4 Diciembre: Seminario 2015/28 – J.A. García-Martínez (U. Miguel Hernández) – A theory of media self-silence

Información

Abstract
This paper proposes a theory of media silence. The argument is that news organizations have the power to raise public concern and so affect the probability that there is ex-post verification of the true state of the world. Following the seminal article by Gentzkow and Shapiro (2006), we consider a newspaper that seeks to maximize its reputation for high quality. Our results predict more media silence, the higher the prior expectations on the quality of the firm, the greater the probability of ex-post verification, and the higher the power of the newspaper to lead public opinion. On the contrary, competition reduces media silence.