Review of Economic Studies · 2022 · Leonardo Bursztyn、Aakaash Rao、Christopher Roth、David Yanagizawa-Drott
中文摘要
观点类节目的兴起改变了电视新闻。由于观点类节目呈现主播的主观评论和分析，它们往往传达关于现实的相互冲突的叙事。我们通过实验证明，无论意识形态立场如何，人们都会转向观看观点类节目而非“纯新闻”，即使获得大额激励以了解客观事实也是如此。随后，我们在一个高风险情境——美国 COVID-19 疫情初期——中考察了观点类节目之间叙事分歧所产生的后果。我们发现，同一电视网中最受欢迎的两档观点类节目对 COVID-19 疫情构成的威胁采取了截然相反的叙事，这两档节目观众在采取预防行为方面存在显著差异。我们进一步表明，相对更多观看淡化威胁节目的地区，经历了更多的 COVID-19 病例和死亡。我们的证据表明，观点类节目可能会扭曲重要的信念与行为。
Abstract
Abstract The rise of opinion programs has transformed television news. Because they present anchors’ subjective commentary and analysis, opinion programs often convey conflicting narratives about reality. We experimentally document that people across the ideological spectrum turn to opinion programs over “straight news”, even when provided large incentives to learn objective facts. We then examine the consequences of diverging narratives between opinion programs in a high-stakes setting: the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US. We find stark differences in the adoption of preventative behaviours among viewers of the two most popular opinion programs, both on the same network, which adopted opposing narratives about the threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. We then show that areas with greater relative viewership of the program downplaying the threat experienced a greater number of COVID-19 cases and deaths. Our evidence suggests that opinion programs may distort important beliefs and behaviours.