One of the privileges of being an opinion researcher is getting to watch history unfold - not just through headlines, but through the public’s own words. As America celebrates its 250th birthday this Fourth of July, I found myself looking back through decades of public opinion research. One conclusion stood out. Americans still love their country. They simply no longer agree on what America is. That is not the same thing as saying America has never been divided. It has. The country has been...

That’s the paradox shaping public opinion right now. Just 28% trust mass media to report the news fully and fairly (Gallup) Yet 53% still get news from social media (Pew Research Center) And among younger Americans, nearly 40% get news from influencers (Pew Research Center) So what’s actually happening? Americans haven’t disengaged. They’ve adapted. They consume information from sources they don’t trust…and then verify it across multiple sources. This is the shift: From trusting institutions...