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Hard News Consumption Declines, While Lifestyle Climbs in Popularity
Civic ScienceNationally, hard news engagement across legacy and digital platforms dramatically fell in 2021. After a significant jump at the pandemic’s start, local news website views have been on a steady decline. While those that watch local television news infrequently haven’t seen any significant shifts in consumption. CivicScience data show frequent viewers (everyday/most days) are turning their attention elsewhere, dropping eight percentage points from the beginning of 2021.
The story is similar for national news as well. Since November 2020, news consumption across most mainstream news outlets has declined. This is particularly true for those that are more left-leaning in political orientation. CNN saw a dramatic decline, from a third of U.S. adults saying they watch the network most for national news to just 16% in Jan 2022. Fox News was the only cable network to see an increase, up 11 percentage points from November 2020.
The story is similar for national news as well. Since November 2020, news consumption across most mainstream news outlets has declined. This is particularly true for those that are more left-leaning in political orientation. CNN saw a dramatic decline, from a third of U.S. adults saying they watch the network most for national news to just 16% in Jan 2022. Fox News was the only cable network to see an increase, up 11 percentage points from November 2020.
