Abstract
I exploit an exogenous change in politicians’ broadcast visibility to study how candidates’ TV exposure during campaign impacts voting behavior. Right before the 2013 Italian general election, the Pope Benedict XVI suddenly resigned and broadcast coverage of politics markedly dropped. I find that TV exposure can be pivotal in a close election: the lower visibility of the rightwing leader and media tycoon Berlusconi (-26 percentage points) caused a 2 percentage points dip in his vote share, sufficient for his defeat. The cap to politicians’ TV exposure favored the entrance of new players in the political arena. After the “Pope news”, part of Berlusconi’s electorate resorted to Internet for political news; voters exposed to a different information environment then favored a new party with Internet-centred propaganda.
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