This book addresses the factors that affect the content and reach of news coverage as well as its impact on public policy. Contributors address both market constraints that affect media - particularly news content - and the impact that news reporting has on economic and political choices. For instance, the media can affect behaviour by informing voters about a politician's views or actions, enlightening citizens to outcomes of public policy, or taking a stance on political, social, or economic issues. Considering that the media is the main source of information on public policy choices and current social and economic conditions, what news the media chooses to gather, analyse, and disseminate - and the slant they choose to put on what they report - is of consequence. Operating on that understanding, the authors examine a range of issues, including bias or slant in media reporting, the impact of markets and nonmarket factors on news reporting, and the role of government regulation of the media sector in developing countries.

Table of Contents:

1. Overview: From Media Markets to Policy - by Roumeen Islam
2. The Media's Influence on Public Policy Decisions - by David Strömberg and James M. Snyder, Jr.
3. National Media and Local Political Participation: The Case of the New York Times - by Lisa M. George and Joel Waldfogel
4. Minority-Targeted Local Media and Voter Turnout: A Summary - by Joel Waldfogel
5. I'm News, Are You? Newspaper Coverage of Elected vs. Appointed Officials - by Riccardo Puglisi and James M. Snyder, Jr.
6. The Political Impact of Media Bias - by Stefano DellaVigna and Ethan Kaplan
7. Market Forces and News Media in Muslim Countries - by Matthew Gentzkow and Jesse M. Shapiro
8. Political Economy of Media Capture - by Maria Petrova
9. Fostering an Independent Media with a Diversity of Views - by Joseph Stiglitz
10. Media Regulation in the United States - by Jonathan Levy
11. Aspects of Two Media Models: France and the United Kingdom and EU Media Govenance - by Pierre-Yves Andrau
12. Three Countries: Three Stories - by Edetaen Ojo, Ziad Majed, and Bambang Harymurti

248

World Bank CommGAP's bi-weekly Blog Update, "What's New on People, Spaces, Deliberation" - July 3 2008; and World Bank blog.