Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP17756
Authors: Nicola Mastrorocco; Arianna Ornaghi
Abstract: Do U.S. municipal police departments respond to news coverage of local crime? We address this question exploiting an exogenous shock to local crime reporting induced by acquisitions of local TV stations by a large broadcast group, Sinclair. Using a unique dataset of 8.5 million news stories and a triple differences design, we document that Sinclair ownership decreases news coverage of local crime. This matters for policing: municipalities that experience the change in news coverage have lower violent crime clearance rates relative to municipalities that do not. The result is consistent with a decrease of crime salience in the public opinion.
Keywords: Police; Local News; Ownership Concentration; Public Officials; Responsiveness
JEL Codes: K42; D73
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| decrease in news coverage of local crime (K42) | affects police behavior and resource allocation (H76) |
| Sinclair ownership (L96) | decrease in news coverage of local crime (K42) |
| decrease in news coverage of local crime (K42) | lower violent crime clearance rates (K42) |
| Sinclair ownership (L96) | lower violent crime clearance rates (K42) |