Poll: Passive News Consumers

GRAPHS | QUALITATIVE SLIDES

This Navigator Research report covers the state of the country today, including what news is breaking through about the Trump administration and how respondents are assessing truth when consuming news.

Americans are divided by their news consumption habits, not just by where and how they consume the news, but whether they seek out the news (active consumers) or say the news comes to them (passive consumers). For many Americans, this is the difference between turning on the national news or opening a news app, and opening a social media app and scrolling past infographics and news clips interspersed with the latest updates from their friends, family, and other internet denizens. This disrupted information environment means Americans are not merely consuming information differently, but the means by which they consume it is radically upended: driven by an editorial board vs. an algorithm, or seeking a partisan news outlet vs. consuming what is shared by a trusted friend or family member.

In a world where people carry computers in their pockets (a maximum information environment), no one is “low information.” Instead, the means by which they consume information is a more appropriate dividing line between engaged and passive news consumers.

We conducted focus groups with passive news consumers to better understand what news is breaking through and how they are assessing truth.

Who are the passive consumers? And where do they get their information?

Those who say “the news comes to me” are more likely to be younger and less politically engaged: 58 percent of those under the age of 30, 55 percent of independents, and 47 percent of women say that the news comes to them.

41 percent of passive news consumers say social media websites are their main source of news, while active news consumers are more likely to tune in to broadcast news.

64 percent of younger passive news consumers, those under the age of 30, rely on social media for news, compared to 21 percent who tune in to broadcast television.

“Everything is terrible.”

In focus groups, passive news consumers painted a grim picture of the country today.

“It’s kind of something my sister and I say to each other almost every day. We’re like, ‘Everything is terrible. It’s 2025.’ That just kind of is how it feels right now. There’s just always so much negativity coming out and horrible things happening to people, like with the deportations.” – MI woman, weak Democrat

“I think my thinking is more like what’s bad, but if I could say something that’s good is… Honestly, I could probably name 10 negative things…” – NY man, weak Democrat

“I think it’s been a couple years now where it’s like your average American has a lot of patriotism and all good, and you’re allowed to do that. You should love your country. But I don’t think you can feel very proud of a country that’s not looking very well, not economically, not politically.” – NM woman, weak Republican

This leads many to believe the country’s best days are in the past.

“I just think the ’50s, ’60s, the ’80s, those decades were just better… The world wasn’t so divided. Not the world, our country… But I think people didn’t hate you because you were a Republican or vice versa. And people could just talk politics at the dinner table even if you voted for the other guy.” – CA woman, weak Republican

Much of the gloom is driven by economic concerns, which range from big, broad, overarching fears to daily worries about the cost of everyday purchases.

“You go to the store, and my gosh, it’s a lot of money for basics like food. Go to a restaurant and we’re spending $70 when we were spending $30 before. Everything’s really gone up. So, that’s part of the economy.” – NM man, independent

“The news is just too depressing”

When asked about their engagement with news and information, many in these groups say they intentionally disengage because the news is “just too depressing.” They tune out because it feels like an onslaught of bad news.

“[The news is] just too depressing. Honestly, I don’t want to keep hearing what Trump is up to or what he’s doing now, or I just don’t want to follow it.” – PA woman, independent

It also makes them feel powerless, as a New York man said:

“I mean, every time I turn it [the news] on, it just shows people enduring some type of suffering, whether it’s financial, emotional, mental. Things never seem to be going right for a large group of people. I feel like you just feel bad watching the news because there’s nothing that you can do to help anyone. Sometimes there’s nothing you can do to help yourself. You’re amongst the people suffering as well. And it’s just a constant reminder every time you watch the news like, ‘Damn, I’m struggling over here.’”

While these Americans say the news mostly comes to them, they do not actively seek it out; they are not unaware of news and current events. Their social media feeds are filled with news and information. While they don’t always trust what they read or see, some news does break through. What is important about this new media environment, however, is that what breaks through is not decided by an editorial board in New York or Washington, but by an algorithm or friend network.

As a result, people report hearing many “quick hit” type stories. They had heard about tariffs, trangender athletes, and “Trump derangement syndrome.”

“The transgender athletes. I know some states are banning it. I think the law passed, if I’m not mistaken, you guys can correct me, but I know California is in trouble again because someone won there in one game or one sport, a transgender athlete won again and Trump is not happy with it.” – GA man, weak Republican

“There was that whole thing, it was circulating all over the internet about transgender rats, when he first got into office, something about transgender mice or something.” – GA woman, weak Republican

“I mean, just today or yesterday, I didn’t read the articles but I saw that there was a lot of mention about a cut, like a $9 million cut with DOGE.” – NY man, weak Democrat

Some news about the “Big Beautiful Bill” also broke through, but many were unclear about the specifics.

“Well, [Republicans are] trying to pass the big beautiful bill, but there’s so many things being put in that bill, which adds to our debt… I don’t know exactly, but every bill that’s ever passed, they tack on all kinds of other things, so I’m not sure specifically.” – CA woman, weak Republican

“I just like watching news that I trust.”

Another challenge for passive news consumers is the disruption of trust and authority in the current media environment. All of the folks in our group reported consuming at least some of their news and information on social media, but they struggle to gauge what is trustworthy.

“I’d rather hear from both sides, but it’s hard when sometimes either side is not really giving you full information and you still have to go out and do it yourself.” – MI woman, weak Democrat

“Well, up to a certain point, most news networks were actually pretty good at reporting the news without any kind of bias. But ever since Trump got into the picture, and when he didn’t like a story about him or just something he didn’t like in general, and started labeling it fake news, and most of his supporters started falling into his version of reality.” – TX man, weak Republican

“I mean, as far as political content goes, I just like watching news that I trust.” – Republican man

This leads many to say they do their “own research.” Some report flipping between CNN and Fox, assuming the truth would fall somewhere in the middle.

