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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMichael Lipka is an associate director of research at Pew Research Center. Lipka began his career as a sportswriter for The Boston Globe and The Associated Press. For the past decade, in his role at the Pew Research Center, Lipka has studied Americans\u2019 experiences with news and information. (Photo courtesy of Pew Research Center)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Gretchen A. Peck | E&P Magazine<\/p>\n
Every news outlet today \u2014 no matter their platform or profit model \u2014 wants to be considered the most trusted source of news for the communities they serve. That\u2019s especially true for breaking news events, when questions and speculations swirl.<\/p>\n
As part of a larger Pew-Knight Initiative study<\/a>, \u201cAmericans\u2019 Complicated Relationship With News,\u201d published last December, Washington, D.C.-based Pew Research Center asked the question: \u201cWhere do Americans turn first for information about breaking news<\/a>?\u201d<\/p>\n Michael Lipka is associate director of research at Pew Research Center. He set up the scenario the study explored: \u201cYou\u2019ve heard that something has happened, something breaking. What\u2019s your instinct after that? Where are you going to go to find out more?\u201d<\/p>\n The survey queried 4,065 randomly selected U.S. adults; 88% responded, creating a panel of 3,560 participants.<\/p>\n Thirty-six percent of the adults surveyed reported they turn to \u201ctheir preferred news organization.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat number was higher a few years ago, [54%]\u201d said Lipka. \u201cWe\u2019d asked a similar question \u2014 not a perfect apples-to-apples comparison, like we do with a lot of our questions, where we trend things over time.\u201d<\/p>\n The study lacks some insight into what the respondents mean by \u201ctheir preferred news organization.\u201d Lipka explained that they crafted the question to allow for broad interpretation of the term. It might be a major-market or a local community newspaper, a nonprofit digital outlet, even a news-discussion podcast.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know the news environment has become more fractured, and we know that there\u2019s many different options for people to get news from, including on the local level,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, we wanted to have a catch-all category that speaks to that.\u201d<\/p>\n What we can glean is that these trusted, go-to sources are distinguishable from the other survey options. For example, 28% said they rely on search engines, such as Google and Bing; 19% said social media is where they go.<\/p>\n Younger news consumers prefer digital sources for breaking news.<\/p>\n Seventy-six percent of adults between the ages of 18 and 29 were among those who relied on social media sources, versus 28% of adults over the age of 65.<\/p>\n \u201cYounger people are more digitally inclined and certainly more into social media,\u201d said Lipka. \u201cYou can see, 31% of the youngest adults said, once breaking news happens, they\u2019re going to social media first.\u201d<\/p>\n Perhaps the most surprising data point is about artificial intelligence (AI). Just 1% of the respondents said they go first to AI chatbots for information about breaking news \u2014 despite \u201ceveryone talking about AI these days,\u201d Lipka said. \u201cIt\u2019s not huge yet.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not to say AI isn\u2019t having a big impact on the way people get news more broadly. \u2026 We know that a lot of people get news from search engines in general,\u201d he said. \u201cWe know that search engines are implementing AI into their results all the time. Certainly, AI is having more of a role than those numbers than the chatbot responses would indicate.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n Pew Research will continue to study breaking-news behaviors.<\/p>\n \u201cFor us, there\u2019s a recognition of how much the news environment is changing, from the perspective of the news consumer,\u201d Lipka said. \u201cIt\u2019s always helpful for people who are producing news, who are working for news organizations, to understand audiences and their habits. \u2026 Then, you can consider making changes to your strategies.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n