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Primetime Spin: Media Bias and Belief Confirming Information

Author

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  • Jeremy Burke

Abstract

This paper develops a model of media bias in which rational agents acquire all their news from the source that is most likely to confirm their prior beliefs. Despite only wishing to make the correct decision, agents act as if they enjoy receiving news that supports their preconceptions. By exclusively gathering information from a source biased towards his prior, there is little chance an agent will be persuaded to change his mind. Moreover, it is shown that even an unbiased agent prefers to receive biased news as it is unlikely to produce conflicting reports. The media caters to the informational demands of consumers and accordingly slants its reporting. It is shown that competition may not decrease bias, but may actually enhance it. Finally, even when it increases bias, competition may improve welfare by expanding the market for news.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeremy Burke, 2008. "Primetime Spin: Media Bias and Belief Confirming Information," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(3), pages 633-665, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jemstr:v:17:y:2008:i:3:p:633-665
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1530-9134.2008.00189.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Margaret A. Meyer, 1991. "Learning from Coarse Information: Biased Contests and Career Profiles," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(1), pages 15-41.
    2. Bartosz Mackowiak & Mirko Wiederholt, 2009. "Optimal Sticky Prices under Rational Inattention," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(3), pages 769-803, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Stone, Daniel F., 2011. "Ideological media bias," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 78(3), pages 256-271, May.
    2. Garz, Marcel & Sörensen, Jil & Stone, Daniel F., 2020. "Partisan selective engagement: Evidence from Facebook," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 91-108.
    3. Anqi Li & Lin Hu, 2020. "Electoral Accountability and Selection with Personalized Information Aggregation," Papers 2009.03761, arXiv.org, revised Apr 2023.
    4. Arda Gitmez & Konstantine Sonin & Austin L. Wright, 2020. "Political Economy of Crisis Response," Working Papers 2020-68, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    5. Matthew Gentzkow & Jesse M. Shapiro & Daniel F. Stone, 2014. "Media Bias in the Marketplace: Theory," NBER Working Papers 19880, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. John Gasper, 2009. "Reporting for sale: the market for news coverage," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 141(3), pages 493-508, December.
    7. Li, Anqi & Hu, Lin, 2023. "Electoral accountability and selection with personalized information aggregation," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 296-315.
    8. Kishishita, Daiki & Sato, Susumu, 2025. "Watchdog versus yes man: News source and media competition," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 233-253.
    9. Panova, Elena, 2024. "Media market structure and confirmatory news," TSE Working Papers 24-1597, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised Mar 2026.
    10. Archishman Chakraborty & Parikshit Ghosh, 2016. "Character Endorsements and Electoral Competition," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 8(2), pages 277-310, May.
    11. Lin Hu & Anqi Li & Ilya Segal, 2019. "The Politics of Personalized News Aggregation," Papers 1910.11405, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2022.
    12. Rajesh Bagchi & Sung H. Ham & Chuan He, 2020. "Strategic Implications of Confirmation Bias‐Inducing Advertising," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 29(6), pages 1573-1596, June.
    13. Garz, Marcel & Sood, Gaurav & Stone, Daniel F. & Wallace, Justin, 2020. "The supply of media slant across outlets and demand for slant within outlets: Evidence from US presidential campaign news," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    14. Sobbrio, Francesco, 2009. "A Citizens-Editors Model of News Media," MPRA Paper 18213, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Sendhil Mullainathan & Andrei Shleifer, 2005. "The Market for News," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(4), pages 1031-1053, September.
    16. Maria Rosa Battaggion & Alessandro Vaglio, 2015. "Pin-ups and Journalists: A Model of Media Market with News and Entertainment," Journal of Media Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(4), pages 217-245, October.
    17. Ascensión Andina Díaz, 2011. "Mass Media in Economics: Origins and Subsequent Contributions," Working Papers 2011-02, Universidad de Málaga, Department of Economic Theory, Málaga Economic Theory Research Center.
    18. Prabal Roy Chowdhury, 2024. "Persuasion in social media: smoke and mirrors," Discussion Papers 24-03, Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi.
    19. repec:osf:socarx:fy2we_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Agostino Manduchi, 2013. "Non-neutral information costs with match-value uncertainty," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 109(1), pages 1-25, May.
    21. A. Arda Gitmez & Pooya Molavi, 2022. "Informational Autocrats, Diverse Societies," Papers 2203.12698, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2023.
    22. Jacopo Perego & Sevgi Yuksel, 2022. "Media Competition and Social Disagreement," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 90(1), pages 223-265, January.

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