IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp15078.html

The Political Economy of Propaganda: Evidence from US Newspapers

Author

Listed:
  • Ottinger, Sebastian

    (CERGE-EI)

  • Posch, Max

    (Harvard University)

Abstract

We study the impact of the first American party committed to redistribution from rich to poor on anti-Black media content in the 1890s. The Populist Party sought support among poor farmers, regardless of race, providing the segregationist Democratic establishment in the South with an incentive to fan racial outrage to alienate white voters from the Populists. Using text data from local newspapers and a difference-in-differences strategy, we find that stories of sexual assaults by Black men on white women became more prevalent in counties where the Populists threatened the Democratic dominance, and in Democratic newspapers only.

Suggested Citation

  • Ottinger, Sebastian & Posch, Max, 2022. "The Political Economy of Propaganda: Evidence from US Newspapers," IZA Discussion Papers 15078, IZA Network @ LISER.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15078
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp15078.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arthur Blouin & Sharun W. Mukand, 2019. "Erasing Ethnicity? Propaganda, Nation Building, and Identity in Rwanda," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 127(3), pages 1008-1062.
    2. Alexander Klein & Karl Gunnar Persson & Paul Sharp, 2023. "Populism and the first wave of globalization: Evidence from the 1892 US presidential election," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 2, pages 163-202.
    3. Petrova, Maria, 2011. "Newspapers and Parties: How Advertising Revenues Created an Independent Press," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 105(4), pages 790-808, November.
    4. Ilyana Kuziemko & Ebonya Washington, 2018. "Why Did the Democrats Lose the South? Bringing New Data to an Old Debate," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(10), pages 2830-2867, October.
    5. Stefano DellaVigna & Matthew Gentzkow, 2010. "Persuasion: Empirical Evidence," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 2(1), pages 643-669, September.
    6. Christian Ochsner & Felix Roesel, 2024. "Activated History: The Case of the Turkish Sieges of Vienna," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 16(3), pages 76-112, July.
    7. Dave Donaldson & Richard Hornbeck, 2016. "Railroads and American Economic Growth: A "Market Access" Approach," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(2), pages 799-858.
    8. Alex Albright & Jeremy A. Cook & James J. Feigenbaum & Laura Kincaide & Jason Long & Nathan Nunn, 2021. "After the Burning: The Economic Effects of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre," NBER Working Papers 28985, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Edward L. Glaeser, 2005. "The Political Economy of Hatred," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(1), pages 45-86.
    10. David Yanagizawa-Drott, 2014. "Propaganda and Conflict: Evidence from the Rwandan Genocide," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(4), pages 1947-1994.
    11. Alston, Lee J & Ferrie, Joseph P, 1993. "Paternalism in Agricultural Labor Contracts in the U.S. South: Implications for the Growth of the Welfare State," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(4), pages 852-876, September.
    12. Karsten Müller & Carlo Schwarz, 2021. "Fanning the Flames of Hate: Social Media and Hate Crime [Radio and the Rise of The Nazis in Prewar Germany]," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 19(4), pages 2131-2167.
    13. Calderon, Alvaro & Fouka, Vasiliki & Tabellini, Marco, 2021. "Racial Diversity and Racial Policy Preferences: The Great Migration and Civil Rights," IZA Discussion Papers 14488, IZA Network @ LISER.
    14. Tianyi Wang, 2021. "Media, Pulpit, and Populist Persuasion: Evidence from Father Coughlin," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(9), pages 3064-3092, September.
    15. Matthew Gentzkow & Jesse M. Shapiro, 2010. "What Drives Media Slant? Evidence From U.S. Daily Newspapers," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 78(1), pages 35-71, January.
    16. Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson & Thierry Verdier, 2004. "Alfred Marshall Lecture: Kleptocracy and Divide-and-Rule: A Model of Personal Rule," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 2(2-3), pages 162-192, 04/05.
    17. Kevin M. Murphy & Andrei Shleifer, 2004. "Persuasion in Politics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(2), pages 435-439, May.
    18. Logan, Trevon D., 2020. "Do Black Politicians Matter? Evidence from Reconstruction," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 80(1), pages 1-37, March.
    19. Shayo, Moses, 2009. "A Model of Social Identity with an Application to Political Economy: Nation, Class, and Redistribution," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 103(2), pages 147-174, May.
    20. Logan, Trevon D. & Parman, John M., 2017. "The National Rise in Residential Segregation," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 77(1), pages 127-170, March.
    21. Alvaro Calderon & Vasiliki Fouka & Marco Tabellini, 2021. "Racial Diversity and Racial Policy Preferences: The Great Migration and Civil Rights," NBER Working Papers 28965, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    22. repec:hal:pseose:halshs-01053370 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. M. J. Crockett, 2017. "Moral outrage in the digital age," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 1(11), pages 769-771, November.
    24. Eli, Shari & Salisbury, Laura, 2016. "Patronage Politics and the Development of the Welfare State: Confederate Pensions in the American South," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 76(4), pages 1078-1112, December.
    25. Stefano Della Vigna & Ruben Enikolopov & Vera Mironova & Maria Petrova & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, 2014. "Cross-Border Media and Nationalism: Evidence from Serbian Radio in Croatia," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 6(3), pages 103-132, July.
    26. Elizabeth U. Cascio, 2014. "Valuing the Vote: The Redistribution of Voting Rights and State Funds following the Voting Rights Act of 1965," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(1), pages 379-433.
