Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/298602 
Year of Publication: 
2024
Series/Report no.: 
CEBI Working Paper Series No. 07/24
Publisher: 
University of Copenhagen, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality (CEBI), Copenhagen
Abstract: 
We examine the relative importance of accuracy concerns and belief confirmation motives in driving the demand for news. In experiments with US voters, we first vary beliefs about whether an outlet reports the news in a right-wing biased, left-wing biased, or unbiased way. We then measure demand for a newsletter covering articles from this outlet. Right-wing voters strongly reduce their demand for left-wing biased news, but not for right-wing biased news. The reverse patterns hold for left-wing voters. These results suggest a trade-off between accuracy concerns and belief confirmation motives. We quantify this trade-off using a structural model and find a similar quantitative importance of both motives.
Subjects: 
News Demand
Media Bias
Accuracy Concerns
Belief Confirmation
JEL: 
D83
D91
L82
P00
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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