaning audiences, while 18% of all Republicans do so only from outlets with right-leaning audiences.

Majorities say the democratic principles tested on our survey are at least somewhat important. But often, underwhelming percentages describe democratic rights and institutions as very important.

Nearly three out of four U.S. adults say that, in general, it’s important for journalists to function as watchdogs over elected officials.

66% of Americans feel worn out by the amount of news there is these days – a feeling that has persisted for several years now.

Concern is highest among people who follow political news most closely, older adults and those who display more knowledge about politics in general.