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The Political Legacy of Entertainment TV

Author

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  • Ruben Durante

    (UPF - Universitat Pompeu Fabra [Barcelona], CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research - CEPR, ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Paolo Pinotti

    (Bocconi University [Milan, Italy], CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research - CEPR)

  • Andrea Tesei

    (QMUL - Queen Mary University of London, CEP - LSE - Centre for Economic Performance - LSE - London School of Economics and Political Science, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research - CEPR)

Abstract

We study the political impact of commercial television in Italy exploiting the staggered introduction of Berlusconi's private TV network, Mediaset, in the early 1980s. We find that individuals with early access to Mediaset all-entertainment content were more likely to vote for Berlusconi's party in 1994, when he first ran for office. The effect persists for five elections and is driven by heavy TV viewers, namely the very young and the elderly. Regarding possible mechanisms, we find that individuals exposed to entertainment TV as children were less cognitively sophisticated and civic-minded as adults, and ultimately more vulnerable to Berlusconi's populist rhetoric.

Suggested Citation

  • Ruben Durante & Paolo Pinotti & Andrea Tesei, 2019. "The Political Legacy of Entertainment TV," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03948081, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:spmain:hal-03948081
    DOI: 10.1257/aer.20150958
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal-sciencespo.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03948081
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    Cited by:

    1. Sekou Keita & Thomas Renault & Jérôme Valette, 2023. "The Usual Suspects: Offender Origin, Media Reporting and Natives’ Attitudes Towards Immigration," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 134(657), pages 322-362.
    2. Donati, Dante, 2023. "Mobile Internet access and political outcomes: Evidence from South Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    3. Ponzetto, Giacomo & Boffa, Federico & Mollisi, Vincenzo, 2023. "Do Incompetent Politicians Breed Populist Voters? Evidence from Italian Municipalities," CEPR Discussion Papers 17997, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Lars Hornuf & Marc Oliver Rieger & Sven A. Hartmann, 2023. "Can television reduce xenophobia? The case of East Germany," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 76(1), pages 77-100, February.
    5. Margot Belguise, 2023. "Red herrings: A theory of bad politicians hijacking media attention," Discussion Papers 2023-12, Nottingham Interdisciplinary Centre for Economic and Political Research (NICEP).
    6. Timothy Besley & Thiemo Fetzer & Hannes Mueller, 2023. "How Big Is the Media Multiplier? Evidence from Dyadic News Data," CESifo Working Paper Series 10619, CESifo.
    7. Bodo Knoll & Hans Pitlik & Martin Rode, 2023. "TV Consumption Patterns and the Impact of Media Freedom on Political Trust and Satisfaction with the Government," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 169(1), pages 323-340, September.
    8. Francesca Maria Calamunci & Federico Fabio Frattini, 2023. "When Crime Tears Communities Apart: Social Capital and Organised Crime," Working Papers 2023.08, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    9. Bühler Mathias & Andrew Dickens, 2024. "From Couch to Poll: Media Content and The Value of Local Information," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 496, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    10. Alex Armand & Paul Atwell & Joseph F. Gomes & Yannik Schenk, 2023. "It’s a Bird, it’s a Plane, it’s Superman! Using Mass Media to fight Intolerance," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2023012, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    11. Cantarella, Michele & Fraccaroli, Nicolò & Volpe, Roberto, 2023. "Does fake news affect voting behaviour?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(1).
    12. Prömel, Christopher, 2023. "Belonging or estrangement—The European Refugee Crisis and its effects on immigrant identity," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    13. Caprini, Giulia, 2023. "Does candidates’ media exposure affect vote shares? Evidence from Pope breaking news," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    14. Boffa Federico & Mollisi Vincenzo & Ponzetto A. M. Giacomo, 2024. "Do Incompetent Politicians Breed Populist Voters? Evidence from Italian Municipalities," Working papers 087, Department of Economics and Statistics (Dipartimento di Scienze Economico-Sociali e Matematico-Statistiche), University of Torino.
    15. Mathias Bühler & Andrew Dickens & Andrew C. Dickens, 2024. "From Couch to Poll: Media Content and the Value of Local Information," CESifo Working Paper Series 10959, CESifo.

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