BID - 'News Absorption and Voter Information
Research Cluster
| Speaker: | Charles Angelucci, Columbia Business School |
|---|---|
| Website: | https://sites.google.com/site/charlesangelucci/ |
| Date: | Tuesday 4 June 2019 |
| Time: | 12:30 |
| Location: | Kolade Teaching Room, Building One |
Further details
Abstract:
Political polarization is significant and on the rise. Many argue polarization is due to media bias and online news consumption (e.g., social media and echo chambers). This paper is a first attempt at studying news absorption in a representative sample of US voters over a representative set of news concerning US domestic politics. We study the extent to which US citizens absorb the main facts behind current events, and whether knowledge of national politics is partisan. The evidence is based on pilot surveys we conducted through polling company YouGov. Preliminary results suggest that significant inequalities in news knowledge exist, and that news absorption is highly partisan. Moreover, partisanship in news absorption is higher the older the piece of news.