From Couch to Poll: Media Content and the Value of Local Information

Mathias Bühler, Andrew Dickens and Andrew C. Dickens
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Andrew Dickens

No 10959, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: We document the importance of local information in mass media for the political engagement of citizens and accountability of politicians. We study this in the context of Canada, where until 1958, competition in television markets was suppressed—Canadians received either public or private television content, but never both. While public television provided national-level informational content, private television content was distinctly local and more politically relevant to voters. We find that the introduction of television reduced voter turnout, but that this effect is exclusive to public television districts. Our findings qualify existing knowledge about the political effects of the rollout of new media, by allowing the informational content to vary while holding the media type constant. We support our argument with evidence from parliamentary debates: politicians from districts with private television are more likely to speak and act on behalf of their constituents in Parliament. Our findings thus suggest that politicians are held accountable by relevant media content.

Keywords: media content; television; voting; political engagement; political accountability; natural language processing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 L82 N42 N92 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm, nep-cul and nep-pol
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
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Related works:
Working Paper: From Couch to Poll: Media Content and The Value of Local Information (2024)
Working Paper: From Couch to Poll: Media Content and the Value of Local Information (2024)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10959

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