How Americans assess health information amid cyclospora outbreak

July 30, 2026 The Briefing ☀️ Happy Thursday! The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. Sign up here! In today’s email: Featured story: The cyclospora outbreak and how Americans assess health information In other news: Polymarket partners with new media company Looking ahead: Are progressives moving away from legacy media? Chart of the week: ‘Doing your own research’ means different things to Americans 🔥 Featured story New reporting from The New York Times on the spread of information about the cyclospora outbreak is shedding light on how competing narratives and conspiracy theories can take off in online spaces such as social media. These include allegations about political ties between the Trump administration and Taylor Farms, the company whose products were linked to the pathogen by federal health officials. Overall, half of Americans say it is at least somewhat difficult to judge the accuracy of health information, according to a 2025 Pew Research Center survey. But they assess information differently depending on the source. Trust in health information from government health agencies is far from universal. Among the 76% of Americans who ever get health information from that source, 25% say it is extremely or very accurate, 55% say it is somewhat accurate, and 19% say it is not too or not at all accurate. But there is even less trust in health information from social media: Just 7% of those who ever get health information this way say it is extremely or very accurate, compared with 47% who say the information is not too or not at all accurate. 📌 In other news Polymarket partners with new media company to provide news and analysis from prediction markets 60 Minutes hires New York Times’ Ross Douthat and other new contributors; former correspondent Cecilia Vega describes what she saw as political pressure from network The role of media in the protest movement among young people in India Is press freedom declining in Costa Rica? Justice Department withdraws subpoenas of New York Times reporters The Atlantic asks judge to dismiss FBI Director Kash Patel’s defamation lawsuit Trump delivers speech at rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Association dinner Paramount agrees to delay merger with Warner Bros. amid states’ lawsuit A look at public media funding one year after federal cuts How different newsrooms are using AI 📅 Looking ahead A recent article from The Associated Press explores the trend of progressive Americans who have stopped getting news from traditional news outlets and are instead turning to new and alternative media like podcasts, social media influencers and digital news sites.While Democrats remain more likely than Republicans to trust national news organizations in general and many specific outlets, younger Democrats’ patterns of trust are changing. Democrats ages 18 to 29 (including independents who lean Democratic) are less likely than those 65 and older to say they have at least some trust in the information they get from national news organizations (61% vs. 79%), and much more likely than the oldest group to say they trust information from social media (51% vs. 21%).As a 25-year-old independent Democratic-leaning woman said in a focus group we conducted, “Often times I find myself having to seek alternative news outlets or articles to get the full story of what really is happening or to fill in the gaps of missing details.” 📊 Chart of the week This week’s chart comes from a Pew-Knight Initiative study on Americans’ relationship with news – specifically what it means when people say they “do their own research.”Americans associate a wide range of information-gathering practices with the idea of doing their own research, including comparing information from different sources, looking at scientific studies and searching online. But the concept is also commonly linked with the idea of questioning mainstream sources like news organizations or government sources. ‘Doing your own research’ means several different things to Americans % of U.S. adults who say they usually think of each of the following when they hear about someone “doing their own research” Note: Respondents who did not answer are not shown. Source: Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted Dec. 8-14, 2025.“Americans’ Complicated Relationship With News” PEW-KNIGHT INITIATIVE ‘Doing your own research’ means several different things to Americans % of U.S. adults who say they usually think of each of the following when they hear about someone “doing their own research” YesNoNot sureDiscussing it with friends or family38%48%12%Looking for firsthand experiences or personal stories63%22%15%Questioning what official or governmental sources say68%18%14%Questioning what major news organizations are reporting70%17%12%Searching on Google or another search engine72%15%12%Looking at scientific studies77%11%12%Comparing information from different sources84%7%8% Note: Respondents who did not answer are not shown. Source: Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted Dec. 8-14, 2025.“Americans’ Complicated Relationship With News” PEW-KNIGHT INITIATIVE 👋 That’s all for this week. The Briefing is compiled by Pew Research Center staff, including Naomi Forman-Katz, Christopher St. Aubin, Emily Tomasik, Joanne Haner, and Sawyer Reed. It is edited by Michael Lipka and copy edited by David Kent. Do you like this newsletter? Email us at journalism@pewresearch.org or fill out this two-question survey to tell us what you think.