Are Biased Media Bad for Democracy

Bibliographic Data

ID6231063
AuthorsStephane Wolton (0000-0003-1405-650X, London School of Economics and Political Science, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume63
Issue3
Pages548-562
Publication date2019-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0092-5853 • E-ISSN: 1540-5907
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/ajps.12424
OpenAlexW2948877949
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited47

This article assesses the normative and positive claims regarding the consequences of biased media using a political agency framework that includes a strategic voter, polarized politicians, and news providers. My model predicts that voters are always better informed with unbiased than with biased outlets even when the latter have opposite ideological preferences. However, biased media may improve voter welfare. Contrary to several scholars' fears, partisan news providers are not always bad for democracy. My theoretical findings also have important implications for empirical analyses of the electoral consequences of changes in the media environment. The impact of left‐wing and right‐wing biased outlets depends on the partisan identity of officeholders. Empirical findings may, thus, not be comparable across studies or even over time within a study. Existing empirical works are unlikely to measure the consequences of biased media, as researchers never observe and can rarely approximate the adequate counterfactual: elections with unbiased news outlets

Agency (philosophy · Counterfactual thinking · Democracy · Economics · Ideology · News media · Normative · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Public economics · Sociology · Welfare · Corruption and Economic Development · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Media Influence and Politics · Psychology · Social Psychology

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