{"id":283248,"date":"2025-12-18T14:35:05","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T19:35:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?post_type=newsletterglue&#038;p=283248"},"modified":"2025-12-18T15:22:55","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T20:22:55","slug":"the-briefing-2025-12-18","status":"publish","type":"newsletterglue","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/newsletter\/the-briefing\/the-briefing-2025-12-18\/","title":{"rendered":"Netflix\u00a0strikes\u00a0video podcast\u00a0deals with\u00a0iHeartMedia and Barstool Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-3d587c2418d4fd70 wp-block-newsletterglue-text ng-block\" style=\"color:#2a2a2a\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" align=\"none\" style=\"font-size:16px;font-family:Georgia;line-height:1.6;font-weight:normal;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:20px;padding-right:20px;text-align:none;color:#2a2a2a\"><p><strong>\u2600\ufe0f Happy Thursday!<\/strong>\u00a0<em>The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information<\/em>.<em> <a data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/sign-up-for-the-briefing\/\" href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/sign-up-for-the-briefing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Sign up here!<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-bd9bad67d049de22 wp-block-newsletterglue-text ng-block\" style=\"color:#2a2a2a\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" align=\"none\" style=\"font-size:16px;font-family:Georgia;line-height:1.6;font-weight:normal;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:20px;padding-right:20px;text-align:none;color:#2a2a2a\"><p><em>The Briefing will be on hiatus until Thursday, Jan. 8. <\/em><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-b89fc5caf000ae84 wp-block-newsletterglue-text ng-block\" style=\"color:#2a2a2a\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" align=\"none\" style=\"font-size:16px;font-family:Georgia;line-height:1.6;font-weight:normal;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:20px;padding-right:20px;text-align:none;color:#2a2a2a\"><p><em>Happy holidays!\u00a0<\/em>\u2744\ufe0f<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-925a30c16ff84579 wp-block-newsletterglue-text ng-block\" style=\"color:#2a2a2a\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" align=\"none\" style=\"font-size:16px;font-family:Georgia;line-height:1.6;font-weight:normal;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:20px;padding-right:20px;text-align:none;color:#2a2a2a\"><p><strong>In today<em>\u2019<\/em>s email:<\/strong><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-70cc242c11aae284 wp-block-newsletterglue-list ng-block\" style=\"color:#2a2a2a\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" style=\"font-size:16px;font-family:Georgia;line-height:1.6;font-weight:normal;padding-top:15px;padding-bottom:15px;padding-left:40px;padding-right:20px;color:#2a2a2a\"><ul class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-list\"><li class=\"ng-block\" style=\"padding-bottom:0px\"><strong>Featured story:<\/strong> Netflix\u00a0strikes\u00a0video podcast\u00a0deals\u00a0with\u00a0iHeartMedia and Barstool Sports<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"ng-block\" style=\"padding-bottom:0px\"><strong>In other news:<\/strong> Trump files\u00a0$10 billion\u00a0lawsuit against BBC over editing of documentary<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"ng-block\" style=\"padding-bottom:0px\"><strong>Looking ahead:<\/strong> Wall Street Journal launches newsletter-focused opinion brand<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"ng-block\" style=\"padding-bottom:0px\"><strong>Chart of the week:<\/strong> Party differences in trust and distrust of news sources<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"ng-block\" style=\"padding-bottom:0px\"><strong>Director\u2019s note: <\/strong>Navigating the news in the age of AI and influencers<\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-833604ba0153bed2 wp-block-newsletterglue-spacer ng-block\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" height=\"25\" style=\"height: 25px !important\" data-height=\"25px\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-5de4cc03c455796b wp-block-newsletterglue-text ng-block\" style=\"color:#2a2a2a\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" align=\"none\" style=\"font-size:18px;font-family:Georgia;line-height:1.6;font-weight:normal;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:20px;padding-right:20px;text-align:none;color:#2a2a2a\"><p>\ud83d\udd25&nbsp;<strong>Featured story<\/strong><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-0d8765c806cb2f16 wp-block-newsletterglue-text ng-block\" style=\"color:#2a2a2a\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" align=\"none\" style=\"font-size:16px;font-family:Georgia;line-height:1.6;font-weight:normal;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:20px;padding-right:20px;text-align:none;color:#2a2a2a\"><p>This week,\u00a0<strong>Netflix\u00a0<\/strong>announced deals with\u00a0<strong>iHeartMedia\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0<strong>Barstool Sports<\/strong>\u00a0to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/12\/16\/business\/media\/netflix-iheartmedia-video-podcasts.html?unlocked_article_code=1.9U8.iVgR.boo4tURwYh9w&amp;smid=url-share\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">publish video podcast episodes\u00a0from\u00a0select shows exclusively on Netflix<\/a>\u00a0beginning\u00a0in early 2026, furthering the streaming platform\u2019s push into podcasting.