Politics & Media

More Americans hold positive than negative views of the news media’s COVID-19 coverage, but Republicans and Democrats remain starkly divided.

The percentage who say journalists have exaggerated the risks of the outbreak has decreased notably in recent weeks.

More than half of all tweets sent by members of the U.S. Congress between March 11 and 21 were related to the coronavirus outbreak.

Americans turn to a wide range of media outlets for political and election news, but Fox News and CNN stand out as especially common sources.

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

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.

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.

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

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

Americans who closely follow political news are more likely to have confidence that the public will accept election results. And that's true across party boundaries.