In a year dominated by the intense United States presidential election campaign, Americans are now seeking a break from the political news overload, according to a recent poll. The survey conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research revealed that 65 percent of US adults feel the need to limit their exposure to politics and government due to information fatigue.
Breaking it down by political affiliation, around 70 percent of Democratic Party voters, 59 percent of Republicans, and 63 percent of independents are all taking a step back from the political news frenzy. “People are mentally drained,” remarked Ziad Aunallah, a 45-year-old from San Diego, California. “We all know what’s coming, so it’s time to take a breather.”
The survey was conducted in early December, following Republican Donald Trump’s victory over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the November 5 presidential election. Trump and Harris had been in the spotlight for months as they crisscrossed the nation holding rallies and meeting with voters.
Following Trump’s victory, anticipation around his upcoming presidency has been the center of media attention. However, as the AP-NORC poll suggests, TV news ratings show a decline in viewership as the year comes to a close.
From election night until December 13, prime-time viewership of MSNBC dropped by 54 percent, CNN’s viewership decreased by 45 percent, while Fox News saw a 13 percent increase in viewership among Trump supporters. The surge in Fox News viewership post-election has resulted in 72 percent of cable news viewers choosing the channel in the evening, compared to 53 percent prior to Election Day.
Political fatigue and a desire to disconnect from the news cycle is not a new trend in the US, where polarization and divisive rhetoric have escalated in recent years. A survey by Pew Research Center in 2020 found that about two-thirds of Americans reported feeling worn out by the constant news cycle, similar to findings from 2018.
Furthermore, a September survey last year revealed that 65 percent of respondents frequently felt exhausted when thinking about politics, with 55 percent feeling consistently angry. The majority of Americans expressed negative views of the state of politics, often describing it as divisive.
Arash Javanbakht, an associate professor of psychiatry at Wayne State University, attributed “the politics of fear” as one of the key reasons for disengagement from politics among Americans. Factors like the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing political stress, polarizing social media, and public disillusionment with politics have contributed to widespread burnout and feelings of helplessness among the public.
