Telecracy: Testing for Channels of Persuasion

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Barone, Guglielmo; D'Acunto, Francesco; Narciso, Gaia
• 署名单位: European Central Bank; Bank of Italy; University of California System; University of California Berkeley; Trinity College Dublin
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-ECONOMIC POLICY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7731
• DOI: 10.1257/pol.20130318
• 发表日期: 2015
• 页码: 30-60
• 关键词: regression discontinuity designs; media bias; voter turnout; news; inference

摘要

We consider the long-lived slant towards Berlusconi in political information on Italian television (TV). We exploit a shock to the slanted exposure of viewers: idiosyncratic deadlines to switch to digital TV from 2008 to 2012, which increased the number of freeview channels tenfold. The switch caused a drop in the vote share of Berlusconi's coalition by between 5.5 and 7.5 percentage points. The effect was stronger in towns with older and less educated voters. At least 20 percent of digital users changed their voting behavior after the introduction of digital TV. Our evidence is consistent with the existence of persuasion-biased viewers.