The American Journalist Under Attack:
Media, Trust, and Democracy

2022 National Survey of the U.S. Journalism Profession

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The 2022 American Journalist Study

The 2022 American Journalist study was directed by Lars Willnat, John Ben Snow Research Professor at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School, in collaboration with Indiana University colleagues, emeritus professors David H. Weaver and Cleve Wilhoit. It builds on national surveys of U.S. journalists in the last five decades, beginning with John Johnstone and his colleagues at the University of Illinois in 1971 and moving east to Bloomington, Indiana, where Weaver and Wilhoit and their colleagues at Indiana University conducted similar studies in 1982, 1992, 2002, and 2013.

This 2022 survey updates the findings of these previous studies, especially the most recent survey of 2013 reported in the book, The American Journalist in the Digital Age, and asks new questions about the impact of social media in the newsroom, the role of the U.S. media in the future of democracy in the United States, and the growing number of threats that journalists have received in recent years.

The study is supported by the S.I. Newhouse School

of Public Communications at Syracuse University

and the John Ben Snow Foundation.

Download Key Findings of the 2022 American Journalist study here.

Download the 2022 American Journalist questionnaire here.

The American Journalist

The American Journalist Study @ Newhouse

Key Findings From The 2022 American Journalist Study

The American Journalist Under Attack: Media, Trust, and Democracy

A Brief History of The American Journalist Research, 1971-2026

Cleve Wilhoit, emeritus professor of journalism, Indiana University

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgement of all the persons to whom we are grateful for assistance on the The American Journalist Project, 1982-2026

Research Updates

Willnat, Weaver, & Wilhoit (2024). The American Journalist Under Attack: An Institution at Risk

Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly,

102(1), 37-61.

Data from six decades underpin this representative survey of 1,600 U.S. journalists conducted in 2022 that analyzes changes in journalists’ characteristics, values, and attitudes. Findings indicate the “interpretive-investigative” function remains prominent, while endorsement of the “disseminator” role has dropped dramatically. Social media usage is now routine but concerns about its adverse effects on journalism have risen sharply since 2013. While lack of diversity is still a problem in U.S. newsrooms, women have made strides in numbers and leadership and are now at parity on salaries. Alarmingly, six in 10 U.S. journalists report having received threats in their jobs.