Pew Research conducted a new study about the thoughts of US citizens on freedom of press. 73% of the Americans think freedom of press is extremely important while 18% say that it is somewhat important. 78% of Asians and White US citizens are in favor of freedom of press while 60% Black Americans and 61% of Hispanics have similar thoughts.
Pew says that the thoughts of Americans about freedom of press are not varied with the political party they support. What makes people differ from their opinion about freedom of press is educational income levels. The Americans with higher educational and salary levels are more likely to support freedom of press as compared to those who are less educational and have low income levels.
Even with the positivity of Americans about freedom of press, only 33% believe that the media is completely free to report whatever it likes while 46% are somewhat in favor of the media reporting anything. 18% of Americans are not very sure if the media can report anything it likes or not. What’s interesting is that 84% of the US media and news outlets are interested in reporting corporate and finance news while 83% are influenced by governmental and political interests. This diversity of news is influenced by what political party they support. 60% of the Republicans say that financial interests are influencing media while 45% of Democrats say media is influenced by governmental interests. 67% of the Republicans say that their interests affect the press while Democrats(34%) say the same.
38% of the Democrats also say that news outlets are free to report whatever they like as compared to 29% of the Republicans. Republicans are also worried about some restrictions in news outlets(49%). 51% of the Americans say that fake news should always be prevented even if this means restricting press freedom but 46% say that freedom of press should be developed no matter what.
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Pew says that the thoughts of Americans about freedom of press are not varied with the political party they support. What makes people differ from their opinion about freedom of press is educational income levels. The Americans with higher educational and salary levels are more likely to support freedom of press as compared to those who are less educational and have low income levels.
Even with the positivity of Americans about freedom of press, only 33% believe that the media is completely free to report whatever it likes while 46% are somewhat in favor of the media reporting anything. 18% of Americans are not very sure if the media can report anything it likes or not. What’s interesting is that 84% of the US media and news outlets are interested in reporting corporate and finance news while 83% are influenced by governmental and political interests. This diversity of news is influenced by what political party they support. 60% of the Republicans say that financial interests are influencing media while 45% of Democrats say media is influenced by governmental interests. 67% of the Republicans say that their interests affect the press while Democrats(34%) say the same.
38% of the Democrats also say that news outlets are free to report whatever they like as compared to 29% of the Republicans. Republicans are also worried about some restrictions in news outlets(49%). 51% of the Americans say that fake news should always be prevented even if this means restricting press freedom but 46% say that freedom of press should be developed no matter what.
