Did Television Reduce the Effect of Partisan Press on Electoral Politics?

Abstract

In this study, I examine whether the effect of biased media can be reduced when voters have an alternative source of political information. Specifically, I investigate whether the introduction of television mitigated the effect of partisan press on U.S. presidential elections from 1944 to 1964. I first show that newspaper coverage of presidential campaigns during this period was affected by newspapers’ party affiliations and their readers’ political preferences. The main finding of this study is that television decreased the correlation between the circulation of partisan newspapers and parties’ vote share. The results suggest that the existence of centrist media can make voters less susceptible to partisan media.