    27. Keele, Luke & Cubbison, William & White, Ismail, 2021. "Suppressing Black Votes: A Historical Case Study of Voting Restrictions in Louisiana," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 115(2), pages 694-700, May.
    28. Matthew Gentzkow & Nathan Petek & Jesse M. Shapiro & Michael Sinkinson, 2015. "Do Newspapers Serve The State? Incumbent Party Influence On The Us Press, 1869–1928," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 13(1), pages 29-61, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Francesco Ferlenga, 2025. "Symbols of Oppression: The Role of Confederate Monuments in the Great Migration," Working Papers 1520, Barcelona School of Economics.
    2. Vincent Geloso & Linan Peng, 2024. "Postbellum electoral politics in California and the genesis of the Chinese exclusion act of 1882," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 403-434, June.
    3. Bernini, Andrea & Facchini, Giovanni & Tabellini, Marco & Testa, Cecilia, 2023. "Black Empowerment and White Mobilization: The Effects of the Voting Rights Act," IZA Discussion Papers 16220, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Rusch, Hannes, 2023. "The logic of human intergroup conflict:," Research Memorandum 014, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).
    5. Ferlenga, Francesco, 2025. "Symbols of Oppression: The Role of Confederate Monuments in the Great Migration," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 776, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    6. Berman, Nicolas & Brey, Björn & Laurent-Lucchetti, Jeremy, 2023. "Panic Politics in the US West Coast," CEPR Discussion Papers 17874, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Szydlowski, Martin, 2024. "Fomenting conflict," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    8. Nancy Qian & Marco Tabellini, 2021. "Racial Discrimination and the Social Contract: Evidence from U.S. Army Enlistment during WWII," NBER Working Papers 29482, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Davide Cipullo & Luca V.A. Colombo & Michele Magnani & Massimiliano Gaetano Onorato, 2025. "Historical Newspaper Markets," CESifo Working Paper Series 12194, CESifo.
    10. Taylor, Alexander N., 2025. "Monumental effects: Confederate monuments in the Post-Reconstruction South," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alberto Alesina & Marco Tabellini, 2024. "The Political Effects of Immigration: Culture or Economics?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 62(1), pages 5-46, March.
    2. Jetter, Michael, 2017. "Terrorism and the Media: The Effect of US Television Coverage on Al-Qaeda Attacks," IZA Discussion Papers 10708, IZA Network @ LISER.
    3. Engist, Oliver & Matzko, Paul & Merkus, Erik, 2024. "Conservative Talk Radio and political persuasion in the US,1950–1970," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 166-182.
    4. 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," NOVAFRICA Working Paper Series wp2302, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Nova School of Business and Economics, NOVAFRICA.
    5. Di Tella, Rafael & Galiani, Sebastian & Schargrodsky, Ernesto, 2021. "Persuasive propaganda during the 2015 Argentine Ballotage," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 885-900.
    6. Andrea Bernini & Giovanni Facchini & Marco Tabellini & Cecilia Testa, 2025. "Black Empowerment and White Mobilization: The Effects of the Voting Rights Act," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 133(10), pages 3078-3131.
    7. Beach, Brian & Hanlon, W. Walker, 2023. "Historical newspaper data: A researcher’s guide," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    8. Ferlenga, Francesco, 2025. "Symbols of Oppression: The Role of Confederate Monuments in the Great Migration," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 776, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    9. Hong, Justin Jihao & Lyu, Yuhan, 2025. "Not always a Panacea: History education and identity-building in Taiwan," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    10. Thomas Fujiwara & Karsten Müller & Carlo Schwarz, 2021. "The Effect of Social Media on Elections: Evidence from the United States," NBER Working Papers 28849, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Chen, Wei-Lin & Lin, Ming-Jen & Yang, Tzu-Ting, 2023. "Curriculum and national identity: Evidence from the 1997 curriculum reform in Taiwan," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    12. Duvanova, Dinissa & Nikolaev, Alexander & Nikolsko-Rzhevskyy, Alex & Semenov, Alexander, 2016. "Violent conflict and online segregation: An analysis of social network communication across Ukraine's regions," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 163-181.
    13. Francesco Ferlenga, 2025. "Symbols of Oppression: The Role of Confederate Monuments in the Great Migration," Working Papers 1520, Barcelona School of Economics.
    14. Brian Knight & Ana Tribin, 2019. "The Limits of Propaganda: Evidence from Chavez’s Venezuela," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 17(2), pages 567-605.
    15. Gisli Gylfason, 2023. "From Tweets to the Streets: Twitter and Extremist Protests in the United States," PSE Working Papers halshs-04188189, HAL.
    16. Michael McRae, 2025. "From the Pulpit to the Polls: The Electoral Consequences of Christian Talk Radio," Trinity Economics Papers tep1325, Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics.
    17. Thomas Fujiwara & Karsten Müller & Carlo Schwarz, 2024. "The Effect of Social Media on Elections: Evidence from The United States," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 22(3), pages 1495-1539.
    18. Andrea Bernini, 2020. "The Voice of Radio in the Battle for Equal Rights: Evidence from the U.S. South," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _181, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    19. Fouka, Vasiliki & Mazumder, Soumyajit & Tabellini, Marco, 2021. "From Immigrants to Americans: Race and Assimilation during the Great Migration," IZA Discussion Papers 14371, IZA Network @ LISER.
    20. Taylor, Alexander N., 2025. "Monumental effects: Confederate monuments in the Post-Reconstruction South," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media
    • N91 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15078. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Mark Fallak (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaalu.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.