Which Americans are most likely to have spoken with a local journalist?

About a quarter of Americans (23%) say they have ever spoken with or been interviewed by a local journalist or reporter, according to a December 2025 Pew Research Center survey from the Pew-Knight Initiative.

Responses to this question haven’t changed much since we first asked it in 2016.

Some groups of Americans are more likely than others to have spoken with a local journalist:

• Adults with more formal education: Three-in-ten of those with at least a college degree say they have done this, compared with 17% of adults with a high school diploma or less.

• People with higher family incomes: 31% of Americans with higher family incomes say they have spoken with a journalist, compared with 18% of those with lower incomes.

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