Americans And News: It's Complicated

Americans have a complicated, often conflicted relationship with the news, according to a major new study from the Pew Research Center's Pew-Knight Initiative. While most U.S. adults view staying informed as a vital civic duty—especially for making informed voting decisions—many simultaneously feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information, skeptical of sources, and highly selective in what they consume.

The survey of 3,560 U.S. adults (conducted December 8–14, 2025) reveals a core tension: Eight-in-ten Americans believe people have a responsibility to be informed when voting, yet far fewer see regularly following the news as extremely or very important in everyday life. About half say they can remain adequately informed even without actively seeking out news.

News consumption habits split evenly between active and passive approaches. Roughly equal shares of adults report that they mostly seek out news intentionally versus letting it come to them incidentally (through social media, notifications, or conversations). This reflects the modern reality where information floods in from digital platforms, often whether people want it or not.

Many Americans are actively dialing back their engagement. Two-thirds report having stopped getting news from a specific source at some point, often due to perceived bias, fatigue, or irrelevance. Six-in-ten say they have reduced their overall news intake, with about half (52%) explicitly describing themselves as worn out by the amount of news available today. Nearly half feel most news they encounter isn't personally relevant, and only about one-in-ten follow news purely because they enjoy it—most do so out of obligation or a mix of duty and interest.

Skepticism extends to accuracy-checking. Americans express far greater confidence in their own ability to verify the accuracy of a news story than in others' ability to do the same. This self-reliance aligns with broader trends of declining trust in journalists and news organizations, where people increasingly "do their own research" amid concerns over misinformation.

Additional context from the report highlights generational divides: Younger adults are more likely to encounter news passively via digital channels, report higher news fatigue, and place less emphasis on following news closely compared to older Americans, who tend to seek it out deliberately and see it more as a civic obligation.

Overall, the findings paint a picture of a public that values information in principle but struggles with its overwhelming, sometimes exhausting delivery in practice—leading to more selective, cautious, and sometimes reduced engagement. The full report is available on the Pew Research Center website.