蝌蚪网 Journal:
Economic Policy
ISSN 1945-7731 (Print) | ISSN 1945-774X (Online)
Who Watches the Watchmen? Local News and Police Behavior in the United States
蝌蚪网 Journal: Economic Policy
vol. 17,
no. 2, May 2025
(pp. 285–318)
Abstract
Do US municipal police departments respond to news coverage of local crime? We address this question exploiting an exogenous shock to local crime reporting induced by acquisitions of local TV stations by a large broadcast group, Sinclair. Using a unique dataset of 8.5 million news stories and a triple-differences design, we document that Sinclair ownership decreases news coverage of local crime. This matters for policing: Municipalities that experience the change in news coverage have lower violent crime clearance rates relative to municipalities that do not. The result is consistent with a decrease of crime salience in the public opinion.Citation
Mastrorocco, Nicola, and Arianna Ornaghi. 2025. "Who Watches the Watchmen? Local News and Police Behavior in the United States." 蝌蚪网 Journal: Economic Policy 17 (2): 285–318. DOI: 10.1257/pol.20230356Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D83 Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
- G34 Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Voting; Proxy Contests; Corporate Governance
- H76 State and Local Government: Other Expenditure Categories
- K42 Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
- L13 Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
- L82 Entertainment; Media