Most Americcans feel exhausted by election coverage

Pew Research

A new Pew Research Center survey conducted June 7-July 5 finds that about six-in-ten Americans (59%) feel exhausted by the amount of election coverage, while 39% say they like getting a lot of coverage about the election. This feeling of fatigue is particularly true among those who aren’t following news about the election very closely – 69% of this group say they are worn out compared with about 41% of those who follow the election very closely.

That said, just because Americans are worn out by the amount of coverage does not imply that interest in or attention to the election itself is low. In fact, a recent Pew Research Center report showed that there was greater interest than during previous campaigns. Further, in February, we found that 91% of Americans had learned about the election from at least one type of source in the previous week.

With so many saying they are worn out by the coverage, what is it that Americans think has been getting too much attention?

Most Americans say there is too little coverage of issues; candidates’ comments and personal lives seen as most over-coveredWhen asked about various topics of campaign coverage, two areas stand out for being over-covered: About four-in-ten say there is too much coverage of candidates’ comments on the campaign trail (44%) and of their personal lives (43%), higher than any other topics asked about. This is followed by coverage of which candidate is leading in the polls (37%) and the candidates’ moral character (30%). Very few say the candidates’ experience (15%) or their stances on issues (13%) have received too much attention.