Demand for Online News under Government Control: Evidence from Russia

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Simonov, Andrey; Rao, Justin
• 署名单位: Columbia University; Centre for Economic Policy Research - UK
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-3808
• DOI: 10.1086/717351
• 发表日期: 2022
• 页码: 259-309
• 关键词: product variety; media capture; Social media; radio; MARKET; COMPETITION; CENSORSHIP; persuasion; BIAS; consumption

摘要

We examine the nature of consumer demand for government-controlled online news outlets in Russia, testing whether such demand reflects a preference for progovernment ideological coverage or other factors unrelated to outlets' ideological positions. We detect government-sensitive topics and measure outlets' news-reporting decisions from news article texts, and we estimate a structural model of demand for news, using detailed browsing data that traces individual-level consumption. The average consumer has a distaste for progovernment ideology but a strong, persistent taste for state-owned outlets, primarily driven by third-party referrals and nonsensitive news content. We discuss implications for online media control and media power.