Media Slant: A Question of Cause and Effect

What determines whether a newspaper leans left or right? If a paper serves a liberal community, it is likely to lean left, and if it serves a conservative community, it is likely to lean right. In addition, once its political slant is set, a paper is more likely to be read by households who share its perspective. Religiosity also plays a role in the story. In regions where a high percentage of the population attends church regularly, there are more conservatives, and newspapers have a conservative slant. The bottom line is simple: Media owners generally do not try to mold the population to their own brand of politics. Instead, like other business owners, they maximize profit by giving customers what they want.

[Mankiw is a professor of economics at Harvard]