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Næss, Ole-Andreas Elvik: Investigative journalism: Market failures and government intervention through public broadcasters, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2025, 229, 106870, Online 30.12.2024.

Abstract

Investigative journalism plays a vital role in promoting democratic accountability and transparency. This paper surveys nearly 5,000 participants from the U.S., the U.K., and Norway, demonstrating that investigative journalism functions as a public good prone to underprovision. I explore how governments can address this potential market failure through the intervention of public broadcasters. A majority of participants are willing to pay higher taxes to support increased journalism through public broadcasters.

However, in countries with well-established public broadcasters, subsidies to private media are preferred, largely due to perceived political non-neutrality. Public broadcasters may garner broader support by focusing their journalism on non-political contexts. A Coasian approach proves ineffective, as the willingness to pay rises with the broader sharing of output.

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