Public opinion on harm of downplaying COVID-19 U.S. 2020, by politics

A recent survey found that 60 percent of U.S. respondents believed that the media downplaying the risk of COVID-19 could harm public health. Political affiliation gave rise to a divergence of opinion, as 84 percent of Democrats strongly agreed that news organizations downplaying the threat of coronavirus puts the health of the public in jeopardy, compared to 35 percent of Republicans.

Share of adults who agree that news organizations that downplay the threat of coronavirus jeopardize public health in the United States as of May 2020, by political affiliation

Characteristic	U.S. adults	Democrats	Independents	Republicans
Strongly agree	60%	84%	51%	35%
Somewhat agree	18%	9%	22%	25%
Neither agree nor disagree	12%	4%	14%	20%
Somewhat disagree	5%	1%	5%	12%
Strongly disagree	6%	3%	7%	8%

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Release date

May 2020

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Region

United States

Survey time period

April 14 to 20, 2020

Number of respondents

1,693 respondents

Age group

18 years and older

Method of interview

Online survey

Supplementary notes

Question: Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statement: Any news organization that attempts to downplay the threat of the coronavirus puts the health of the public in jeopardy.

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