More than four in ten Americans say they follow news about candidates for president very or fairly closely. And more than half say that made-up or inaccurate election news confuses them. Yet a majority of Americans also believe that if reporters were to focus more on the candidates’ policy positions and leadership abilities, the public would be better informed.
Most voters cite television as their main source of presidential news, followed by online sources like the internet, social media platforms, and local radio. But one in ten cites a news outlet other than these top choices. These include print and broadcast newspapers, magazines, and online-only outlets like X.
While the US government is the most frequent source of political news, its accounts of events are not trusted by many reporters. After the U2 spy plane incident, when the White House lied to the public about what happened, many journalists lost their willingness to take at face value the government’s accounting of events.
The horserace narrative in the 2020 campaign was a major theme of both CBS and Fox’s coverage. But while CBS’s horserace reports on Biden tended to downplay poll numbers, its overall tone was positive compared to the negative tone of Fox’s. In contrast, Fox’s Trump horserace reports matched the tone that might be expected from a conservative news outlet. In addition, the number of Trump negative horserace reports outpaced positive ones. The balance between the two was close to what’s been typical of past election cycle horserace reporting.
About the Author
