The Economic Journal· 2026Q1
Media Slant is Contagious
- 2citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
Higher Fox News Channel (FNC) viewership causes local newspapers to adopt a more right-wing slant, emerging gradually over several years.
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Abstract
Abstract This paper examines the diffusion of media slant. We document the influence of Fox News Channel (FNC) on the partisan slant of local newspapers in the U.S. over the years 1995-2008. We measure the political slant of local newspapers by scaling the news article texts to Republicans’ and Democrats’ speeches in Congress. Using channel positioning as an instrument for viewership, we find that higher FNC viewership causes local newspapers to adopt more right-wing slant. The effect emerges gradually, only several years after FNC’s introduction, mirroring the channel’s growing influence on voting behaviour. A main driver of the shift in newspaper slant appears to be a change in local political preferences.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. The Economic Journal, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Sociology and Political ScienceSocial Sciences