Ownership and media slant: Evidence from Swedish newspapers
利用2014年1月至2019年4月瑞典报纸、消费者偏好和所有权数据，构建报纸语言与议员演讲相似度的倾向指数，发现同一所有者旗下的报纸倾向趋同而非迎合当地读者，选举前分化更小，且存在作者独立于所有者的倾向。
Abstract This study investigates the role of media owners for the political bias of newspapers in Sweden, using an original dataset on outlets, consumer preferences, and ownership between January 2014 and April 2019. We construct an index of slant based on similarities in the language between newspapers and speeches given by members of parliament. Our results indicate that newspapers held by the same owner tend to offer the same mix of slant, rather than aligning their bias with consumer preferences in their area of circulation. Owners are even less inclined to differentiate the slant across outlets before elections, when the political returns to persuasion are high. We find no evidence that owners impose a one‐size‐fits‐all slant because product differentiation is too costly. In addition, we find suggestive evidence of owner‐independent bias induced by the writers of opinion articles. The Swedish context illustrates that supply‐driven slant cannot be ruled out in market‐based media systems if the ties between media and politics are strong.