67th Economic Policy Panel Meeting 12-13 April 2018 Zurich Hosted by the Swiss National Bank Where Do People Get Their News? Patrick Kennedy (Columbia University) Andrea Prat (Columbia University) The organisers would like to thank the Swiss National Bank for their support. The views expressed in this paper are those of the author(s) and not those of the supporting organization. Where Do People Get Their News?* Patrick Kennedy Andrea Prat Columbia University Columbia University April 3, 2018 Abstract The media industry is unique in its ability to spread information that may influence the democratic process. This influence depends on where and how citizens get their political information. While previous research has examined news production and consumption on specific media platforms — such as newspapers, television, or the Internet — little is known about overall news consumption across platforms. To fill this gap, we use a model of media power and individual-level survey data on news consumption to estimate the potential electoral influence of major news organizations in 36 countries. Our analysis highlights three global patterns: high levels of concentration in media power, dominant rankings by television companies, and a link between socioeconomic inequality and information inequality. We also explore international differences in the role of public service broadcasting. JEL codes: D83, L82, Keywords: Bias, media ownership, information inequality *
[email protected],
[email protected]. We thank Charles Angelucci, Claudio Ferraz, Guido Friebel, Alessandro Gavazza, Wojciech Kopczuk, Filip Matejka, Jim Minifie, Hideo Owan, Mirjam van Praag, Ricardo Reis, Miikka Rokkanen, Tano Santos, Dominik Thumfart, Tommaso Valletti, Pinar Yildirim and audiences at the European University Institute, the Federal Communications Commission, The LACEA-RIDGE Conference, POLECONUK, Princeton, and Science Po for useful comments.