TY  - JOUR
AU  - Gentzkow,Matthew
AU  - Shapiro,Jesse M.
AU  - Sinkinson,Michael
TI  - Competition and Ideological Diversity: Historical Evidence from US Newspapers
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 18234
PY  - 2012
Y2  - July 2012
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w18234
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w18234.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Matthew Gentzkow
University of Chicago
Booth School of Business
5807 South Woodlawn Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637
Tel: 773/834-2177
Fax: 773/702-0458
E-Mail: gentzkow@chicagobooth.edu

Jesse M. Shapiro
University of Chicago
Booth School of Business
5807 S. Woodlawn Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637
Tel: 773/834-2688
Fax: 773-753-0563
E-Mail: jmshapir@uchicago.edu

Michael Sinkinson
Wharton School
University of Pennsylvania
3620 Locust Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104
E-Mail: msink@wharton.upenn.edu
M2  - featured in NBER digest on 2012-11-01
AB  - We use data on US newspapers from the early 20th century to study the economic incentives that shape ideological diversity in the media. We show that households prefer like-minded news, and that newspapers seek both to cater to household tastes and to differentiate from their competitors. We estimate a model of newspaper demand, entry and political affiliation choice in which newspapers compete for both readers and advertisers. We find that economic competition enhances ideological diversity, that the market undersupplies diversity, and that incorporating the two-sidedness of the news market is critical to evaluating the effect of public policy.
ER  -