Where Americans Get Their News
Television is the main place Americans say they turn to for news about current events (55%), leading the Internet, at 21%. Nine percent say newspapers or other print publications are their main news source, followed by radio, at 6%.
These results are based on a Gallup poll of 2,048 national adults conducted June 20-24, in which Americans were asked to say, unaided, what they consider to be their main source of news about U.S. and global events.
More than half the references to television are general, with 26% simply saying they watch television or TV news, 4% saying they watch local TV news, and 2% saying they watch the "evening news." The two leading 24-hour cable news channels -- Fox News and CNN -- are named by 8% and 7%, respectively. However, no other specific channel -- including MSNBC, PBS, BBC, and all of the U.S. broadcast networks that once dominated the news landscape -- is mentioned by more than 1% of Americans.
The vast majority of those citing the Internet -- 18% of all Americans -- either mention the Internet generally or say they get their news "online." Two percent identify Facebook, Twitter, or social media as their source, while 1% mention a specific online news site.
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The demographic profile of Americans who name Fox News as their main news source is similar to the profile of Republicans, and for good reason. Two-thirds of core Fox News viewers identify themselves as Republican, and 94% either identify as or lean Republican. By contrast, 46% of core CNN viewers identify as Democrat, and 63% identify as or lean Democratic.
Relatedly, 79% of the Fox News group describes their political views as conservative, 17% as moderate, and 2% as liberal. Among the CNN group, 21% are conservative, 51% are moderate, and 26% are liberal. Just 2% of the Fox News group, compared with 57% of the CNN group, approves of the job President Barack Obama is doing.
