CHAPTER 16
Media Capture and Media Power
Andrea Prat
Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Contents
16.1. Introduction 669
16.2. Media Capture 672
16.3. Media Power 676
16.4. Implications for Media Regulation 682
16.5. Conclusions 685
References 685
Abstract
This chapter studies situations where media sources deliberately deviate from truthful reporting in
order to manipulate electoral outcomes. Media capture occurs when the government actively attempts
to influence the media industry. We instead speak of media power when news organizations engage in
biased reporting for political reasons. Existing theories identify factors that make these phenomena
more likely to occur, suggest ways of measuring them, and study their welfare effect and policy
implications. ...