{"id":288059,"date":"2026-02-12T15:40:30","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T20:40:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?post_type=newsletterglue&#038;p=288059"},"modified":"2026-02-12T15:40:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T20:40:32","slug":"the-briefing-2026-02-12","status":"publish","type":"newsletterglue","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/newsletter\/the-briefing\/the-briefing-2026-02-12\/","title":{"rendered":"Americans\u2019 complicated relationship with news"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-d1da814ca95bde0d 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>&nbsp;<em>The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information<\/em>.<em> <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/sign-up-for-the-briefing\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"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-f8591d0094b85413 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-e48fc5d394cf305e 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> A look at Illinois&#8217; new program giving tax credits to local news outlets\u00a0<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"ng-block\" style=\"padding-bottom:0px\"><strong>New from Pew Research Center: <\/strong>Americans\u2019 complicated relationship with news<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"ng-block\" style=\"padding-bottom:0px\"><strong>In other news:<\/strong> Washington Post publisher steps down after layoffs<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"ng-block\" style=\"padding-bottom:0px\"><strong>Looking ahead:<\/strong> TikTok announces new\u00a0\u2018Local Feed\u2019\u00a0based on users\u2019 location<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"ng-block\" style=\"padding-bottom:0px\"><strong>Chart of the week:<\/strong> Americans\u2019\u00a0confidence in journalists<\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-ee891bfae147432b 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-9f075f487d1308f5 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-5ce7044a2c90b620 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>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.niemanlab.org\/2026\/02\/for-the-past-year-illinois-has-been-giving-local-news-outlets-tax-credits-to-support-journalism-jobs-a-new-report-looks-at-how-its-going\/\">report released last week<\/a> looks at\u00a0<strong>the first year of Illinois\u2019 Local Journalism Sustainability Tax Incentive Program,<\/strong>\u00a0which created\u00a0the country\u2019s first refundable tax credits\u00a0to support local journalism jobs. In its first year, this new policy structure awarded over\u00a0<strong>$4 million in tax credits to support 260 local journalist jobs<\/strong>\u00a0at several types of local news outlets across the state.\u00a0<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-07cb9c07184f594d 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 vast majority of\u00a0Americans (85%) said in a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2024\/05\/07\/americans-views-on-the-financial-health-of-local-news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2024 Pew Research Center survey<\/a>\u00a0that they had not paid for local news in the past year, and a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2026\/02\/11\/few-say-americans-have-a-responsibility-to-pay-for-news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">new Center study<\/a>\u00a0found that just 8% of U.S. adults say individual Americans have a responsibility to pay for news.\u00a0<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-c34e0bb3ae40e28d 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 new survey asked Americans\u00a0<strong>how they think U.S. news organizations\u00a0<em>should\u00a0<\/em>make money.<\/strong>\u00a0Adults in the U.S. are most likely to say the main way news organizations should make money is through advertising or sponsorships (45%). A<strong>\u00a0much smaller share (10%)\u00a0say\u00a0it should be government funding.<\/strong>\u00a0Democrats are modestly more likely than Republicans to say news organizations\u2019 main source of revenue should be government funding (14% vs. 7%).\u00a0<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-989a8e67ff2fbe62 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-28dd789153481845 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\udea8 <strong>New from Pew Research Center<\/strong><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-1042d6c4ecec6556 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>Americans today&nbsp;describe&nbsp;a complicated relationship with the news. Most say being informed is essential for civic life \u2013 especially voting \u2013 yet many feel overwhelmed,&nbsp;skeptical&nbsp;and selective about how they engage with information, according to a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2026\/02\/11\/americans-complicated-relationship-with-news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">new Pew Research Center study<\/a>&nbsp;from the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/collections\/pew-knight-initiative\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pew-Knight Initiative<\/a>.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br>Among the key findings:&nbsp;<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-c63da34341260a2b 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\">Americans are evenly split between those who mostly get news because they are seeking it out and those who mostly let news find them. And about half of U.S. adults say they can stay informed even if they don&#8217;t actively follow the news.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"ng-block\" style=\"padding-bottom:0px\">Many have adjusted their news habits:<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Two-thirds say they have stopped getting news from a specific source, and six-in-ten say they have reduced their overall news intake.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"ng-block\" style=\"padding-bottom:0px\">Americans have far more confidence in their own ability to check the accuracy of a news story than in other people\u2019s ability to do so.\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-b505ae5e69cb9a56 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-097b28f4528573ab 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-139cd9597331c9b1 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>Washington Post<\/strong>\u00a0publisher\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2026\/02\/07\/media\/washington-post-will-lewis-publisher-resigns\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Will Lewis steps down<\/a>\u00a0after major layoffs last week\u00a0<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"ng-block\" style=\"padding-bottom:0px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2026\/02\/nexstar-tegna-merger-senate-hearing-1236714485\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Senators debate future of local TV news<\/a>\u00a0amid\u00a0<strong>Nexstar-Tegna<\/strong>\u00a0merger discussions and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/02\/07\/trump-nexstar-tegna-merger-00770466\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Trump\u2019s endorsement of the deal<\/a>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"ng-block\" style=\"padding-bottom:0px\"><strong>Hong Kong<\/strong>\u00a0media leader\u00a0<strong>Jimmy Lai<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2026\/feb\/09\/jimmy-lai-sentencing-china-hong-kong-pro-democracy-businessman\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sentenced