Demand for Online News under Government Control: Evidence from Russia

Andrey Simonov and Justin Rao

Journal of Political Economy, 2022, vol. 130, issue 2, 259 - 309

Abstract: We examine the nature of consumer demand for government-controlled online news outlets in Russia, testing whether such demand reflects a preference for progovernment ideological coverage or other factors unrelated to outlets’ ideological positions. We detect government-sensitive topics and measure outlets’ news-reporting decisions from news article texts, and we estimate a structural model of demand for news, using detailed browsing data that traces individual-level consumption. The average consumer has a distaste for progovernment ideology but a strong, persistent taste for state-owned outlets, primarily driven by third-party referrals and nonsensitive news content. We discuss implications for online media control and media power.

Date: 2022
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