Some 44% of Americans say the press has become less free during the second term of U.S. President Donald Trump, according to a new Pew Research Center report.
Just 12% of American adults said the U.S. press has become more free under Trump’s second term, and 26% thought there had been no change, per the study, which is part of the Pew-Knight Initiative.
Of those who said that the press has become less free, 92% said that development was bad for the country.
The findings are based on two surveys of about 3,500 American adults each, conducted in March and June, and 10 focus groups in May and June.
Overall, 46% of Americans said they were “extremely” or “very” concerned about possible restrictions on press freedom. Similar shares expressed concern about restrictions on the right to vote (46%), freedom of speech (50%) and the right to peacefully protest (47%).
Some 38% overall, and 37% of Republicans and those who lean right and 41% of Democrats and those who lean left, were “extremely” or “very” worried about restrictions on religious freedom.
Republicans and those who lean right were less likely and at times much less likely to worry about threats to freedoms of speech, peaceful assembly, press and the right to vote than were Democrats and those who lean left. Those on the right were likelier (48%) than those on the left (27%) to worry about threats to the right to bear arms.
The survey found a sharp partisan divide about press freedom in particular. Some 72% of Democrats and those who lean Democrat said that the press had become less free, compared with 15% of Republicans and those who lean Republican.
Trump has frequently criticized news organizations, referring to some as the “enemy of the people.” He has also dismissed unfavorable coverage as “fake news.”
His administration restricted access for Associated Press reporters to presidential events after the news organization declined to adopt his preferred name, “Gulf of America,” instead of the Gulf of Mexico. A federal judge later ruled that his administration could not penalize the AP over its editorial decision.
At the same time, Trump has continued to regularly answer questions from reporters, including during events at the White House and while traveling. His predecessor was known to go for long stretches without holding press conferences.
Americans expressed mixed views about when the government should be able to restrict news coverage. Some 60% said that the government should be able to require a news organization to remove a story that threatened national security, while 51% said it should be able to require removal of a story containing false information.
According to 77%, the government should not be able to require a news organization to remove a story critical of the government.
The survey also found that Americans perceive substantial outside influence on the press. Some 54% said that news organizations are influenced a great deal by corporations, while 49% said they are influenced a great deal by government or political interests. Only 7% said the press is influenced little or not at all.
