Quiz: Views of the Media

In a poll conducted by Pew Research Center in late March 2020, what portion of Americans said they approved of the news media’s coverage of the coronavirus?

34 percent
44 percent
54 percent
64 percent

A Gallup poll asked people which institutions they trusted most for news about the coronavirus. People surveyed in that poll were most likely to trust information from:

Their child’s school or daycare
U.S. hospitals
Their employers
Their state government

Americans whose primary news source is ___________ were mostly likely to say the media was doing a good or excellent job covering the coronavirus.

Network television
Print newspapers
Social media
Websites or apps

Another Gallup poll conducted in March 2020 found that the amount of attention Americans are paying to __________ has doubled since December 2019.

National news
Social media
Local news
All of the above

Although people are paying more attention to local news during the pandemic, earlier research shows that most are unaware that local media outlets are struggling.

True
False

What percent of people say they have paid for local news in the past year?

14
24
34
44

Among local newspapers that are making their coronavirus coverage available free of charge, which is actually seeing an increase in paid subscribers?

Denver Post
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Seattle Times
All of the above

Americans with liberal or conservative “news diets” have significantly changed the way they consume news during the pandemic by including a greater mix of sources.

True
False

In a March 2020 poll, 57 percent of Americans with a conservative news diet and 28 percent with a liberal news diet believed that COVID-19 was no more deadly than seasonal flu. The percentage of people with a mixed news diet fell somewhere between the two.

True
False

The same March survey found an even more significant partisan gap between people with liberal and conservative news diets. Seventy-one percent of conservatives but only 28 percent of liberals said:

The coronavirus is a major threat to personal health
The media is giving too much attention to the coronavirus
Restrictions like canceling major events and closing schools are counterproductive
People across the country are not taking the outbreak seriously enough

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