\u00a0<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-d0abc5303b68236f wp-block-newsletterglue-text ng-block\" style=\"color:#2a2a2a\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" align=\"none\" style=\"font-size:16px;font-family:Georgia;line-height:1.6;font-weight:normal;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:20px;padding-right:20px;text-align:none;color:#2a2a2a\"><p>Just over half of U.S. adults (54%) say&nbsp;they\u2019ve&nbsp;listened to a podcast in the past 12 months, according&nbsp;to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/fact-sheet\/podcasts-and-news-fact-sheet\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a&nbsp;Pew Research&nbsp;Center survey from August<\/a>. And 72%&nbsp;of Americans&nbsp;say&nbsp;they ever watch programming on Netflix, making it one of the most widely used streaming platforms,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2025\/07\/01\/83-of-us-adults-use-streaming-services-far-fewer-subscribe-to-cable-or-satellite-tv\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according to an April survey<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-35d0984de65182be wp-block-newsletterglue-text ng-block\" style=\"color:#2a2a2a\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" align=\"none\" style=\"font-size:16px;font-family:Georgia;line-height:1.6;font-weight:normal;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:20px;padding-right:20px;text-align:none;color:#2a2a2a\"><p>Videos are also common in podcasting: A 2023 analysis found that&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2023\/06\/15\/a-profile-of-the-top-ranked-podcasts-in-the-u-s\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">about half of top podcasts (51%) produce a video<\/a>&nbsp;to&nbsp;accompany&nbsp;most episodes.&nbsp;<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-777d406caaad5907 wp-block-newsletterglue-spacer ng-block\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" height=\"25\" style=\"height: 25px !important\" data-height=\"25px\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-6d1f332f481a4bb3 wp-block-newsletterglue-text ng-block\" style=\"color:#2a2a2a\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" align=\"none\" style=\"font-size:18px;font-family:Georgia;line-height:1.6;font-weight:normal;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:20px;padding-right:20px;text-align:none;color:#2a2a2a\"><p>\ud83d\udccc&nbsp;<strong>In other news<\/strong><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-e9088fd168e7a18e wp-block-newsletterglue-list ng-block\" style=\"color:#2a2a2a\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" style=\"font-size:16px;font-family:Georgia;line-height:1.6;font-weight:normal;padding-top:15px;padding-bottom:15px;padding-left:40px;padding-right:20px;color:#2a2a2a\"><ul class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-list\"><li class=\"ng-block\" style=\"padding-bottom:0px\"><strong>President Donald\u00a0Trump\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/12\/15\/us\/politics\/trump-sues-bbc.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">files\u00a0$10 billion\u00a0lawsuit against BBC<\/a>\u00a0over\u00a0editing of documentary\u00a0<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"ng-block\" style=\"padding-bottom:0px\"><strong>FCC\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/business\/2025\/12\/17\/brendan-carr-said-fcc-isnt-independent-its-website-quickly-updated\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">updates website wording<\/a>\u00a0after\u00a0<strong>Brendan Carr<\/strong>\u00a0states agency\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0independent in Senate committee hearing\u00a0<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"ng-block\" style=\"padding-bottom:0px\"><strong>Arkansas\u00a0<\/strong>will\u00a0be\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nwahomepage.com\/news\/featured-stories\/arkansas-pbs-to-rebrand-as-arkansas-tv-ends-pbs-affiliation-in-2026\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the first state to end its PBS affiliation<\/a>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"ng-block\" style=\"padding-bottom:0px\">Spanish-language community radio stations\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/current.org\/2025\/12\/how-spanish-language-community-stations-are-navigating-immigration-crackdowns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">adapt in response to immigration crackdowns<\/a>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"ng-block\" style=\"padding-bottom:0px\"><strong>CBS News<\/strong>\u00a0to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/business\/business-news\/cbs-news-town-halls-debates-jd-vance-god-feminism-1236453991\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">host a series of primetime town halls and debates<\/a>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"ng-block\" style=\"padding-bottom:0px\"><strong>U.S. broadcaster E.W.\u00a0Scripps board<\/strong>\u00a0rejects\u00a0<strong>Sinclair\u2019s\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2025\/12\/16\/ew-scripps-rejects-sinclairs-takeover-bid.