Audiences are declining for traditional news media in the U.S. – with some exceptions
A declining share of U.S. adults are following the news closely, and audiences are shrinking for several older types of news media.
Elisa Shearer is a senior researcher at Pew Research Center, where she focuses on U.S. media consumption and attitudes. She is the author of reports on news consumption on social media, U.S. media polarization, Americans’ changing media habits, and media sector data. She has a master’s degree in communication studies from Georgetown University.
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A Profile of the Top-Ranked Podcasts in the U.S.
True crime is the most common topic, making up 24% of top-ranked podcasts; 15% of the top podcasts focus on news. The next most common topics are politics and government (10%); entertainment, pop culture and the arts (9%); and self-help and relationships (8%).
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Black U.S. podcast listeners choose distinct topics, have different reasons for listening than other groups
At least half of Black podcast listeners regularly listen to podcasts about entertainment and pop culture; self-help and relationships; comedy; and money and finance.
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Podcasts as a Source of News and Information
Roughly half of U.S. adults say they have listened to a podcast in the past year, including one-in-five who report listening at least a few times a week. Most podcast listeners say this experience includes hearing news, which they largely expect to be mostly accurate. Large shares of listeners say they turn to podcasts for entertainment, learning or having something to listen to while doing something else.
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After increasing in 2020, layoffs at large U.S. newspapers and digital news sites declined in 2021
In 2021, 11% of high-circulation newspapers experienced layoffs, compared with three times that share the year before (33%).
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Nonprofit news outlets are playing a growing role in statehouse coverage
Nonprofit news reporters now account for 20% of the nation’s total statehouse press corps, up from 6% eight years ago.
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Total Number of U.S. Statehouse Reporters Rises, but Fewer Are on the Beat Full Time
The total number of journalists assigned to state capitol buildings is up 11% since 2014, though figures vary widely by state. And as newspapers employ fewer statehouse reporters, nonprofits are filling much of the void.
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The number of full-time statehouse reporters at U.S. newspapers has declined 34% since 2014
There are 245 newspaper reporters who cover the statehouse full time in 2022 in the United States, down from 374 in 2014.
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How Americans tweet about the news
Here is how the average adult Twitter user in the U.S. tweeted about the news in 2021, as well as how these patterns have changed since 2015.
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News on Twitter: Consumed by Most Users and Trusted by Many
Fully 70% of U.S. adult Twitter news consumers say they have used Twitter to follow live news events, up from 59% who said this in 2015.
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