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Elisa Shearer

Senior Researcher

Expertise:News and Information

Elisa Shearer is a senior researcher at Pew Research Center, where she focuses on U.S. media consumption and attitudes. She is the author of reports on news consumption on social media, U.S. media polarization, Americans’ changing media habits, and media sector data. She has a master’s degree in communication studies from Georgetown University.

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short readsNov 28, 2023

Audiences are declining for traditional news media in the U.S. – with some exceptions

A declining share of U.S. adults are following the news closely, and audiences are shrinking for several older types of news media.
reportJun 15, 2023

A Profile of the Top-Ranked Podcasts in the U.S.

True crime is the most common topic, making up 24% of top-ranked podcasts; 15% of the top podcasts focus on news. The next most common topics are politics and government (10%); entertainment, pop culture and the arts (9%); and self-help and relationships (8%).
short readsApr 25, 2023

Black U.S. podcast listeners choose distinct topics, have different reasons for listening than other groups

At least half of Black podcast listeners regularly listen to podcasts about entertainment and pop culture; self-help and relationships; comedy; and money and finance.
reportApr 18, 2023

Podcasts as a Source of News and Information

Roughly half of U.S. adults say they have listened to a podcast in the past year, including one-in-five who report listening at least a few times a week. Most podcast listeners say this experience includes hearing news, which they largely expect to be mostly accurate. Large shares of listeners say they turn to podcasts for entertainment, learning or having something to listen to while doing something else.
short readsOct 13, 2022

After increasing in 2020, layoffs at large U.S. newspapers and digital news sites declined in 2021

In 2021, 11% of high-circulation newspapers experienced layoffs, compared with three times that share the year before (33%).
short readsApr 29, 2022

Nonprofit news outlets are playing a growing role in statehouse coverage

Nonprofit news reporters now account for 20% of the nation’s total statehouse press corps, up from 6% eight years ago.
reportApr 5, 2022

Total Number of U.S. Statehouse Reporters Rises, but Fewer Are on the Beat Full Time

The total number of journalists assigned to state capitol buildings is up 11% since 2014, though figures vary widely by state. And as newspapers employ fewer statehouse reporters, nonprofits are filling much of the void.
short readsApr 5, 2022

The number of full-time statehouse reporters at U.S. newspapers has declined 34% since 2014

There are 245 newspaper reporters who cover the statehouse full time in 2022 in the United States, down from 374 in 2014.
short readsDec 14, 2021

How Americans tweet about the news

Here is how the average adult Twitter user in the U.S. tweeted about the news in 2021, as well as how these patterns have changed since 2015.
reportNov 15, 2021

News on Twitter: Consumed by Most Users and Trusted by Many

Fully 70% of U.S. adult Twitter news consumers say they have used Twitter to follow live news events, up from 59% who said this in 2015.