News audiences are split along clear party lines, judging by the latest Pew Research Media Tracker survey.
Among Republicans, 57% regularly get news from Fox
News. In addition, 27% obtain it from ABC News, 24% from NBC News, 22% from CBS News and 22% from the Joe Rogan Experience. In addition, they are more likely to turn to Newsmax (15% vs. 1% for
Democrats), The Daily Wire (12% vs. 2%) and Tucker Carlson Network (9% vs. 1%).
Democrats and voters who lean that way get their news from:
CNN--48%
NBC—47%)
ABC--46%
CBS—39%
MSNBC—33%
NPR—32%
The Associated Press—31%
PBS—31%
BBC News—30%
The New York Times—29%
None of this is surprising, but there is some unexpected crossover given the fact that both sides watch the major news networks.
On another front,
11% of Republicans utilize USA Today, versus 17% of Democrats. And 20% of Republicans watch CNN.
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And, while it might seem contra-indicated, 16% of Democrats read the Wall Street
Journal, compared to 12% of Republicans.
At the same time, 18% of Democrats also turn to Fox News.
Do people from both political parties trust the news?
“Democrats and independents who lean toward the Democratic Party are much more likely than Republicans and GOP-leaning independents to both use and trust a number of major news
sources,” the study notes. “These include the major TV networks (ABC, CBS and NBC), the cable news networks CNN and MSNBC, major public broadcasters PBS and NPR, and the legacy newspaper
with the largest number of digital subscribers, The New York Times.
“Republicans, meanwhile, are much more likely to distrust than trust all of these sources,” Pew
continue. “A smaller number of the sources we asked about are more heavily used and trusted by Republicans than Democrats, including Fox News, The Joe Rogan Experience, Newsmax, The Daily Wire,
the Tucker Carlson Network and Breitbart.
An earlier report by Pew found that 53% of Republicans trust at least some of the information coming from national news organizations, up from
40% last year. However, 81% of Democrats and independents who follow the party trust national news.
Pew surveyed 9,482 Pew Research Center panelists from March 10-16,
2025.