Challenges for the Fourth Estate: Newspaper Journalism in the light of Experimental Economics

Abstract

This dissertation provides a theoretical and experimental analysis of various pressures currently facing journalists. The first two chapters provide theoretical explanations for two observed dynamics: the industry-wide decline of the print media; and the internal barriers many newspapers erect between managers and journalists. The two subsequent chapters develop experiment designs to investigate the effects of media manipulation by government officials on reporting; and since many newspapers are currently facing bankruptcy, the differences between two different repayment rules under Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The final chapter reports on an experiment conducted to investigate the effect Defamation laws may have on news reporting.