What your news diet says about your politics

Breaking down Trump's approval and 2026 midterms vote by Americans' primary news source

I start every weekday the same way: My alarm clock (not my phone, an actual physical alarm clock) goes off at 6:45, and I immediately make coffee and walk down to my basement gym and work out. While exercising (strength training or a stationary bike, depending on the day), I turn on my TV and stream a hellish 4-way simulcast of cable and network news — specifically Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, and my local ABC affiliate. I normally have the TV muted and listen to a podcast; I’m just using cable news to visually monitor what stories people are talking about.

I acknowledge that this is a borderline psychopathic way to start the day, but I consider it part of my job to know what “the news” is and what other people are paying attention to. Also, it’s just an hour a day while I’m doing something else productive, so I don’t think I’m fracturing my attention too much. (And also to be fair (to me), I did not seek out an expensive cable news subscription to do this; I got a discounted 6-month YouTube…