A major takeaway of the first phase of this yearlong study was that partisan dynamics are the strongest factor in Americans’ trust in the news media and other related concepts. The findings here reinforce that conclusion: Republicans, and especially strong Trump supporters, consistently express more negative sentiments about the news media.

There are a few places, though, where there is somewhat more agreement, including opinions about whether the news media should be approached with skepticism, perceptions of whether confidence in the institution can increase, and important factors that draw people to their key sources of news.

Republicans are more negative than Democrats in views of the news media’s role in society

Across a range of attitudes toward the news media, Republicans and t...

China has been accused of doubling-down on the repression of its ethnic minority Uyghur population amid the coronavirus pandemic, the allegations include coercing Uyghurs to take Chinese traditional medicine.

Meanwhile, Auckland’s coronavirus lockdown has lifted as Russia announced it would forcibly vaccinate ‘high risk’ groups.

This story will be regularly updated throughout Tuesday.

Tuesday’s key moments:

Xinjiang experiences draconian COVID-19 response

The government in China’s Xinjiang region is imposing draconian measures to combat coronavirus, including physically locking people in homes and arresting those who do not ...

People in different subgroups within the U.S. population often have different views of, relationships with and priorities for the news media. Partisanship is among the strongest divides, with Republicans expressing much more negativity toward the media than Democrats (see Chapter 4). But striking divisions also emerge between other groups in the country, including racial and ethnic groups, age groups, and people who rely on different pathways for political news – particularly when that pathway is social media.

Black, Hispanic and White Americans often have different perspectives as they navigate the information environment to get news they trust. Black adults have clear priorities, which are different from those of White adults, in what they look for in their news sources.

Americans we...

The head of Australia’s top foreign cyber-intelligence agency says spying on some Australians is essential because authorities are in a “near-impossible game” to defeat terrorism and espionage.

Rachel Noble — who last year became the first woman to lead the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) — is set to lay out the organisation’s history in unprecedented detail, while warning Australia’s strategic circumstances are the most threatening in decades.

ASD was established as the Defence Signals Bur...

Complaints about cleanliness at the Travelodge quarantine hotels in Sydney are a symptom of wider issues within an unregulated cleaning industry, according to a cleaning insider.

Darryl Soekoe runs a commercial cleaning company in Melbourne that since March has been cleaning sites with COVID-positive cases.

“You could say cleaners are the new shock troops of the COVID war because we are the ones that are taking the fight to COVID,” he told 7.30.

“But the cleaning industry is similar to other sorts of low-entry industries.

“There’s not much training out there. There’s not much guidance out there.

“In a way, it’s a race to the bottom.”

NSW Police removed The Travelodge from Sydney’s hotel quarantine program last week, following an increase in complaints from guests.

The hotel ...

A high-profile Australian television anchor for the Chinese Government’s English news channel, CGTN, has been detained in Beijing in a highly sensitive case posing a fresh challenge to Australia-China relations.

A statement from Foreign Minister Marise Payne confirmed Cheng Lei was being held by authorities in the Chinese capital and Australian diplomats were permitted to speak to her last week via video conference.

“The Australian Government has been informed that an ...