Working Paper: NBER ID: w9295
Authors: Sendhil Mullainathan; Andrei Shleifer
Abstract: There are two different types of media bias. One bias, which we refer to as ideology, reflects a news outlet's desire to affect reader opinions in a particular direction. The second bias, which we refer to as spin, reflects the outlet's attempt to simply create a memorable story. We examine competition among media outlets in the presence of these biases. Whereas competition can eliminate the effect of ideological bias, it actually exaggerates the incentive to spin stories.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: D23; L82
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Media Competition (L13) | Ideological Bias (P16) |
| Media Competition (L13) | Spin (Y60) |
| Reader Type (Bayesian) (Y50) | Media Reporting Accuracy (C83) |
| Reader Type (Categorical) (Y92) | Media Reporting Accuracy (C83) |
| Spin (Y60) | Ideological Bias (P16) |