Fox News is an influential cable network that was launched by Rupert Murdoch in 1996. The network holds a unique place in the American media landscape, most particularly for those on the ideological right. While Democrats in the United States consume and trust a variety of media outlets for political news, no other sources comes close to matching the appeal of Fox News for Republicans. The factsheet summarizes 5 facts about Fox News and how Americans feel about it.
1. Around four-in-ten Americans trust Fox News. Nearly the same number distrust it.
Among all U.S adults, 43% say they trust Fox News for political and election news. At the same time, 40% of adults say they distrust Fox News.
2. Republicans trust Fox News more than any other outlet. Democrats distrust it more than any other outlet.
65% of Republicans say they trust Fox News for political and election news, and less than 1/3 of Republicans say they trust ANY other news organizations such as ABC, CBS, and NBC news. Among Democrats, 61% say they distrust Fox News for political news.
3. On an ideological scale, the average Fox News consumer is to the right of the average U.S. adult, but not as far to the right as audiences of some other news outlets.
4. People who cite Fox News as their main source of political news are older and more likely to be white than U.S. adults overall.
Americans ages 65 and older account for around four-in-ten of those who say their main source is Fox News (37%), compared with 21% of all adults. Around nine-in-ten who turn to Fox News (87%) identify their race and ethnicity as non-Hispanic white, compared with 65% of all adults.
5. Those who name Fox News as their main source of political news stand out in their views on key issues and people, including President Donald Trump.
63% of those whose main source of political and election news is Fox News said Trump is doing an excellent job responding to the coronavirus outbreak. 71% of those who cited fox news as their main source of political news gave Trump a "very warm rating" (between 76 and 100) on a feeling thermometer ranging from best feelings to worst feelings. 85% of those whose main source of political news is Fox News gave House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a very cold rating on the thermometer (between 0-24).
The political implication of this major trend is that republicans are almost solely relying on Fox News as their main media outlet. There is a huge difference on how people are getting their information in the United States, and it is polarized and dependent on whether people identify as republican or democrat, as well as race. While democrats gather their political news from a variety of different news outlets and sources, Republicans only go to one outlet: Fox News. This type of polarization and lack of diversity in the audiences of the media can lead to a lack of unbiased information, knowledge, and opinions among people who only get their news from one single source. These facts highlight the basis for this blog, and further add to the notion that the current political climate in the United States is very polarized. As a result, the news has also become a polarized medium, with coverages and opinions on political issues varying greatly from network to network, as well as in their audiences.
Source:
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/04/08/five-facts-about-fox-news/
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