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National or Local? The Demand for News in Italy during COVID-19

Author

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  • Castriota, Stefano

    (University of Pisa)

  • Delmastro, Marco

    (Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni (Agcom))

  • Tonin, Mirco

    (Free University of Bozen/Bolzano)

Abstract

Looking at TV news viewership in Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic, we investigate whether demand for national and local news depends on national or local events. Exploiting the fact that epidemiological developments display a great deal of variation among the different regions, we find that demand for both national news and, more surprisingly, local news responds to the national epidemiological developments rather than to the local ones. This implies that local politicians have a further incentive to take preventive action.

Suggested Citation

  • Castriota, Stefano & Delmastro, Marco & Tonin, Mirco, 2020. "National or Local? The Demand for News in Italy during COVID-19," IZA Discussion Papers 13805, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13805
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    1. Nicolás Ajzenman & Tiago Cavalcanti & Daniel Da Mata, 2023. "More than Words: Leaders' Speech and Risky Behavior during a Pandemic," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 15(3), pages 351-371, August.
    2. Jason Turcotte & Ashley Kirzinger & Johanna Dunaway & Kirby Goidel, 2017. "The Many Layers of Local: Proximity and Market Influence on News Coverage of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 98(3), pages 993-1009, September.
    3. Tsutomu Watanabe & Yabu Tomoyoshi, 2020. "Japan’s Voluntary Lockdown," CIGS Working Paper Series 20-007E, The Canon Institute for Global Studies.
    4. Francesco Drago & Tommaso Nannicini & Francesco Sobbrio, 2014. "Meet the Press: How Voters and Politicians Respond to Newspaper Entry and Exit," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 6(3), pages 159-188, July.
    5. Nicolás Ajzenman & Tiago Cavalcanti & Daniel Da Mata, 2020. "More than Words: Leaders' Speech and Risky Behavior During a Pandemic," Department of Economics Working Papers wp_gob_2020_03, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella.
    6. MARTIN, GREGORY J. & McCRAIN, JOSHUA, 2019. "Local News and National Politics," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 113(2), pages 372-384, May.
    7. Bursztyn, Leonardo & Rao, Akaash & Roth, Christopher & Yanagizawa-Drott, David, 2020. "Misinformation during a Pandemic," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1274, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    8. Ash, Elliott & Galletta, Sergio & Hangartner, Dominik & Margalit, Yotam & Pinna, Matteo, 2024. "The Effect of Fox News on Health Behavior during COVID-19," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 32(2), pages 275-284, April.
    9. Cavalcanti, Tiago & Ajzenman, Nicolas & da Mata, Daniel, 2020. "More than Words: Leaders’ Speech and Risky Behavior During a Pandemic," CEPR Discussion Papers 14707, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
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    Cited by:

    1. Bello, Piera & Rocco, Lorenzo, 2022. "Education and COVID-19 excess mortality," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    2. Bello, Piera & Rocco, Lorenzo, 2021. "Education, Information, and COVID-19 Excess Mortality," IZA Discussion Papers 14402, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Kakizawa, Hisanobu, 2023. "The value of public service broadcasting in Japan during COVID-19 pandemic: An analysis of WTP by Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(3).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; TV; news;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media

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