{"id":311683,"date":"2025-06-26T15:28:13","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T19:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?prc_email_campaign=few-americans-pay-for-news-when-they-encounter-paywalls"},"modified":"2026-06-08T12:20:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T16:20:28","slug":"few-americans-pay-for-news-when-they-encounter-paywalls","status":"publish","type":"prc_email_campaign","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/newsletter\/the-briefing\/few-americans-pay-for-news-when-they-encounter-paywalls\/","title":{"rendered":"Few Americans pay for news when they encounter paywalls"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u2600\ufe0f Happy Thursday!<\/strong>\u00a0<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>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>In today<em>\u2019<\/em>s email:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\n<li><strong>Featured story:<\/strong> Zohran Mamdani\u2019s media strategy and campaign success<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>New from Pew Research Center:<\/strong> Despite encountering paywalls, most Americans don\u2019t pay for news<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>In other news:<\/strong> Washington Post to pilot program allowing sources to annotate stories<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Looking ahead:<\/strong> TikTok aims to support news influencers<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Chart of the week:<\/strong> Americans who hit paywalls often try to find the information elsewhere<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\ud83d\udd25\u00a0<strong>Featured story<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Zohran Mamdani<\/strong> is the apparent winner of this week\u2019s Democratic primary for New York City mayor, and some are connecting his success to his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2025\/06\/25\/politics\/zohran-mamdani-viral-videos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">viral videos<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2025\/06\/26\/zohran-mamdani-social-media-memes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">use of new media<\/a>. Mamdani has over 1 million followers on Instagram and hundreds of thousands on TikTok and X.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to a <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2024\/06\/12\/how-americans-navigate-politics-on-tiktok-x-facebook-and-instagram\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2024 Pew Research Center study<\/a>, about three-quarters of U.S. adults who use X (74%) say they see at least some content about politics on the site, as do 52% of Facebook users, 45% of TikTok users and 36% of Instagram users.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At 33 years old, Mamdani is close in age to a younger generation that is much more likely to get news on <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/fact-sheet\/news-platform-fact-sheet\/#who-uses-each-news-platform\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">social media in general<\/a> and on <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2024\/09\/17\/appendix-demographics-and-party-identification-of-regular-social-media-news-consumers-in-the-united-states\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">TikTok and Instagram in particular<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\ud83d\udea8 <strong>New from Pew Research Center<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>About three-quarters of Americans (74%) run into paywalls at least sometimes when they are looking for news online,<\/strong> including 38% who say they come across paywalled articles extremely often or often, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2025\/06\/24\/few-americans-pay-for-news-when-they-encounter-paywalls\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">new Pew Research Center survey<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the same time, <strong>the vast majority of Americans (83%) say they have not paid for news in the past year.<\/strong> Within this group, the most common reasons people cite for not paying are that they can find plenty of other news articles for free (49%) or that they are not interested enough to pay (32%).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\ud83d\udccc\u00a0<strong>In other news<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\n<li><strong>Washington Post<\/strong> to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/06\/25\/business\/washington-post-annotations-comments.html?partner=slack&amp;smid=sl-share\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">start pilot program<\/a> allowing sources to annotate stories\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Trump administration<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/06\/25\/trump-cuts-contracts-scientific-publisher?utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosam&amp;stream=top\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">terminates contracts<\/a> with scientific publisher Springer Nature\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Media Matters<\/strong> sues <strong>Federal Trade Commission,<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2025\/06\/23\/media-matters-sues-ftc-over-retaliatory-investigation-00419902\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">alleging retaliation<\/a> over reporting about extremist content on X\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n<li>German court <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c2ezg4wzr8yo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lifts ban<\/a> on <strong>magazine linked to far-right party<\/strong>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n<li>A look at the <strong>Center for Investigative Reporting\u2019s<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.niemanlab.org\/2025\/06\/what-it-takes-to-sue-openai-as-a-journalism-nonprofit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">copyright lawsuit<\/a> against <strong>OpenAI <\/strong>and <strong>Microsoft<\/strong>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n<li>How some journalists are <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/new-media-mainstream-substack-youtube-influencers-076dfb132475aa42c3e4ebe81f63eb9a\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">transitioning from legacy media<\/a> to <strong>independent journalism<\/strong>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>What Fox News<\/strong> hosts said ahead of U.