arXiv Open Access 2024

News Media as Suppliers of Narratives (and Information)

Kfir Eliaz Ran Spiegler

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Abstrak

We present a model of news media that shape consumer beliefs by providing information (signals about an exogenous state) and narratives (models of what determines outcomes). To amplify consumers' engagement, media maximize consumers' anticipatory utility. Focusing on a class of separable consumer preferences, we show that a monopolistic media platform facing homogenous consumers provides a false "empowering" narrative coupled with an optimistically biased signal. Consumer heterogeneity gives rise to a novel menu-design problem due to a "data externality" among consumers. The optimal menu features multiple narratives and creates polarized beliefs. These effects also arise in a competitive media market model.

Topik & Kata Kunci

econ.TH

Penulis (2)

Kfir Eliaz

Ran Spiegler

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Eliaz, K., Spiegler, R. (2024). News Media as Suppliers of Narratives (and Information). https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.09155

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Informasi Jurnal

Tahun Terbit: 2024
Bahasa: en
Sumber Database: arXiv
Akses: Open Access ✓