Bias in Cable News Persuasion and Polarization

We measure the persuasive effects of slanted news and tastes for like-minded news, exploiting cable channel positions as exogenous shifters of cable news viewership. Channel positions do not correlate with demographics that predict viewership and voting, nor with local satellite viewership. We estim...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe American economic review Vol. 107; no. 9; pp. 2565 - 2599
Main Authors Martin, Gregory J., Yurukoglu, Ali
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Nashville American Economic Association 01.09.2017
Subjects
Bias
Cable television industry
Demographics
Ideology
News
Persuasion
Polarization
Satellite television
Television news
Viewers
Voters
Voting
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Summary:We measure the persuasive effects of slanted news and tastes for like-minded news, exploiting cable channel positions as exogenous shifters of cable news viewership. Channel positions do not correlate with demographics that predict viewership and voting, nor with local satellite viewership. We estimate that Fox News increases Republican vote shares by 0.3 points among viewers induced into watching 2.5 additional minutes per week by variation in position. We then estimate a model of voters who select into watching slanted news, and whose ideologies evolve as a result. We use the model to assess the growth over time of Fox News influence, to quantitatively assess media-driven polarization, and to simulate alternative ideological slanting of news channels.
ISSN:0002-8282
1944-7981
DOI:10.1257/aer.20160812