About 20% of Americans regularly get their news from influencers on social media, report says

About one in five Americans – and a virtually identical share of Republicans and Democrats – regularly get their news from digital influencers who are more likely to be found on the social media platform X, according to a report released Monday by the Pew Research Center.

The findings, drawn from a survey of more than 10,000 U.S. adults and an analysis of social media posts posted this summer by influencers, provide an indication of how Americans consumed the news during the height of the U.S. presidential campaign that President-elect Donald Trump ultimately won.

The study examined accounts run by people who post and talk regularly about current events - including through podcasts and newsletters - and have more than 100,000 followers on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X or TikTok. They include people across the political spectrum, such as the progressive podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen and conservative podcaster Ben Shapiro, as well as non-partisan personalities like Chris Cillizza, a former CNN analyst who now runs his own newsletter.

The report found that news influencers posted mostly about politics and the election, followed by social issues like race and abortion and international events, such as the Israel-Hamas war. Most of them – 63% - are men and the majority – 77% - have no affiliation, or background, with a media organization. Pew said about half of the influencers it sampled did not express a clear political orientation. From the ones that did, slightly more of them identified as conservative than as liberal.

During the campaign, both parties and presidential campaigns had courted influencers, including creators who weren't very political, to compete for voters who are increasingly getting most of their news from non-traditional sources.

The Republican and Democratic national conventions had credentialed influencers to cover their events this past summer. Vice President Kamala Harris sat down with Alex Cooper for her “Call Her Daddy” podcast and talked a little Bay Area basketball with the fellows on “All the Smoke.” Meanwhile, Trump hung out with the bros on the “Bussin’ With the Boys,” “Flagrant” and the popular podcaster Joe Rogan as part of a series of appearances targeting young male voters.

“These influencers have really reached new levels of attention and prominence this year amid the presidential election,” Galen Stocking, senior computational social scientist at Pew Research Center, said in a statement. “We thought it was really important to look at who is behind some of the most popular accounts – the ones that aren’t news organizations, but actual people.”

Even though 85% of news influencers have a presence on X, many of them also have homes on other social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.

Racial minorities, young adults and adults with a lower income were more likely to get their news from news influencers, according to the report. Most of the people surveyed by Pew said news influencers have helped them better understand current events, while roughly a quarter say what they hear has not made much of a difference. A small share — 9% — say influencers have confused them more.

Media analysts have long been concerned about how influencers - most of whom don't have to abide by editorial standards - could fuel misinformation, or even be used by America's adversaries to churn out content that fits their interests. On social media, though, some influencers have positioned themselves as figures presenting neglected points of view.

Pew, which is doing the study as part of an initiative funded by the Knight Foundation, said 70% of the survey respondents believe the news they get from influencers is somewhat different than what they hear elsewhere. Roughly a quarter said it was “extremely or very different.”

The report found TikTok is the only one of the major platforms where influencers who identify as right-leaning do not outnumber those who are more liberal. Pew said news influencers on the short-form video app were more likely than those on other sites to show support for LGBTQ+ rights or identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community. The platform also had the smallest gender gap for news influencers.

AP media writer David Bauder contributed to this report.

Supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris hold up their phones as she delivers a concession speech for the 2024 presidential election, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, on the campus of Howard University in Washington. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court will hear arguments Monday in a case that could determine whether the swing state's top elections official, who has been the target of disproven Republican election conspiracy theories, will remain in her post.

Republicans who control the state Senate tried to fire Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe last year, leading the commission to sue in an effort to keep Wolfe on the job.

The commission argues that the state Supreme Court should uphold a lower court’s ruling in Wolfe's favor, which would allow her to remain in her position and not face a confirmation vote by the Senate.

But Republican lawmakers argue the commission must appoint a commissioner, either Wolfe or someone else, so the Senate can vote on confirming that person. Wolfe can't be allowed to remain in the position as a holdover, they contend.

Wolfe was first appointed for the nonpartisan position in 2018 and confirmed to a four-year term by the GOP-controlled state Senate in 2019. The commission is overseen by a bipartisan board that is evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, and Wolfe is head of the nonpartisan staff.

Wolfe was targeted for removal by Republican lawmakers who were unhappy with the 2020 presidential election won by President Joe Biden. President-elect Donald Trump won Wisconsin this year, just as he did in 2016. Unlike after his loss in 2020, Trump backers are not alleging widespread fraud in this year's election.

Wolfe was the subject of conspiracy theories and targeted by threats from election skeptics who falsely claim she was part of a plot to rig the 2020 vote in favor of Biden. Biden's win by nearly 21,000 votes in Wisconsin withstood two partial recounts, a nonpartisan audit, a conservative law firm’s review, and multiple state and federal lawsuits.

When Wolfe was up for reappointment in 2023, all six members of the commission voiced support for her. Three Republicans voted to reappoint, but the three Democrats abstained, resulting in a deadlocked vote. Had she gotten a fourth vote in support, her appointment would have been sent to the Senate, which then could have voted to fire her.

Wolfe, in a statement ahead of court arguments Monday, emphasized that all six commissioners voiced support for her.

“While they disagreed on the mechanism for making my appointment, the Commissioners have always supported me staying in this role,” Wolfe said. "If they didn’t, they always had the ability to terminate my appointment and select someone new.”

Even though her appointment was not forwarded to the Senate, Republican senators voted in September 2023 to fire Wolfe over objections from Democrats and the Legislature’s nonpartisan attorneys. They argued that the Senate did not have the authority to vote at that time because Wolfe was a holdover in her position and had not been reappointed.

The commission sued to challenge that Senate vote. Republican legislative leaders changed course and claimed in court filings that their vote to fire Wolfe was merely “symbolic” and had no legal effect.

Republicans asked the judge to order the elections commission to appoint an administrator for the Senate to vote on.

Dane County Circuit Court Judge Ann Peacock, in a 2023 ruling, said Wolfe is legally serving as administrator of the elections commission as a holdover given that the commission did not have a majority vote to appoint her. The Senate’s vote to remove her had no legal effect and the commission has no duty to appoint a new leader while Wolfe is serving as a holdover, Peacock ruled.

Republican leaders of the Legislature appealed and the state Supreme Court will hear arguments Monday. It will issue a decision weeks or months from now.

Wolfe was asked about the case during a news conference the day after this month's election and whether she was committed to remaining in her position “for the long haul.” She made no promises.

“I’m completely committed to seeing through this election and making sure that this election is certified,” Wolfe said.

The state Senate is charged with voting on approving appointees such as Wolfe. However, the GOP majority starting in January will shrink from 22-11 to 18-15 as a result of this month's election. That means Republicans can only lose one vote on their side and still have a majority.

FILE - Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe participates in an election forum, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Ann Arbor, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)