United States

The United States media system has entered a period of intense change: the number of channels, and thus of competitors, is multiplying; the boundaries between media sectors are blurring; economic resources and power over the flow of information are shifting into the hands of the tech giants.

Print page

43

Press freedom ranking
95.6%

Internet penetration
114

Peace index ranking
N/A

Most trusted medium
N/A

Net trust index
Constitutional Federal Republic

Government type

Opinion makers

The United States public sphere is extremely complex, with many opinion makers, and in the current media system most of them reach subsets of the population rather than the mass public as a whole. Cable television commentators such as Sean Hannity of Fox News and Rachel Maddow of MSNBC, for example, have relatively large influence, but their audiences are small minorities of the mass public, on the political right and left, respectively. If we look at the most-followed Twitter accounts in the United States, most belong to popular music or entertainment celebrities. Others high on the list include, in order, former President Barack Obama, television talk show host Ellen deGeneres, President Donald J. Trump, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, television talk show host Oprah Winfrey, The New York Times, and basketball player LeBron James.

United States

43

95.6%

114

N/A

N/A

Constitutional Federal Republic

Author

Opinion makers

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