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">acquisition proposal<\/a>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"ng-block\" style=\"padding-bottom:0px\">A look at a\u00a0<strong>Bay Area radio station\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-media-fcc-kcbs-5dbed5c466771d53e2c7bcc5da362bf6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">troubles with the Trump administration<\/a>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"ng-block\" style=\"padding-bottom:0px\"><strong>Warner Bros. Discovery board<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2025\/12\/17\/media\/wbd-paramount-ellison-netflix-warner-bros-offer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recommends shareholders reject<\/a>\u00a0<strong>Paramount\u00a0<\/strong>deal in favor of\u00a0<strong>Netflix\u00a0<\/strong>proposal\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-b2ee380fa4f26626 wp-block-newsletterglue-spacer ng-block\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" height=\"20\" style=\"height: 20px !important\" data-height=\"20px\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-63611554ccc4e083 wp-block-newsletterglue-text ng-block\" style=\"color:#2a2a2a\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" align=\"none\" style=\"font-size:18px;font-family:Georgia;line-height:1.6;font-weight:normal;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:20px;padding-right:20px;text-align:none;color:#2a2a2a\"><p>\ud83d\udcc5&nbsp;<strong>Looking ahead<\/strong><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-243862809db3ec4c wp-block-newsletterglue-text ng-block\" style=\"color:#2a2a2a\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" align=\"none\" style=\"font-size:16px;font-family:Georgia;line-height:1.6;font-weight:normal;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:20px;padding-right:20px;text-align:none;color:#2a2a2a\"><p>This week, the\u00a0<strong>Wall Street Journal<\/strong>\u00a0launched \u201cFree Expression,\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/12\/15\/wsj-opinion-substack-free-expression\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a newsletter-focused opinion brand<\/a>\u00a0expanding its opinion coverage beyond its current business and financial focus. \u201cFree Expression\u201d\u00a0will exist as a section of the paper\u2019s website,\u00a0and\u00a0readers can also access the new opinion content on Substack.\u00a0<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-8cfd557fd6f515b6 wp-block-newsletterglue-text ng-block\" style=\"color:#2a2a2a\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" align=\"none\" style=\"font-size:16px;font-family:Georgia;line-height:1.6;font-weight:normal;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:20px;padding-right:20px;text-align:none;color:#2a2a2a\"><p>In a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2025\/05\/13\/what-is-news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2025 Center analysis asking what\u00a0\u201cnews\u201d\u00a0is to Americans today<\/a>, we find people make clear distinctions between\u00a0\u201cnews\u201d\u00a0and opinion or commentary, emphasizing the idea of news as\u00a0\u201cjust the facts.\u201d\u00a0At the same time, views of news as not being\u00a0\u201cbiased\u201d\u00a0or\u00a0\u201copinionated\u201d\u00a0can conflict with people\u2019s actual preferences. For instance, 55% of Americans say it\u2019s at least somewhat important that their news sources share their political views.\u00a0<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-cd10379014d03809 wp-block-newsletterglue-spacer ng-block\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" height=\"25\" style=\"height: 25px !important\" data-height=\"25px\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-30e64a5a25a64676 wp-block-newsletterglue-text ng-block\" style=\"color:#2a2a2a\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" align=\"none\" style=\"font-size:18px;font-family:Georgia;line-height:1.6;font-weight:normal;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:20px;padding-right:20px;text-align:none;color:#2a2a2a\"><p>\ud83d\udcca&nbsp;<strong>Chart of the week<\/strong><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-a5117a123c3a5039 wp-block-newsletterglue-text ng-block\" style=\"color:#2a2a2a\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" align=\"none\" style=\"font-size:16px;font-family:Georgia;line-height:1.6;font-weight:normal;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:20px;padding-right:20px;text-align:none;color:#2a2a2a\"><p>This week\u2019s chart \u2013 one of the Center\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2025\/12\/15\/our-favorite-data-visualizations-of-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">favorite data visualizations of 2025<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 comes from our study on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2025\/06\/10\/the-political-gap-in-americans-news-sources\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Americans\u2019 use of and trust in 30 major news sources<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-e9e4f458f9093a17 wp-block-newsletterglue-text ng-block\" style=\"color:#2a2a2a\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" align=\"none\" style=\"font-size:16px;font-family:Georgia;line-height:1.6;font-weight:normal;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:20px;padding-right:20px;text-align:none;color:#2a2a2a\"><p>Each dot in this graphic&nbsp;represents&nbsp;a news source, while its size shows how many people have heard of the news source. The dots are placed along a trust\/distrust axis, where dots that are plotted farther to the right have a higher ratio of trust to distrust \u2013 and vice versa. Responses are also grouped by party affiliation, showing that Republicans and GOP leaners distrust more than trust most of the outlets in this study, while the opposite is true of Democrats and Democratic&nbsp;leaners.