“Mass media plays a powerful role in democracies […] It reaches an immense audience, and its content can affect a wide range of outcomes, including political behavior such as voting. However, the ability of the media to perform its prescribed role as the “watchdog” of democracy has come under question, as observers point to an increasing number of instances when media content is distorted by the government.”
Can a democratic government systematically distort news coverage from independently owned outlets? Nancy Qian and David Yanagizawa-Drott assess the extent of government distortion of the news in the United States.
Image credit: Fake news photo by Kayla Velasquez. Public domain via Unsplash.