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/style\/media\/2025\/06\/25\/fox-news-trump-iran-hannity-levin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">strikes on Iran<\/a>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Wisconsin Public Radio<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/current.org\/2025\/06\/wisconsin-public-radio-cuts-staff-will-end-shows-to-reduce-deficit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announces layoffs, ends four programs<\/a>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\ud83d\udcc5\u00a0<strong>Looking ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an effort to support <strong>news influencers<\/strong> on the platform, <strong>TikTok <\/strong>is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/06\/24\/scoop-tiktok-s-news-push-media-trends\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hiring a creator manager<\/a> responsible for \u201cmanaging and growing \u2018News\u2019 creators for North America.\u201d The share of U.S. TikTok users who regularly get news on the platform has grown rapidly in recent years. <strong>About half of all U.S. adults who use TikTok (52%) say they regularly get news there,<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2024\/09\/17\/more-americans-regularly-get-news-on-tiktok-especially-young-adults\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according to a 2024 survey<\/a>, up from 22% in 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Roughly three-in-ten news influencers (27%) are on TikTok, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2024\/11\/18\/americas-news-influencers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2024 Center study<\/a> that analyzed a sample of 500 news influencers identified on five major social media sites. <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2024\/11\/18\/news-influencers-on-tiktok\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">News influencers on TikTok<\/a> differ in some ways from those on Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube. For instance, TikTok is the only site of the five studied where news influencers who explicitly identify as right-leaning do not outnumber those who are explicitly left-leaning. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dive deeper into the data on <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2025\/01\/17\/a-closer-look-at-americans-experiences-with-news-on-tiktok\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Americans\u2019 experiences with news on TikTok<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\ud83d\udcca\u00a0<strong>Chart of the week<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This week\u2019s chart comes from the Center\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2025\/06\/24\/few-americans-pay-for-news-when-they-encounter-paywalls\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">new survey on paywalls<\/a>. Among U.S. adults who say they ever come across paywalls when looking for news online, 53% report that their first response is typically to <strong>look for the information elsewhere<\/strong> \u2013 and about a third (32%) say they <strong>give up on trying to access the information. <\/strong>Just 1% say their first reaction is to <strong>pay for access to the article.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-640-wide\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/06\/SR_25-06-24_paywalls_2.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\ud83d\udc4b That&#8217;s all for this week.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Briefing is compiled by Pew Research Center staff, including Naomi Forman-Katz, Jacob Liedke, Christopher St. Aubin, Luxuan Wang and Emily Tomasik. It is edited by Michael Lipka and copy edited by Anna Jackson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Do you like this newsletter? Email us at\u00a0<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>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2600\ufe0f Happy Thursday!\u00a0The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. Sign up here! In today\u2019s email: \ud83d\udd25\u00a0Featured story Zohran Mamdani is the apparent winner of this week\u2019s Democratic primary for New York City mayor, and some are connecting his success to his viral videos and use of new media. Mamdani has [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":5674,"template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","prc_watchers":[],"footnotes":"","prc_email_subject":"Few Americans pay for news when they encounter paywalls","prc_email_preview_text":"Plus, Mamdani's media strategy, TikTok to boost news influencers","prc_email_template_slug":"","prc_email_mailchimp_audience_id":"","prc_email_mailchimp_segment_id":"","prc_email_mailchimp_campaign_id":"","prc_email_mailchimp_campaign_admin_url":"","prc_email_mailchimp_campaign_status":"","prc_email_mailchimp_pending_send_at":"","prc_email_mailchimp_delayed_send_cancelled":""},"categories":[],"bylines":[],"prc_newsletter_list":[3083],"_post_visibility":[2643],"formats":[],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-311683","prc_email_campaign","type-prc_email_campaign","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","_post_visibility-hidden-on-index"],"label":"Newsletter","post_parent":0,"word_count":679,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/newsletter\/the-briefing\/few-americans-pay-for-news-when-they-encounter-paywalls\/","charts":[],"art_direction":{"A1":{"id":"5674","rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png?w=564&h=317&crop=1","width":564,"height":317,"chartArt":false},"A2":{"id":"5674","rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"A3":{"id":"5674","rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png?w=194&h=110&crop=1","width":194,"height":110,"chartArt":false},"A4":{"id":"5674","rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"XL":{"id":"5674","rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png?w=720&h=405&crop=1","width":720,"height":405,"chartArt":false},"social":{"id":"5674","rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png?w=1200&h=628&crop=1","width":1200,"height":628,"chartArt":false}},"_embeds":[],"prc_checklist":{},"watchChildPosts":false,"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[],"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"Few Americans pay for news when they encounter paywalls","description":"\u2600\ufe0f Happy Thursday!\u00a0The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. 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