“No Hatred or Malice, Fear or Affection”: Media and Sentencing
利用新闻内容的外生变化，研究发现法官在接触犯罪报道后做出的判决刑期平均延长3个月，且该效应随媒体曝光度增加而增强，但迅速消退，表明专业经验可减轻无关外部信息的影响。
We explore how television broadcasting of unrelated criminal justice events affects sentencing. Exploiting as-good-as-random variation in news content before a verdict, we find that sentences are 3 months longer when the verdict is reached after coverage of crime. Sentence increase with media exposure to crime, not crime itself, and the effect tapers off quickly. Our results suggest that professional experience and expertise mitigates the effect of irrelevant external information. This paper highlights the influence of noise in the news cycle: media can temporarily influence decisions by changing what is top-of-the-mind, rather than signaling deeper changes in offending or societal concerns.