No Hatred or Malice, Fear or Affection: Media and Sentencing

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Philippe, Arnaud; Ouss, Aurelie
• 署名单位: University of Bristol; University of Pennsylvania
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-3808
• DOI: 10.1086/699210
• 发表日期: 2018
• 页码: 2134-2178
• 关键词: JUDICIAL DECISIONS; outcomes; IMPACT; BIAS; television; selection; coverage; BEHAVIOR; VIOLENCE; JURORS

摘要

We explore how television broadcasting of unrelated criminal justice events affects sentencing. Exploiting as-good-as-random variation in news content before a verdict, we find that sentences are 3 months longer when the verdict is reached after coverage of crime. Sentences increase with media exposure to crime, not crime itself, and the effect tapers off quickly. Our results suggest that professional experience and expertise mitigate the effect of irrelevant external information. This paper highlights the influence of noise in the news cycle: media can temporarily influence decisions by changing what is top of the mind rather than signaling deeper changes in offending or societal concerns.