Most Americans want to reduce political news consumption due to fatigue: Survey

Americans feel like they should increasingly avoid political news content, according to a study published Thursday by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Chicago.

Their research found 65 percent of adults have felt the need to limit their media consumption about the government and politics due to information overload, fatigue, or similar reasons, and half feel the same for overseas conflicts.

Democrats were the demographic most likely to say they feel the need to avoid media referencing the government and politics, with 72 percent of party participants saying they avoid the topic in the survey.

Sixty-three percent of independents noted the same sentiments, while 59 percent of Republicans felt the same.

Fifty-four percent of Democrats also said they limit their media consumption about overseas conflicts, while independents followed closely behind at 52 percent. Forty-seven percent of Republicans said they felt the need to limit consumption of media about the issue area.

However, GOP members ranked the highest for bypassing news about climate change. Forty-eight percent of Republicans said they steer away from media geared toward news about long-term weather patterns.

Forty-four percent of independents said the same, and 37 percent of Democrats agreed.

The economy and job market also proved to be a subject of disinterest, with 45 percent of participants limiting media consumption pertaining to the issue.

The survey also measured which groups or individuals in the public sphere Americans believed are able to provide acceptable comments on areas of concern.

Adults approved of small businesses speaking out on political issues, with 43 percent supporting the effort and 20 percent disapproving.

Four in 10 people said celebrities should not speak on political matters, while 25 percent thought it was acceptable for celebrities, professional athletes, or large companies to share their input.

The survey was conducted Dec. 5-9 with adults 18 and older representing the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Panel members were interviewed in English and Spanish through a random selection from AmeriSpeak, 1,251 completed the survey with 1,208 participants via the web and 43 by telephone.

The overall margin of sampling error is 3.7 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level, including the design effect. Respondents were paid for completing the survey.

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