Cable TV and COVID-19: How Americans perceive the outbreak and view media coverage differ by main ne
Coverage of 
In particular, the responses to COVID-19 news from those whose main source for political news is MSNBC or Fox News are strikingly different. The views of those who identify CNN as their main news source most often fit somewhere between the two.
One such difference emerges around knowledge and understanding of the pandemic. The group who names MSNBC as their main news source is far more likely than the Fox News group to answer correctly that the coronavirus 
The Fox News and MSNBC groups also differ in 
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Of the nine different main-source groups, MSNBC's gives the highest marks for media coverage in the survey. A full 92% say the news media have done somewhat or very well at covering the coronavirus outbreak, which is true for far fewer Fox News consumers (58%). That puts those who name Fox News as their main source in a 
At the same time, just about half of those who name Fox News (51%) give the answer that matches the experts', a percentage similar to the groups that rely most on the three broadcast networks — NBC (52%), ABC (53%) and CBS (53%). A modestly higher percentage of those who name CNN as their main source for political news chose the experts' answer (57%) than those naming Fox News as their main source.
In addition, two-thirds (66%) of those who rely on MSNBC correctly answered that the coronavirus originated in nature, rather than in a laboratory. That compares with the 37% of the Fox News group who give that same answer, a response that was virtually tied with several other groups for the lowest percentage of correct answers.
Here, the CNN audience is in the middle of the MSNBC and Fox audience responses, with 52% responding that the virus occurred naturally.
In addition, 39% in the Fox News group say the virus originated – either intentionally or unintentionally – in a laboratory, compared with 23% of the CNN group and 14% of the MSNBC group that say the same thing. (Results for all nine news sources on the two questions in this section are available 
When asked if they had seen mostly the same set of facts or conflicting sets of facts about the pandemic across various news sources, 75% of the MSNBC group say they had mostly seen the same facts, one of the highest percentages of any of the nine groups. That falls to about half (53%) of the Fox News group, which puts them among the main-source groups least likely to say they have seen the same facts.
Once again, those whose main source is CNN find themselves right between the audiences of their two competitors, with 65% saying they mostly saw the same facts.
Finally, one area where there was a general consensus among those who rely most on all three cable news networks is whether they have seen news about the pandemic that seemed made up. Here, 53% of the Fox News group say they had seen a lot or some made-up news, only modestly higher than the 46% of those who turn primarily to CNN and MSNBC who say the same. (Results for all nine news sources on the two questions in this section are available here and here in the Election News Pathways data tool.)
These measures and more can be explored further in the Election News Pathways data tool, where all of the data associated with this project is available for public use. You can read more about public opinion of COVID-19 here.
Data from this analysis comes from a survey conducted March 10-16, 2020. See the survey questions and methodology for this analysis, or access the dataset.
Acknowledgments: The Election News Pathways project was made possible by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Pew Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder. This initiative is a collaborative effort based on the input and analysis of a number of individuals and experts at Pew Research Center.