&nbsp;<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-a97acdd28551427b wp-block-newsletterglue-spacer ng-block\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" height=\"20\" style=\"height: 20px !important\" data-height=\"20px\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-8ccf91005f8bece8 wp-block-newsletterglue-image ng-block aligncenter size-640-wide is-resized\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" align=\"center\" style=\"padding-top:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;padding-right:0px\"><img data-dominant-color=\"edeaeb\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/12\/SR_25.12.15_data-visualizations_7.png?w=640\" alt=\"A beeswarm plot showing that, among 30 news sources in our survey, Democrats have more trust than distrust in most of them, while Republicans tend to be more distrustful.\" class=\"wp-image-282919 ng-image not-transparent\" style=\"--dominant-color: #edeaeb; border-style:none;border-color:transparent\" width=\"450\" height=\"554\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/12\/SR_25.12.15_data-visualizations_7.png 1680w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/12\/SR_25.12.15_data-visualizations_7.png?resize=244,300 244w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/12\/SR_25.12.15_data-visualizations_7.png?resize=768,945 768w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/12\/SR_25.12.15_data-visualizations_7.png?resize=832,1024 832w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/12\/SR_25.12.15_data-visualizations_7.png?resize=1248,1536 1248w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/12\/SR_25.12.15_data-visualizations_7.png?resize=1664,2048 1664w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/12\/SR_25.12.15_data-visualizations_7.png?resize=329,405 329w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/12\/SR_25.12.15_data-visualizations_7.png?resize=200,246 200w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/12\/SR_25.12.15_data-visualizations_7.png?resize=260,320 260w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/12\/SR_25.12.15_data-visualizations_7.png?resize=310,382 310w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/12\/SR_25.12.15_data-visualizations_7.png?resize=420,517 420w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/12\/SR_25.12.15_data-visualizations_7.png?resize=640,788 640w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/12\/SR_25.12.15_data-visualizations_7.png?resize=740,911 740w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/12\/SR_25.12.15_data-visualizations_7.png?resize=1400,1723 1400w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/12\/SR_25.12.15_data-visualizations_7.png?resize=160,197 160w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/12\/SR_25.12.15_data-visualizations_7.png?resize=320,394 320w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-ffa62090b09a6c50 wp-block-newsletterglue-spacer ng-block\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" height=\"20\" style=\"height: 20px !important\" data-height=\"20px\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-453b193d7d9bc356 wp-block-newsletterglue-spacer ng-block\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" height=\"20\" style=\"height: 20px !important\" data-height=\"20px\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-e9a8c1e4fd9c7719 wp-block-newsletterglue-text ng-block\" style=\"color:#2a2a2a\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" align=\"none\" style=\"font-size:16px;font-family:Georgia;line-height:1.6;font-weight:normal;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:20px;padding-right:20px;text-align:none;color:#2a2a2a\"><p>\ud83d\udca1\u00a0<strong>Director\u2019s note<\/strong><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-db573d300316dc52 wp-block-newsletterglue-text ng-block\" style=\"color:#2a2a2a\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" align=\"none\" style=\"font-size:16px;font-family:Georgia;line-height:1.6;font-weight:normal;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:20px;padding-right:20px;text-align:none;color:#2a2a2a\"><p><em>Insights from <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/staff\/katerina-eva-matsa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Katerina Eva Matsa<\/a>, director of news and information research:<\/em><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-6b6623e1428ff76b wp-block-newsletterglue-text ng-block\" style=\"color:#2a2a2a\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" align=\"none\" style=\"font-size:16px;font-family:Georgia;line-height:1.6;font-weight:normal;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:20px;padding-right:20px;text-align:none;color:#2a2a2a\"><p>In 2026, the challenge\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0finding news\u00a0\u2013\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0knowing what to trust.\u00a0Artificial\u00a0intelligence, influencers and polarization are rewriting the rules.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-25458b92c2740b2b wp-block-newsletterglue-text ng-block\" style=\"color:#2a2a2a\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" align=\"none\" style=\"font-size:16px;font-family:Georgia;line-height:1.6;font-weight:normal;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:20px;padding-right:20px;text-align:none;color:#2a2a2a\"><p>As we look ahead, one question looms large: What does trust in news look like in 2026? At Pew Research Center,\u00a0we\u2019ve\u00a0found that Americans increasingly struggle to separate fact from fiction online. Three forces are reshaping this challenge:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-f57dfc0d40ece5c2 wp-block-newsletterglue-list ng-block\" style=\"color:#2a2a2a\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" style=\"font-size:16px;font-family:Georgia;line-height:1.6;font-weight:normal;padding-top:15px;padding-bottom:15px;padding-left:40px;padding-right:20px;color:#2a2a2a\"><ul class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-list\"><li class=\"ng-block\" style=\"padding-bottom:0px\">Generative AI is&nbsp;emerging&nbsp;as a new gateway to news, promising convenience but raising concerns about transparency and accuracy.