July 21, 2025
As the election draws near, 52% of Americans say they are following news about presidential candidates fairly closely or very closely. And yet, many report seeing inaccurate election information that confuses them or makes it hard to tell what’s true.
In our September survey, we asked people to name the source they turn to most often for political and election news. People mentioned hundreds of different outlets in open-ended responses, but Fox News and CNN were the two most commonly cited. We also asked whether these and other top outlets are considered part of the mainstream media. Most Americans who name these sources – including large majorities of those who say they rely on Fox News and CNN for their political news – see them as such.
A President can interact with the press in a variety of ways, ranging from interviews both on and off the record to a televised news conference, which is traditionally held on an off-the-record basis. The table below shows how many times each President has held a news conference since Coolidge, excluding those that were not televised in prime time.
Among those who name a top news outlet, 13% cite CNN as their main source of political news. A similar number cite NPR. But a smaller share of these respondents – 14% – say they see these outlets as mainstream media. Among those who cite local TV as their main source of political news, however, just 8% say they see these outlets as mainstream.