Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/248663 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
ECONtribute Discussion Paper No. 121
Publisher: 
University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Reinhard Selten Institute (RSI), Bonn and Cologne
Abstract: 
In a large-scale online experiment with U.S. Democrats, we examine how the demand for a newsletter about an economic relief plan changes when the newsletter content is fact-checked. We first document an overall muted demand for factchecking when the newsletter features stories from an ideologically aligned source, even though fact-checking increases the perceived accuracy of the newsletter. The average impact of fact-checking masks substantial heterogeneity by ideology: fact-checking reduces demand among Democrats with strong ideological views and increases demand among ideologically moderate Democrats. Furthermore, fact-checking increases demand among all Democrats when the newsletter features stories from an ideologically non-aligned source.
Subjects: 
Fact-checking
News Demand
Information
Media Bias
Belief Polarization
JEL: 
D83
D91
L82
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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