unbiasedness than a private broadcaster. The BBC may be the most successful example in
this sense, where editorial independence is secured by a governance structure designed to
make transaction costs extremely high. It is unclear whether the BBC example can be
replicated in democracies with fewer checks and balances.
16.5. CONCLUSIONS
This chapter surveyed the burgeoning literature on media capture (situations where the
government controls the media) and media power (situations where the government is
controlled by the media). The former is more likely in countries with low transaction
costs between the government and the media, while the latter can be found in highly
established democracies. Models of media capture highlight the role of media plurality, ...