July 16, 2026

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In today’s email:

• Featured story: Germany says AI-generated information is subject to its media laws
• New from Pew Research Center: How Americans are engaged with news, politics, religion and civic life
• In other news: DOJ subpoenas New York Times reporters as Trump administration cracks down on leaks
• Looking ahead: Tech startup plans to put reporters in statehouses, plug information into AI model and sell subscriptions
• Chart of the week: How four groups vary by key measures of social and civic engagement

German regulators said this week that the country’s media laws apply to content generated by artificial intelligence after a court ruled last month that Google is liable for inaccurate information in its AI summaries. 

In a Pew Research Center survey last year, seven-in-ten German adults said they had at least some trust in their country to regulate the use of AI effectively. This is a higher share than in most other European countries surveyed.

Meanwhile, two-thirds of U.S. adults say they have little to no confidence in the U.S. government to regulate the technology effectively, according to a February survey. 

How many Americans show up in public life – and in what ways? A new Pew Research Center study from the Pew-Knight Initiative looked across a range of behaviors from political involvement to news consumption and found that, rather than falling along a single spectrum, U.S. adults can be sorted into four distinct groups that reflect different patterns of participation.

• DOJ subpoenas New York Times journalists over reporting about Air Force One as Hegseth announces anti-leak task force
• 12 states file lawsuit to block Paramount-Warner Bros. merger
• FCC to vote on repealing national ownership cap for TV stations
• More print reporters are learning how to make videos about news
• New York Times announces Twin Cities newsletter as part of local news initiative
• California pledges $20M contribution to local news fund, Google to match
• Journalists attacked by Israeli settlers in the West Bank; offices of two news organizations vandalized in Tel Aviv
• The physical challenges of reporting on data centers
• The Associated Press joins SPUR coalition, dedicated to shared licensing standards for AI content
• French journalist identifies thousands of fake AI news sites

Media startup State Affairs plans to deploy statehouse reporters and use AI to share the information they gather. Access would come through high-cost subscriptions for companies and government offices. The startup has gained high-profile funders in Silicon Valley, including Peter Thiel and other figures who have long been critical of news organizations.

The total number of statehouse reporters in the U.S. increased modestly between 2014 and 2022, but fewer reporters were covering state government full time by the end of that period, according to a Pew Research Center study. The number of statehouse reporters employed by newspapers declined noticeably, while most growth came from nonprofit news outlets. And there were 91 statehouse reporters working for commercial digital outlets in 2022, more than double the number in 2014 (36).

This week’s chart comes from our new Pew-Knight Initiative study on how Americans engage with society, which sorts U.S. adults into four categories based on their patterns of participation.

Mobilizers, the most engaged group, are among the most likely to report participating in all the activities we asked about, such as volunteering and contacting elected officials. Connectors are also highly engaged in many ways, but less so when it comes to direct political action. Spectators follow the news but participate less in other ways. And Outsiders are consistently less involved across all measures of engagement.

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How 4 groups vary by key measures of social and civic engagement

% of U.S. adults in each engagement group who say they …

Note: Engagement groups are based on a cluster analysis that sorted Americans into four groups based on their responses to 19 questions about political activity, civic involvement, religious attendance and attention to news.

Source: Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted July 9-Dec. 5, 2025. “How Americans Are Engaged With News, Politics, Religion and Civic Life”

PEW-KNIGHT INITIATIVE

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How 4 groups vary by key measures of social and civic engagement

% of U.S. adults in each engagement group who say they …

	Mobilizers	Connectors	Spectators	Outsiders
Say they voted in 2024	87	87	49	41
Contacted an elected official in the past year	65	13	7	3
Volunteered in the past year	77	42	17	13
Made a nonpolitical donation in the past year	83	90	21	21
Attend religious services in person at least monthly	45	43	25	24
Follow national news at least somewhat closely	95	88	84	41

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Note: Engagement groups are based on a cluster analysis that sorted Americans into four groups based on their responses to 19 questions about political activity, civic involvement, religious attendance and attention to news.

Source: Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted July 9-Dec. 5, 2025. “How Americans Are Engaged With News, Politics, Religion and Civic Life”

PEW-KNIGHT INITIATIVE

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👋 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 Anna Jackson.

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