Birdnow's Aviary

October 25, 2026

The Propaganda Machine

Timothy Birdnow

On my post about a Media Research Center Study in a post by John Solomon at Just the News a reader asked about their methodology and asked for a direct link to it. Solomon didn't provide it and naturally it would not come up with a web search so I dug and dug and eventually came up with a few things, and included a link to MRC's own report which John Solomon used for his piece. I also found a PEW report which said something similar. Anyway here is my reply to GTA 6 Map:

I was looking for the study and came across this one from PEW which essentially says the same thing.

From the PEW article:

"A large majority of U.S. adults (86%) say they at least sometimes get news from a

smartphone, computer or tablet, including 57% who say they do so often. These figures are

almost identical to the share who got news from digital devices in 2023.

Digital devices are by far the most common way Americans get news, although a majority

(63%) get news from television at least sometimes. The portion of Americans who often

get news from TV has stayed fairly steady over the last few years, now standing at 33%."

Americans turn to radio and print publications for news far less frequently. In 2024, just

26% of U.S. adults say they often or sometimes get news in print, the lowest number our

surveys have recorded.

News websites or apps are also the most preferred source for news. About a quarter of U.S.

adults (23%) say they prefer to get their news this way, compared with 18% who prefer

social media, 12% who prefer search and 5% who prefer podcasts. The share of Americans

who prefer social media has increased by 6 percentage points since 2023.

It's interesting to note that PEW does not look at the specifics of WHO these Americans are getting their news from; just the fact that they are.

Young people are overwehlemingly using social media, the absolute worst way to get your news but there it is. Most social media uses stories from the big aggregate sites after all.

Here is the article on the study from the MRC website. John Solomon at Just the News took this tory from there.

Sorry they don't have anything about their methodology posted. I assume you could contact the MRC and they would give you the details.

Anyway thanks for visiting and leaving a good comment. It is a point well-taken and I should have been more on top of this, I will admit. (I wrote this with a hangover and my back was killing me, plus I had errands to run, so perhaps you will forgive me?)

Cheers,

Tim