America’s News Influencers

In the heat of the 2024 election, news influencers seemed to be everywhere. Both Republicans and Democrats credentialed content creators to cover their conventions—and encouraged influencers to share their political messages. But up until now, it has been difficult to get a sense of the size and characteristics of this new wave of news providers. A unique Pew Research Center study provides a deeper understanding of both the makeup of the news influencer universe and its audience. Key findings include:

• About one-in-five Americans—including a much higher share of adults under 30—say they regularly get news from influencers on social media.
• News influencers are most likely to be found on the social media site X, where 85 percent have a presence. But many also are on other social media sites, such as Instagram (where 50 percent have an account) and YouTube (44 percent).
• Slightly more news influencers explicitly identify as Republican, conservative or pro-Donald Trump (27 percent of news influencers) than Democratic, liberal or pro-Kamala Harris (21 percent).
• A clear majority of news influencers are men (63 percent).
• Most (77 percent) have no affiliation or background with a news organization.