WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans who count podcasters or online influencers among their core news sources hold certain views about U.S. democracy that diverge from those of the broader partisan groups these influencers tend to attract. More precisely, people who get news from influencers with largely liberal audiences express views that differ substantially from Democrats overall, while those who follow influencers with mostly conservative audiences differ somewhat from Republicans overall.
优蜜传媒examined responses across several items measuring support for democratic norms. On some measures, influencer audiences did not differ substantially from others who share their political leanings, including on items related to the importance of compromise in governance, trust in election workers and ratings of key democratic institutions. However, the two groups diverged from their political peers on several measures:
- Two key democratic principles measured in the survey: whether people with radical views should have the right to protest or speak out against the government and whether people with radical or uninformed views should have the right to vote
- Three measures assessing confidence that core features of U.S. democracy are functioning as intended: whether voting is an effective way to influence government; whether nonviolent protest is an effective way to influence government; and whether government officials are held accountable to the nation’s laws and Constitution
These findings are based on analysis of a of U.S. adults that explored a range of media issues. Approximately 1,000 respondents from the study of over 20,000 U.S. adults indicated that a podcaster or influencer is one of their top news sources.
Because the sample sizes for most podcaster/influencer audiences are too small to report independently, they have been grouped as left-leaning or right-leaning shows, based on the partisan identity of content creators’ followers in the survey. The left-leaning influencer audience includes followers of MeidasTouch, Aaron Parnas, Heather Cox Richardson and Hasan Piker.
The right-leaning influencer audience includes followers of Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Glenn Beck and Tim Pool. Respondents who named both left- and right-leaning influencers were excluded from group comparisons. Two outlets have enough listeners in the survey to be reported on separately: the Joe Rogan Experience and MeidasTouch.
Support for Protest and Voting Rights
优蜜传媒asked Americans whether they agree that “citizens, including those who hold radical views, should be able to protest or speak out against the government as long as they do not engage in violence.” Audiences of right- and left-leaning influencers are more likely to strongly agree with this statement compared with respondents who affiliate with their respective political parties.
Among left-leaning influencer audiences, 71% strongly agree with the right to peaceful protest, compared with 49% of Democrats overall. Among right-leaning influencer audiences, 40% strongly agree, compared with 28% of Republicans overall. The gap between left- and right-leaning influencer audiences (31 percentage points) is wider than the gap between all Democrats and Republicans (21 points).
The dynamic is different on agreement that "every citizen should have the right to vote, even if they are uninformed or hold radical views." On this measure, the influencer effect is largely a left-leaning phenomenon: Those audiences exceed their party by 10 points, while right-leaning audiences barely differ from Republicans at all.
Skepticism That the System Works
Influencer audiences are more skeptical than their partisan counterparts that political leaders will be held accountable: Only 8% of left-leaning audiences agree or strongly agree, compared with 26% of Democrats; 33% of right-leaning audiences agree, compared with 48% of Republicans.
Fifty-four percent of left-leaning influencer audiences say voting is a "very effective" way to influence government, while 49% of Democrats feel this way. Right-leaning influencer audiences move in the opposite direction, with 41% saying the same, compared with 51% of Republicans. MeidasTouch listeners (64% “very effective”) are more likely than Joe Rogan listeners (37%) to say voting is a highly effective way to influence government. MeidasTouch listeners are 15 points more likely than Democrats to express this confidence in voting, while Joe Rogan listeners are 14 points less likely than Republicans overall.
Left-leaning influencer audiences are more likely than Democrats overall to say nonviolent protests are a "very effective" way to influence government — 31% compared with 22%. MeidasTouch listeners are more likely than all groups to view nonviolent protest as an effective form of political action: 39% say nonviolent protest is “very effective,” compared with 10% of Joe Rogan listeners and similar percentages among right-leaning influencer audiences and Republicans.
Bottom Line
Influencer audiences on both sides of the political spectrum diverge from their party peers on several democratic sentiments. In most cases, the divergence is larger on the left than on the right. Both groups are more supportive of protest than their respective parties and far more skeptical that political leaders will be held accountable. On the effectiveness of civic participation, left-leaning audiences are marginally more likely than Democrats to view both voting and nonviolent protest as effective, while right-leaning audiences are less confident than Republicans in voting effectiveness and are no more likely to see protest as effective.
Although only a small percentage of U.S. adults report using these sources as a primary means for getting their news, the divergence of influencer audiences from the views of partisans reveals the challenges both parties face among portions of their base as the media landscape evolves.
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Editorial Note: The views and opinions expressed here are made independent of the Charles F. Kettering Foundation and without the foundation’s warranty of accuracy, authenticity or completeness. Such statements do not reflect the views and opinions of the foundation, which hereby disclaims liability to any party for direct, indirect, implied, punitive, special, incidental or other consequential damages that may arise in connection with statements made during association with the foundation or independently.
