Advertising and media capture: The case of climate change

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Beattie, Graham
• 署名单位: Loyola Marymount University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104219
• 发表日期: 2020
• 关键词: climate change; Media coverage; media capture; Advertising

摘要

This paper analyzes whether media capture by advertisers is a potential source of the divergence between the scientific consensus and public discourse about climate change. I develop an objective measure of the tone of climate change coverage by creating an index that builds on Gentzkow and Shapiro (2010), using phrase frequency analysis to compare newspaper text with the UN's IPCC reports and the Heartland Institute's skeptical response, each of which are lengthy official reports with clear stances on climate change. I also develop a measure of potential advertising from the auto industry, using national shocks to advertising at the manufacturer level weighted by previous advertising at the newspaper level. The empirical analysis shows that this potential advertising allows firms to capture newspapers: within-newspaper, the potential for advertising from car manufacturers shifts the tone of coverage towards skepticism. I also find suggestive evidence that potential advertising reduces the overall quantity of coverage of climate change. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.