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"ng-block\" style=\"padding-bottom:0px\">Influencers are becoming news anchors for younger audiences, signaling a shift from institutional credibility to personality-driven trust.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"ng-block\" style=\"padding-bottom:0px\">Polarization continues to fracture shared reality, making verification not just a technical hurdle but a civic one.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-8e9b1de8d272ea8e wp-block-newsletterglue-text ng-block\" style=\"color:#2a2a2a\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" align=\"none\" style=\"font-size:16px;font-family:Georgia;line-height:1.6;font-weight:normal;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:20px;padding-right:20px;text-align:none;color:#2a2a2a\"><p>The future of journalism may hinge on whether trust migrates from institutions to individuals\u00a0\u2013\u00a0or to algorithms. The coming year\u00a0won\u2019t\u00a0just test the resilience of traditional journalism; it will test whether society can\u00a0maintain\u00a0a shared sense of reality in an information ecosystem\u00a0optimized\u00a0for speed,\u00a0personalization\u00a0and\u00a0engagement.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-aeac216385ccc7cc wp-block-newsletterglue-text ng-block\" style=\"color:#2a2a2a\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" align=\"none\" style=\"font-size:16px;font-family:Georgia;line-height:1.6;font-weight:normal;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:20px;padding-right:20px;text-align:none;color:#2a2a2a\"><p><em>\ud83d\udc4b That\u2019s all for this week.<\/em> <\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-25cce968178011ee wp-block-newsletterglue-text ng-block\" style=\"color:#2a2a2a\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" align=\"none\" style=\"font-size:16px;font-family:Georgia;line-height:1.6;font-weight:normal;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:20px;padding-right:20px;text-align:none;color:#2a2a2a\"><p>The Briefing is compiled by Pew Research Center staff, including Naomi Forman-Katz, Jacob Liedke, Christopher St. Aubin, Luxuan Wang, Emily Tomasik, Joanne Haner, Sawyer Reed and Katerina Eva Matsa. It is edited by Kirsten Eddy and copy edited by Mia Hennen.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-0691a97f49f26943 wp-block-newsletterglue-text ng-block\" style=\"color:#2a2a2a\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" align=\"none\" style=\"font-size:16px;font-family:Georgia;line-height:1.6;font-weight:normal;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:20px;padding-right:20px;text-align:none;color:#2a2a2a\"><p><em>Do you like this newsletter? Email us at&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:journalism@pewresearch.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">journalism@pewresearch.org<\/a> or fill out this <a href=\"https:\/\/us1.list-manage.com\/survey?u=434f5d1199912232d416897e4&amp;id=449f3c3d35&amp;attribution=false\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/us1.list-manage.com\/survey?u=434f5d1199912232d416897e4&amp;id=449f3c3d35&amp;attribution=false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">two-question survey<\/a> to tell us what you think<\/em>.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-47241060116ee753 wp-block-newsletterglue-text ng-block\" style=\"color:#2a2a2a\"><div><div><div class=\"ng-block-td\" align=\"none\" style=\"font-size:16px;font-family:Georgia;line-height:1.6;font-weight:normal;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:20px;padding-right:20px;text-align:none;color:#2a2a2a\"><p><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":613,"featured_media":5674,"template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","_webview":"blog","subject_line":"","datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":""},"tags":[],"ngl_newsletter_cat":[2042],"level_of_effort":[],"primary_audience":[],"information_type":[],"formats":[],"_fund_pool":[],"class_list":["post-283248","newsletterglue","type-newsletterglue","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","ngl_newsletter_cat-the-briefing"],"label":"Newsletter","post_parent":0,"word_count":824,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/newsletter\/the-briefing\/the-briefing-2025-12-18\/","_embeds":[],"table_of_contents":[],"datacite_doi":"","prepublish_checks":{},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newsletterglue\/283248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newsletterglue"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/newsletterglue"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/613"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283248"},{"taxonomy":"ngl_newsletter_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ngl_newsletter_cat?post=283248"},{"taxonomy":"level_of_effort","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/level_of_effort?post=283248"},{"taxonomy":"primary_audience","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/primary_audience?post=283248"},{"taxonomy":"information_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/information_type?post=283248"},{"taxonomy":"formats","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/formats?post=283248"},{"taxonomy":"_fund_pool","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_fund_pool?post=283248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}