Abstract
Media can be crucial for democracy. Because news and current affairs can promote political awareness and ideological diversity, many societies have charged policy makers with ensuring there are opportunities for different, new and independent viewpoints to be heard (“diversity”), and that media sources respond to the interests of their local communities (“localism”). In the U.S., the FCC traditionally limited the amount of common ownership of radio and television stations, and the amount of cross-ownership between newspapers, radio and television stations serving the same market.
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Notes
- 1.
U.S. Census Bureau (2009) data show that 64 % of households had internet access at the end of 2009. Data from Pew Internet and American Life surveys show that about 78 % of adult Americans use the internet at May, 2010 (See http://www.pewinternet.org/Static-Pages/Trend-Data/internet-Adoption.aspx). About 24 % of the 234 million mobile phone subscribers owned a smartphone as of August, 2010 (ComScore 2011).
- 2.
During 2009, Pew Research Center (2010) monitored 53 Baltimore newspapers, radio and television stations, their associated web sites, as well as internet-only web sites. They found that traditional media accounted for 93 % of the original reporting or fresh information on six major news stories during the week of July 19–25.
- 3.
Respondents were asked to consider what is available in their local media environment, rather than what they usually view or listen to. This represents a statement about the amount and quality of information programming being produced by media sources for their consumption.
- 4.
Contact the principal author for an example.
- 5.
The first focus group, with a hard-copy version of the survey, was held on December 9, 2010, in the Economics building at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Two men and two women, a local service employee and three staff members of the Economics Department, took the survey under supervision of the principal investigator and answered detailed questions regarding how they interpreted the questions and what they were thinking when they answered them. The second focus group, with an online survey, was facilitated by RRC Associates in Boulder on February 2, 2011. The group consisted of five diverse individuals with respect to age, gender, and internet experience, who completed the survey sequentially in the presence of a professional facilitator.
- 6.
The limit of $250 per month is the total cost for a media environment with a seven-day subscription to a premium newspaper, such as the San Francisco Chronicle ($25), a “All of XM” subscription to satellite radio ($20), a premier subscription to cable or satellite television ($110), a subscription to very-fast internet service ($45), an unlimited data subscription for a smartphone ($30), and $10 monthly memberships to both NPR and PBS.
- 7.
For a robustness check, the baseline estimates of utility in Table 13.4 below for the bivariate probit model were compared with estimates on the data for the hypothetical A-B choices only, as well as with estimates on the data for the first four and second four choice questions, and similar results were obtained.
- 8.
Unlike convenience panels that only include volunteers with internet access, KN panel recruitment uses dual sampling frames that includes both listed and unlisted telephone numbers, telephone and non-telephone households, and cellphone-only households, as well as households with and without internet access. If required, households are provided with a laptop computer and free internet access to complete surveys, but they do not participate in the incentive program. See Savage and Waldman (2011) for a detailed description of panel recruitment and non-response.
- 9.
The pilot study and focus groups indicated that the minimum time needed to complete the survey was about six or seven minutes. Because they may be shirking, the 341 respondents were removed in the survey with a completion time of less than six and one-half minutes. Evidence from KN suggests that this behavior is not specific to the survey style or content. The sample’s distribution of interview duration in minutes is similar to other KN surveys with median completion times ranging from seven to 19 min.
- 10.
The most popular media combinations are radio, television and the internet, about 30 % of sample respondents, and newspaper, radio, television and the internet, about 26 % of sample respondents.
- 11.
The discrete-choice model actually estimates β 2 /σ and β 1/σ, where σ is the scale parameter. The WTP calculation is not affected by the presence of the scale parameter because –(β 2/σ)/(β 1/σ) = −β 2/β 1.
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Savage, S.J., Waldman, D.M. (2014). Who Values the Media?. In: Alleman, J., Ní-Shúilleabháin, Á., Rappoport, P. (eds) Demand for Communications Services – Insights and Perspectives. The Economics of Information, Communication, and Entertainment. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7993-2_13
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