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Media versus Special Interests

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Author Info
Alexander Dyck
David Moss
Luigi Zingales
Abstract

We argue that profit-maximizing media help overcome the problem of "rational ignorance" highlighted by Downs (1957) and in so doing make elected representatives more sensitive to the interests of general voters. By collecting news and combining it with entertainment, media are able to inform passive voters on politically relevant issues. To show the impact this information has on legislative outcomes, we document the effect "muckraking" magazines had on the voting patterns of U.S. representatives and senators in the early part of the 20th century. We also show under what conditions profit-maximizing media will cater to general (less affluent) voters in their coverage, providing a counterbalance to special interests.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 14360.

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Date of creation: Sep 2008
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14360

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
N41 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, and Regulation - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
P16 - Economic Systems - - Capitalist Systems - - - Political Economy of Capitalism

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  1. Djankov, Simeon & La Porta, Rafael & López-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei, 2009. "Disclosure by Politicians," CEPR Discussion Papers 7168, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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