Media bias

40 Pages·2002·1.4 MB·English

by  Mullainathan, Sendhil

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B3 Department ofEconomics t. - -
M415 Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology (MIT)
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o- " Working PaperNo. 02-33
Institute for Economic Research
Harvard University
Institute ResearchWorking PaperNo. 198
Media Bias
Sendhil Mullainathan
MIT; NBER
Andrei Shleifer
Harvard University; NBER
This paper can be downloaded without charge from the
Social Science Research Network Electronic PaperCollection at:
http:/7ssrn.com/abstract_id=335800
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MASSACHUSETTS'INSTiTuTr
OFTECHNOLOGY
JAN 2 I 2003
LIBRARIES
Media Bias
Sendhil Mullainathan and Andrei Shleifer*
(MIT and Harvard University)
*We are extremely grateful to Alberto Alesina, Gene DAvolio, Ed Glaeser, Simon Johnson,
Larry Katz, and Richard Posner for comments.

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Abstract
There are two different types ofmedia bias. One bias, which we refer to as ideology, reflects a
news outlet's desire to affect reader opinions in a particular direction. The secondbias, which we
refer to as spin, reflects the outlet's attempt to simply create a memorable story. We examine
competition among media outlets in the presence ofthese biases. Whereas competition can
eliminate the effect ofideological bias, it actually exaggerates the incentive to spin stories.
Sendhil Mullainathan Andrei Shleifer
MIT Harvard University
Department ofEconomics Department ofEconomics
50 Memorial Drive, E52-251 M9 Littauer Center
MA MA
Cambridge, 02142 Cambridge, 02138
mullain(o)mit.edu ashleifer(a),harvard.edu
and NBER andNBER