Research Network Economics of Media Bias

• Applicant: Dr. Marcel Garz
• Subject Area: Economic Policy, Applied Economics
• Term: from 2016 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 299461837

Over the past decade, economists have been working increasingly on media bias; its forms, its causes, and its consequences, particularly in the ambit of news markets. Political slant is considered the most prominent form of media bias, but the literature also addresses biases related to advertising, newsworthiness, accessibility, and negativity. The origins of such biases can be found in the supply and demand side of the news market. Examples for supply-driven bias relate to the influence of lobbies, interest groups, advertisers, newsmakers, or technological conditions. Demand-driven bias is usually caused by the preferences and beliefs of the audience, which media companies cater to in order to maximize profits.The literature has also been investigating the consequences of media bias, such as effects on welfare, voting behavior, and political decision makers. In the light of this, the goals of the network have been established as follows. First, it aims to address three gaps in the research area: (a) measuring political bias in multi-party systems; (b) evaluating media bias across countries; and (c) developing new strategies for the empirical identification of cause and effect. Addressing these gaps is of high practical relevance, considering the pivotal role of mass media for democratic processes. Second, the network aims to support and integrate young researchers by connecting them with more experienced economists, both within Germany and internationally. In doing so, the network intends to raise the quality of the research of its members and thereby increase the chances of publication in high-ranked journals.

• DFG Programme: Scientific Networks