Survey research
This page contains original American Press Institute research into how the modern news audience consumes and pays for news, and other topics.
Much of this research was conducted by the Media Insight Project, an initiative of API, the Associated Press and NORC at the University of Chicago.
Knowing the news: How Gen Z and Millennials get information on essential topics
Millennials and members of Generation Z will soon become the industry’s dominant generations of news consumers and subscribers. What news topics do they follow most often, and how do they get that coverage?
Fatigue, traditionalism, and engagement: the news habits and attitudes of the Gen Z and Millennial generations
A new in-depth survey of 16- to 40-year-olds shows that members of the Gen Z and Millennial generations are active consumers of news and information, with nearly a third of them willing to pay for it. But their relationship with the news is complex — their trust in the press is low, many are experiencing […]
A new way of looking at trust in media: Do Americans share journalism’s core values?
The deep divides over trust in the news media are usually portrayed as largely ideological. Democrats are seven times more likely than Republicans to say they trust the mainstream media, and independents are four times as likely.1 But the argument over media trust often has the feel of people talking past each other—many journalists denying […]
How the press and public can find common purpose
The vast majority of Americans value their right, as well as that of the press, to question authority figures. But only a third have a lot of confidence in their own ability to challenge leaders if needed. This is a key insight that emerges from a new American Press Institute survey conducted in collaboration with […]
Confusion about what’s news and what’s opinion is a big problem, but journalists can help solve it
People often don’t know whether the content they see is news or opinion, according to our recent pair of Media Insight Project surveys. In one survey, we asked people how easy or difficult it was to see the distinctions between news and opinion in media. Just over half of Americans say it’s easy to distinguish […]
Americans and the News Media: What they do — and don’t — understand about each other
This research was conducted by the Media Insight Project — an initiative of the American Press Institute and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research A key factor in the erosion of Americans’ trust of their news media is a failure to communicate — we have a public that doesn’t fully understand how journalists […]
The Innovation Divide: Similarities and differences in how managers and staff view the transition to digital
Editor’s note: Rather than slow, the pace of change in news in 2017 appears only to be accelerating. McClatchy’s new chief executive recently announced a program to speed up digital transformation in the newspaper chain’s 31 newsrooms. The multi-million dollar Knight-Lenfest Newsroom initiative (of which API plays a role) has expanded its team-centric process to […]
Partisanship and the media: How personal politics affect where people go, what they trust, and whether they pay
This research was conducted by the Media Insight Project — an initiative of the American Press Institute and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research New research shows that although Americans are in many ways divided in their attitudes toward the media, Republicans and Democrats are in many ways strikingly alike in their behavior […]
‘My’ media versus ‘the’ media: Trust in news depends on which news media you mean
This research was conducted by the Media Insight Project — an initiative of the American Press Institute and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research For years, studies have shown Americans’ trust in the news media is steadily declining. In recent months, the rise of so-called fake news and the rhetoric of President Donald […]
The future of digital advertising: Designs for mobile screens may be more effective
This research was conducted by the Media Insight Project — an initiative of the American Press Institute and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research Overview As the news industry searches for new revenue models to finance journalism online, a new research study suggests that some sorts of digital advertising are demonstrably more effective […]