Paying Not to Know: News Avoidance in Times of War

Ro'ee Levy, Moses Shayo and Guy Yanay

No 21869, CEPR Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research

Abstract: Do individuals at war avoid news about outgroup victims? Would such news affect them if they were exposed to it? We study Israelis and Jordanians during the 2023-2025 Gaza war. Four findings stand out. First, individuals are substantially less willing to read about outgroup than ingroup civilian victims. Second, news avoidance is driven less by instrumental considerations or universal affective factors, and more by social identity and group norms. Third, reading about outgroup victims increases knowledge, fosters empathy toward the outgroup, and affects policy positions. Finally, these effects arise even among individuals who would rather avoid such news.

JEL-codes: D74 D91 L82 P00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-08
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