7 facts about Black Americans and the news media

Black adults stand out for their trust in local news organizations.One-in-three say they have a lot of trust in the information they get from local news organizations, higher than the share of whites who say the same (27%). When it comes to national news organizations, blacks (23%) are about as likely as whites (20%) and Hispanics (24%) to express a lot of trust.

Black adults are more likely to feel connected to their main source of news. About half of blacks (53%) feel connected to their main news source overall, compared with four-in-ten whites and 46% of Hispanics. Hispanic and black Americans are also more likely to say news organizations understand people like them: 43% of blacks and half of Hispanics say so, compared with 36% of whites. Party could play a role here: Black and Hispanic Americans are more likely than whites to identify as Democrats, and Democrats generally give the news media more positive ratings than Republicans.

The news media’s watchdog role is seen as more of a necessary check among black adults than among whites. About three-quarters of blacks (74%) say that news organizations’ criticism of political leaders – known as the media’s “watchdog” role – keeps these leaders from doing things that shouldn’t be done. A similar portion of Hispanics (72%) say the same, but that share drops to 65% among whites.

Black Americans prefer getting their news from TV. Six-in-ten say this is their preferred pathway to news; far fewer prefer online (25%), radio (9%) or print (5%). Among Hispanic and white Americans, fewer than half prefer television (though it is still the most common choice).