"I feel like it's a luxury to pay for news, I think there's still news accessible via free outlets, like just Googling something. I don't think that information should be a privilege, I don't pay to go to church, to get a spiritual message, you know? And if you're true, and your mission is to relay facts that are fundamentally important for people's well-being, do I need to pay you for that?"
"no consensus about the importance of following the news,"
3,560 U.S. adults were surveyed in December 2025 about their relationship to news and its everyday value. Eighty-three percent said they did not pay for any news sources in the last 12 months, often citing free news options. Nine 90-minute online focus groups with 45 adults were held in June 2025 and included remarks characterizing paid news as a luxury and arguing that information should not be a privilege. The people most likely to pay were upper-income Americans (30%), adults with postgraduate degrees (35%), and liberal Democrats (29%). Only 8% believe individuals have a responsibility to pay. Respondents most commonly said advertising (45%) should be the main revenue stream while 11% favored subscription or membership fees. A majority believe news outlets are doing extremely, very, or somewhat well financially (11%, 23%, 37%).
Read at Nieman Lab
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