“I hear someone talking about something, I really don’t just immediately believe what they say. I try to do my own research from a trusted source, and if I see a sensationalized headline about it that’s from a source that I wouldn’t think is maybe as trustworthy, I might dig in a little more.” – MI woman, independent lean Democrat

“I believe CNN is more Democrat and Fox is Republican, so I try to get an unbiased view by looking at both and then deciding or Google searching. Sometimes my friend will send me articles. Like the other day, my friend sent me about the Medicare cuts. So then I looked into it and then I saw a clip where Trump said, ‘I’m not cutting Medicare and Medicaid.’ So I try to find full clips of what he actually said. It can be hard to find accurate information, though, since it is the internet.” – NY woman, weak Republican

“If I do find something that’s some sort of news source or whatever, I usually check it across multiple platforms to kind of even out the bias, if that makes any sense. So if I find that okay, someone like Fox News, they’re typically leaning more to the right, I can then look at something that leans a little more left and then kind of hopefully meet in the middle somewhat.” – NY man, independent lean Republican

“I have, luckily, friends…”

One feature of the new media environment is that friends, family, and people they know are trusted sources to validate news and information. A source is more likely to be trusted if it is shared by a trusted friend.

“I have, luckily, friends that I think from across the range of ideologies, but I don’t have cable on my TV. I don’t really even know how to get news on the TV or any shows that are on. So I feel like [the news I get is] what my friends are sharing or their friends, and that’s how it trickles into me.” – NY woman, weak Democrat

“My husband’s a big fan of keeping up on the news, so quite often I get news from him. And I can just go from on and go off things that are interesting to me, look them up more.” – WI woman, weak Republican

“…that stuff is just totally opinions.”

While social media content is influential, and while our participants all reported consuming at least some of their news via social media, many expressed distrust of content that wasn’t made by a figure they trust, or featured only opinions rather than facts. It left them feeling more mistrustful and without a sense of authority.

“… Often [you] come across these people, I mean influencers, I guess you want to call them that, take it upon themselves to report what’s going on. Yeah, some of it might make sense and some of it might be factual, but I always question the integrity of what they’re reporting because it’s like, who are you?” – NY man, weak Democrat

“As much as I love social media, I don’t get all my information from content creators because I know that that stuff is just totally opinions.” – GA woman, weak Republican

“… The facts are rare and then most of the people, the influencers, they already have their own biased opinion. Their content is provided for a certain audience usually, and that’s how they got all their followers. So it’s kind of biased, so it’s kind of hard to tell. So I guess you kind of just take it with a grain of salt.” – MN man, weak Republican

“‘Okay, who are you? Let’s check your sources. Are they facts or not?’”

We tested content from multiple content creators, left and right, male and female. The content that landed with our audiences featured: 1. Creators they knew and trusted, 2. Clear and verifiable facts, or 3. Personal stories.

Among various types of content, opinions, content that was not tethered to a personal story or set of facts, or that felt like it was serving up political content through a back door was less likely to land with respondents. The latter made respondents feel tricked and resulted in a negative reaction. For example, a video of a creator doing something unrelated to politics, which turned political, and was not grounded in clear facts.

“That was exhausting. And I don’t really feel like she had as many facts.” – FL woman, weak Democrat

“If I want an opinion, somebody else’s opinion or something like that, I will search that out myself. I don’t necessarily want it popping up on my Facebook all the time or whatever.” – CA woman, independent

“I think the humor is good. It kind of sounds educational, but the facts are not there, so I just think it’s funny. I haven’t seen that one ’cause I don’t have TikTok. But I just think it’s funny, but it’s just also factchecking somebody like, ‘Okay, who are you? Let’s check your sources. Are they facts or not?’” – GA man, weak Republican

By contrast, content that does land is compelling and based in fact:

“Oh, he was invested. I mean it related to him specifically, and so he was speaking honestly. I felt like he was being more honest because it did affect him.” – TX woman, independent

“I can see myself watching that because it wasn’t just his opinion. He was actually backing it up with facts even… [I] can see myself watching stuff like that because it’s not, it’s not scripted. It’s not you being told what you can and cannot say on TV. It’s his real feelings in that moment, and it’s really in real time.” – MI woman, weak Democrat

“He was not obnoxious. He was stating facts [about] what happened…and that is actually truly happening.” – TX woman, weak Republican

Recommendations:

1. Grab attention through a own mix of personality, facts, and authenticity: To get the attention of passive news consumers, content creators must tell an authentic personal story and present verifiable facts. But even the facts are more likely to land if they align with Americans’ existing opinions.
2. Anyone has the potential to be a trusted “reporter” with facts and the right demeanor: Passive news consumers have a disrupted sense of authority in the new media environment. One respondent said, “Who are you?” in reaction to one video we showed. These passive news consumers are looking for trusted “reporters” to share information with them. They long for a time when they could just trust the person who was telling them the news. Content creators can earn that trust with solid facts and a demeanor that earns the trust of viewers.
3. Shake the gloom: Passive news consumers are weighed down by a news cycle that feels interminably bad. Content creators can win attention from these Americans by popping in with good news and feel-good stories from time to time. As one respondent suggested, tell the story of a lemonade stand. This should not ignore the real challenges people face, but from time to time, Americans just need a break.