• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, August 29, 2024

In a crucial election year in which American's perceptions of crime rank as an important issue (see most recent Ipsos rankings below), the Pew-Knight Initiative this morning released new research showing that while local news outlets -- TV, radio, newspapers, including their sites and apps -- still are the sources that a significant percentage (26%) of U.S. adults turn to, the data also reveals it is a highly fragmented and rapidly changing information marketplace.

Not surprisingly, social media networks and search engines rank just behind conventional local news outlets, with 19% of Americans citing each as the place they turn to first to learn about local criminal activity.

Friends, family and neighbors rank next (17% go to first), followed by a relative newcomer medium: locally focused apps including Nextdoor and Ring (8%).

While AI agents were not included in the survey, it's likely they will emerge in the future.

How new and emerging media options might be playing a role in the perception of voters is not clear, but based on Pew-Knight's findings, politicians rank last as a go-to source and are the least trusted ones.