to 20 years in prison<\/a>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"ng-block\" style=\"padding-bottom:0px\"><strong>Federal\u00a0Trade\u00a0Commission<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2026\/02\/12\/us-ftc-airs-concerns-over-allegations-that-apple-suppresses-right-wing-content-on-apple-news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">raises concerns<\/a>\u00a0about accusations that Apple News suppresses right-wing content\u00a0<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"ng-block\" style=\"padding-bottom:0px\">A look at\u00a0<strong>The New York Times\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0tool that\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.niemanlab.org\/2026\/02\/how-the-new-york-times-uses-a-custom-ai-tool-to-track-the-manosphere\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">tracks the \u201cmanosphere\u201d<\/a>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"ng-block\" style=\"padding-bottom:0px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/pittsburgh\/news\/potential-sale-pittsburgh-post-gazette\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Local efforts<\/a>\u00a0to rescue the\u00a0<strong>Pittsburgh Post-Gazette<\/strong>\u00a0stall\u00a0<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"ng-block\" style=\"padding-bottom:0px\"><strong>Courier,\u00a0<\/strong>left-leaning news group,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/02\/11\/courier-expands-to-nine-more-states\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">expands to nine more states<\/a>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"ng-block\" style=\"padding-bottom:0px\">With changes to\u00a0<strong>USPS,<\/strong>\u00a0subscribers are seeing\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.niemanlab.org\/2026\/02\/terribly-frustrating-after-usps-changes-more-newspapers-arent-reaching-subscribers-on-time\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">delays in newspaper deliveries<\/a>\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-e9bae52759719056 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-18d44a68234b0362 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-3bcb2d3f4ab2217f 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>TikTok&nbsp;<\/strong>has begun offering an&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2026\/02\/11\/tiktok-launches-an-opt-in-local-feed-in-the-u-s-leveraging-users-precise-location\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">optional \u201cLocal Feed\u201d<\/a>&nbsp;in the U.S. The new feature, which requires users to opt in to precise location sharing, will display content such as local news, events or restaurants based on the user\u2019s current location.&nbsp;<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-af7d23bf8e857344 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>Americans are increasingly getting local news from social media.&nbsp;<\/strong>About a quarter of U.S. adults (23%) say they prefer to get their local news via social media, according to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2024\/05\/07\/sources-of-local-news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a 2024 Center survey<\/a>, an increase from 15% who said this in 2018.&nbsp;<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-3825e59151fde938 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-95d22c2431f5be40 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-84a9db6746ac30d4 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 is from a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2026\/02\/11\/majority-of-americans-express-low-confidence-in-journalists-to-act-in-publics-best-interests\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">new Center analysis<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0<strong>Americans\u2019 confidence in journalists<\/strong>\u00a0to act in the best interests of the public. Fewer than half of U.S. adults say they have a great deal (6%) or a fair amount (37%) of confidence in journalists to act in the public\u2019s best interests, compared with more than half who say they have not too much confidence (40%) or no confidence at all (17%). Republicans are much less likely than Democrats to express confidence in journalists.\u00a0<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-fbffb954543ff32b wp-block-newsletterglue-image ng-block aligncenter size-full 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=\"ece5e6\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-12-141226.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-288066 ng-image not-transparent\" style=\"--dominant-color: #ece5e6; border-style:none;border-color:transparent\" width=\"437\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-12-141226.png 583w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-12-141226.png?resize=300,274 300w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-12-141226.png?resize=443,405 443w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-12-141226.png?resize=200,183 200w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-12-141226.png?resize=260,238 260w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-12-141226.png?resize=310,283 310w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-12-141226.png?resize=420,384 420w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-12-141226.png?resize=160,146 160w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-12-141226.png?resize=320,293 320w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 437px) 100vw, 437px\" \/><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-e79876534ef545ef 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-fbb9f2ee0918744d 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&#8217;s all for this week.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-9bd3b5399f2a9560 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, Christopher St. Aubin, Luxuan Wang, Emily Tomasik, Joanne Haner, and Sawyer Reed. It is edited by Michael Lipka and copy edited by David Kent.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div width=\"100%\" class=\"ng-block-24c99932f6aa1c32 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-03f71314c31142c8 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":693,"featured_media":5653,"template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_crdt_document":"","_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-288059","newsletterglue","type-newsletterglue","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","ngl_newsletter_cat-the-briefing"],"label":"Newsletter","post_parent":0,"word_count":760,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/newsletter\/the-briefing\/the-briefing-2026-02-12\/","_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\/288059","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\/693"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288059"},{"taxonomy":"ngl_newsletter_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ngl_newsletter_cat?post=288059"},{"taxonomy":"level_of_effort","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/level_of_effort?post=288059"},{"taxonomy":"primary_audience","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/primary_audience?post=288059"},{"taxonomy":"information_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/information_type?post=288059"},{"taxonomy":"formats","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/formats?post=288059"},{"taxonomy":"_fund_pool","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_fund_pool?post=288059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}