Public Service Broadcasting of Sport, Shows, and News to Mitigate Rational Ignorance
Rothbauer J, Sieg G
Abstract
Rational individuals may use a tax or license-fee financed public service TV channel to mitigate the paradox of rational ignorance. The approach presented in this article assumes that increased consumption of information by voters improves democratic decisions, but marginal returns decrease. Depending on how fast marginal returns decrease, the public service TV channel broadcasts either only (unbiased serious) news or, to induce voters to watch the informational content, sports and shows (entertainment) as well.
Keywords
Public Service Broadcasting; voter behavior
Publication type
Research article (journal)
Peer reviewed
Yes
Publication status
Published
Year
2013
Journal
Journal of Media Economics
Volume
26
Issue
1
Start page
21
End page
40
Language
English
ISSN
0899-7764
DOI
Full text