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Is Journalistic Truth Dead? Measuring How Informed Voters Are about Political News

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  • Charles Angelucci
  • Andrea Prat

Abstract

To investigate general patterns in news information in the United States, we combine a protocol for identifying major political news stories, 11 monthly surveys with 15,000 participants, and a model of news discernment. When confronted with a true and a fake news story, 47 percent of subjects confidently choose the true story, 3 percent confidently choose the fake story, and the remaining half are uncertain. Socioeconomic differences are associated with large variations in the probability of selecting the true news story. Partisan congruence between an individual and a news story matters, but its impact is up to an order of magnitude smaller.

Suggested Citation

  • Charles Angelucci & Andrea Prat, 2024. "Is Journalistic Truth Dead? Measuring How Informed Voters Are about Political News," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 114(4), pages 887-925, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:114:y:2024:i:4:p:887-925
    DOI: 10.1257/aer.20211003
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jeremy T. Fox & Natalia Lazzati, 2017. "A note on identification of discrete choice models for bundles and binary games," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 8(3), pages 1021-1036, November.
    2. David Danz & Lise Vesterlund & Alistair J. Wilson, 2022. "Belief Elicitation and Behavioral Incentive Compatibility," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(9), pages 2851-2883, September.
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media

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