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To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.3982/ECTA7195 Byline: Matthew Gentzkow (*), Jesse M. Shapiro (**) Keywords: Bias; text categorization; media ownership Abstract: We construct a new index of media slant that measures the similarity of a news outlet's language to that of a congressional Republican or Democrat. We estimate a model of newspaper demand that incorporates slant explicitly, estimate the slant that would be chosen if newspapers independently maximized their own profits, and compare these profit-maximizing points with firms' actual choices. We find that readers have an economically significant preference for like-minded news. Firms respond strongly to consumer preferences, which account for roughly 20 percent of the variation in measured slant in our sample. By contrast, the identity of a newspaper's owner explains far less of the variation in slant. Author Affiliation: (*)University of Chicago Booth School of Business, 5807 S. Woodlawn Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, U.S.A. and NBER;gentzkow@chicagobooth.edu (**)University of Chicago Booth School of Business, 5807 S. Woodlawn Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, U.S.A. and NBER;jesse.shapiro@chicagobooth.edu Article History: Manuscript received May, 2007; final revision received August, 2009.

Competition is effective in disciplining supply-side bias in the news market, but its effects are more ambiguous for demand-side biases. The definition of competition for assessing the performance of media markets differs from the traditional definition.

The effect of preschool television exposure on standardized test scores during adolescence is identified through heterogeneity in the timing of television's introduction in different local markets. An additional year of preschool television exposure increased average adolescent test scores by 0.02 standard deviations.

It is evident that a radical distinction normally exists between party platforms. It is shown this strategic extremism relies on an intensive margin. using information from United States, it is demonstrated that a nonmonotonic association exists between religious extremism and religious attendance.

The calorie intake of food stamp recipients (households) is studied using daily hyperbolic discount rate for short run and long run trade offs.

The study use data from a survey of over 10,000 respondents in nine predominantly Muslim countries to examine the correlates of these divergent perceptions, focusing in particular on media use and education. The finding regarding both media and education suggest that increased exposure to information is not necessarily correlated with more accurate perceptions of world events.

Large-scale screening of genetic and chemical-genetic interactions was used to examine the assembly and regulation of [beta]-1,3-glucan in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Using the set of deletion mutants in ~4600 nonessential genes, we scored synthetic interactions with genes encoding subunits of the [beta]-1,3-glucan synthase (FKS1, FKS2), the glucan synthesis regulator (SMI1/KNR4), and a [beta]-1,3-glucanosyltransferase (GAS1). In the resulting network, FKS1, FKS2, GAS1, and SMI1 are connected to 135 genes in 195 interactions, with 26 of these genes also interacting with CHS3 encoding chitin synthase III. A network core of 51 genes is multiply connected with 112 interactions. Thirty-two of these core genes are known to be involved in cell wall assembly and polarized growth, and 8 genes of unknown function are candidates for involvement in these processes. In parallel, we screened the yeast deletion mutant collection for altered sensitivity to the glucan synthase inhibitor, caspofungin. Deletions in 52 genes led to caspofungin hypersensitivity and those in 39 genes to resistance. Integration of the glucan interaction network with the caspofungin data indicates an overlapping set of genes involved in FKS2 regulation, compensatory chitin synthesis, protein mannosylation, and the PKC1-dependent cell integrity pathway.

A genetic interaction network containing ~1000 genes and ~4000 interactions was mapped by crossing mutations in 132 different query genes into a set of ~4700 viable gene yeast deletion mutants and scoring the double mutant progeny for fitness defects. Network connectivity was predictive of function because interactions often occurred among functionally related genes, and similar patterns of interactions tended to identify components of the same pathway. The genetic network exhibited dense local neighborhoods; therefore, the position of a gene on a partially mapped network is predictive of other genetic interactions. Because digenic interactions are common in yeast, similar networks may underlie the complex genetics associated with inherited phenotypes in other organisms., Gene deletion mutations have been constructed for each of the ~6000 known or predicted genes (1) in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, of which ~73% are nonessential (2). Synthetic genetic [...]

Based on the division of labor in food preparation, a theory is constructed, since no other developed country has experienced a higher growth rate in obesity as the United States of America. It is argued that for the vast majority of people, the price reductions in food preparations have led to welfare increases.

The 1990s were an unusually good decade for the largest American cities and, in particular, for the cities of the Midwest. However, fundamentally urban growth in the 1990s looked extremely similar to urban growth during prior post-war decades. The growth of cities was determined by three main trends: (1) cities with strong human capital bases grew faster than cities without skills, (2) people moved to warmer, drier places, and (3) cities built around the automobile replaced cities that rely on public transportation. Although the negative impact of population density diminished slightly in the 1990s, there is no real evidence for a return to large, dense cities.

In many traditional models of politics, such as the pioneering work of Anthony Downs, voters lack private incentives to become informed. (1) The news media therefore play a crucial role [...]

The controversy over how much to charge for health products in the developing world rests, in part, on whether higher prices can increase use, either by targeting distribution to high-use households (a screening effect), or by stimulating use psychologically through a sunk-cost effect. We develop a methodology for separating these two effects. We implement the methodology in a field experiment in Zambia using door-to-door marketing of a home water purification solution. We find evidence of economically important screening effects. By contrast, we find no consistent evidence of sunk-cost effects. (JEL C93, D12, I11, M31, O12)