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Competition and commercial media bias

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  • Blasco, Andrea
  • Sobbrio, Francesco

Abstract

This paper reviews the empirical evidence on commercial media bias (i.e., advertisers influence over media accuracy) and then introduces a simple model to summarize the main elements of the theoretical literature. The analysis provides three main policy insights for media regulators: (i) Media regulators should target their monitoring efforts towards news contents upon which advertisers are likely to share similar preferences. (ii) In advertising industries characterized by high correlation in products' qualities, an increase in the degree of competition may translate into a lower accuracy of news reports. (iii) A sufficiently high degree of competition in the market for news drives out commercial media bias.

Suggested Citation

  • Blasco, Andrea & Sobbrio, Francesco, 2012. "Competition and commercial media bias," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 434-447.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:telpol:v:36:y:2012:i:5:p:434-447
    DOI: 10.1016/j.telpol.2011.11.021
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    Cited by:

    1. Alaoui, Larbi & Germano, Fabrizio, 2020. "Time scarcity and the market for news," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 173-195.
    2. Jun Hu, 2021. "Regulation of media bias on online newspapers," Working Papers hal-03120466, HAL.
    3. Sendhil Mullainathan & Andrei Shleifer, 2005. "The Market for News," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(4), pages 1031-1053, September.
    4. Germano, Fabrizio & Meier, Martin, 2013. "Concentration and self-censorship in commercial media," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 117-130.
    5. Blasco, Andrea & Pin, Paolo & Sobbrio, Francesco, 2016. "Paying positive to go negative: Advertisers׳ competition and media reports," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 243-261.
    6. Balmer, Roberto, 2013. "Entry and Competition in Local Newspaper Retail Markets - When two are enough," MPRA Paper 54079, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Jiménez, Juan Luis & Perdiguero, Jordi & Gutiérrez, Inmaculada, 2022. "Bias in media coverage of antitrust actions," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    8. Carlini, Federico & Cucinelli, Doriana & Previtali, Daniele & Soana, Maria Gaia, 2020. "Don't talk too bad! stock market reactions to bank corporate governance news," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    9. Anna Kerkhof & Johannes Münster, 2023. "Strategic Complementarities in a Model of Commercial Media Bias," CESifo Working Paper Series 10738, CESifo.
    10. Pannicke, Julia, 2015. "Media bias in women's magazines: Do advertisements influence editorial content?," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 99, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    11. Kerkhof, Anna & Münster, Johannes, 2015. "Quantity restrictions on advertising, commercial media bias, and welfare," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 124-141.
    12. Anna Kerkhof & Johannes Münster, 2023. "Strategic Complementarities in a Model of Commercial Media Bias," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 261, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    13. Serena Marianna Drufuca, 2014. "Information, Media and Elections: Incentives for Media Capture," Working Papers (2013-) 1402, University of Bergamo, Department of Management, Economics and Quantitative Methods.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Advertising; Media accuracy; Two-sided market; Competition; Commercial media bias;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L15 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Information and Product Quality
    • L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design

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