Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

News Habits & Media

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News Media Tracker

Americans now navigate a quickly changing information environment, with a wide variety of news sources across many different platforms and channels. Explore data on how Americans use, trust and distrust 30 major news sources with our interactive tool.

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    A Talk Tango: Anti-Clinton Hosts Praise Obama

    The Scooter Libby verdict triggered a noisy debate on talk shows last week, even as the radio talkers were quiet about the problems at Walter Reed. But the real surprise may be in how some conservative hosts are treating the 2008 Democratic presidential frontrunners.

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    Today’s Journalists Less Prominent

    Summary of Findings The increasingly fragmented media landscape has diminished the prominence of the nation’s top journalists. Two decades ago, the vast majority of Americans had a “favorite” journalist or news person, and the top picks were representatives of the big three broadcast television networks. Today, only a slim majority can name the journalist they […]

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    A Verdict on the Media’s Verdict on the Libby Trial

    The jury has spoken in the perjury and obstruction trial of Scooter Libby that so intimately involved the journalism profession itself. We know the vice-president’s former top aide was found guilty. But who and what else did the media implicate in its post-verdict coverage?

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    Anna Nicole Audience Praises Press Coverage

    Summary of Findings Anna Nicole Smith’s death and the bizarre aftermath continue to fascinate a significant segment of the American public and the mainstream media. During the second full week of coverage of the story, interest remained steady and coverage actually increased – as portions of the legal proceedings concerning her body were carried live […]

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    Too Much Anna Nicole, But the Saga Attracts an Audience

    Summary of Findings Most Americans feel the press has gone overboard in covering the death of Anna Nicole Smith. Fully 61% believe the Smith story has been overcovered, far more than the number saying that about any other recent story. Even so, a sizable minority (11%) followed Smith’s death more closely than any of last […]

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    Hands Off The High School Paper

    Student journalists and school personnel have been known to clash on occasion over what news is fit to print. Now precedent-setting legislation wending its way through the Washington State House is intended to give students more control over and responsibility for the content of the school publication.

Signature Reports

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Pew Research Center illustration for America's News Influencers report; photos via Getty Images

America’s News Influencers

This study explores the makeup of the social media news influencer universe, including who they are, what content they create and who their audiences are.