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Local news in Google News: a response to Fischer et al. (2020)

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  • Magnusson, Evan

Abstract

Prior research has shown news aggregators, including Google News, to be beneficial to news outlets. In this article, I analyze why Fischer et al. (2020) produce contradictory results -- essentially claiming that local news outlets are disadvantaged in Google News relative to national ones. I find that the authors’ Gini coefficient measuring inequality in articles returned for local and national outlets to be highly biased by an error in its computation, and correcting this error reduces the value by up to 80% for some topics. I also show that the authors fail to highlight their own results showing the degree to which Google News returns local outlets in local searches, and that they further contradict their own results with numerous statements in the text.

Suggested Citation

  • Magnusson, Evan, 2021. "Local news in Google News: a response to Fischer et al. (2020)," MPRA Paper 106431, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:106431
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lesley Chiou & Catherine Tucker, 2017. "Content aggregation by platforms: The case of the news media," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 782-805, December.
    2. Joan Calzada & Ricard Gil, 2020. "What Do News Aggregators Do? Evidence from Google News in Spain and Germany," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 39(1), pages 134-167, January.
    3. Sean Fischer & Kokil Jaidka & Yphtach Lelkes, 2020. "Auditing local news presence on Google News," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 4(12), pages 1236-1244, December.
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    JEL classification:

    • L2 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior
    • L40 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - General

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