More than half of Americans (58%) say they are following news about candidates for the 2024 presidential election very or fairly closely. Another 28% say they aren\u2019t following it too closely, and 13% aren\u2019t following it closely at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The share of Americans who are closely following election news is slightly higher now than it was in April 2020<\/a> (52%). In October 2020, however, that share increased to 75%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This year, Republicans and independents who lean toward the Republican Party are slightly more likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners to say they are closely following election news (64% vs. 58%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n As in past presidential elections, older adults are more likely than younger adults to say they are closely following news about the candidates. Roughly eight-in-ten U.S. adults ages 65 and older (82%) currently say this, compared with 68% of those ages 50 to 64, 48% of those ages 30 to 49, and only 34% of those ages 18 to 29.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although many Americans are following news about the 2024 presidential candidates, they are also experiencing fatigue over election coverage. About six-in-ten U.S. adults (62%) already say they are worn out by so much coverage of the campaign and candidates, while 35% say they like seeing a lot of this coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is similar to the share of Americans who said they felt worn out at later points in the last two presidential election years. In June and July 2016<\/a>, 59% of Americans said they felt worn out, and in October 2020<\/a>, 61% felt this way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Americans who are following election news closely are less<\/em> likely than those who aren\u2019t to be worn out by election coverage. Four-in-ten Americans who say they follow news about candidates very closely say they are worn out by so much coverage, compared with 77% of those who say they don\u2019t follow it closely at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Republicans are slightly less likely than Democrats to say they are worn out by election coverage (58% vs. 66%). This gap is driven by conservative Republicans (55%), who are less likely than moderate or liberal Republicans (65%) to feel worn out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Americans are more likely to say they mostly get political news because they happen to come across it (57%) than because they are looking for it (42%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, there are striking differences on this question by age. Just a quarter of Americans ages 18 to 29 say they mostly get political news because they are looking for it, compared with 60% of those 65 and older \u2013 a gap of 35 percentage points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those who say they closely follow news about the 2024 presidential election are also far more likely to actively seek out political news. About six-in-ten U.S. adults who closely follow election news (58%) say they mostly get political news this way, compared with 18% of those who are not closely following election news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Republicans and Democrats are equally likely to say they mostly get political news because they look for it (44% vs. 43%). However, independents who do not lean toward either party (21%) are about half as likely to say this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We also asked what type of sources Americans get most of their political and election news from. A majority of U.S. adults (62%) say they get most of this news from journalists and news organizations. (The question did not ask how people access that news<\/a>, such as through TV, print, news websites or social media.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Around one-in-ten Americans (11%) say they get most political and election news from friends, family and neighbors. Smaller shares say they get most of this news from celebrities and social media personalities (4%), politicians and political parties (3%), and ordinary people they don\u2019t know (2%). An additional 17% say they don\u2019t get most of their political or election news from any of these sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are a few differences in election news sources by Americans\u2019 age and political party:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Older Americans<\/strong>\u00a0are far more likely than younger ones to say they get most political and election news from journalists and news organizations. Around three-quarters of Americans ages 65 and older (78%) say this, compared with 68% of those ages 50 to 64, 55% of those 30 to 49, and 45% of those 18 to 29.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adults under 30<\/strong>\u00a0are significantly more likely than those 65 and older to say they get most of this news from celebrities and social media personalities (10% vs. 1%). They are also more likely to get this news from friends, family and neighbors (18% vs. 6%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Democrats<\/strong>\u00a0are slightly more likely than Republicans to say they get most political and election news from journalists and news organizations (69% vs. 59%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n