Transcript Dr. Adam Jacobsson`s presentation available here

The Impact of Market
Competition
on Journalistic Performance
Eva-Maria Jacobsson (CSC, KTH)
Lee B. Becker (Cox center, University of Georgia)
Tudor Vlad (Cox center, University of Georgia)
C. Ann Hollifield (Dept of Telecomm., University of Georgia)
Adam Jacobsson (Dept of Economics, Stockholm University)
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Paper available at:
www.grady.uga.edu/coxcenter/
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Agenda
Why is this important?
 Theory

 Definitions
of media competition and media
performance.
 Mechanisms explaining the effect of
competition on media performance.
 Hypothesis
The data and empirical findings.
 Conclusion and future research.

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Why is this important?

A well functioning media helps:
 Citizens
to stay informed and to participate in
the democratic process.
 To keep government and other political and
economic elites under scrutiny.
 Economic development by disseminating
information.

So far, mainstream literature emphasizes
the virtues of competition.
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Definitions

Competition in the media sector is a
struggle for;
 Readers,
advertisers, trained journalists etc.
 Key: competition is a function of the number
of competitors for a GIVEN level of resources.

Media performance or media quality has
many different interpretations, e.g.;
 Unbiasedness,
informativeness,
independency of the organization etc.
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Effects from competition on media
performance
Makes firms try harder (+)..
 Smaller profits and budgets to do quality
journalism (-).
 Product differentiation can lead to a
partisan press (-).
 Financially weaker firms are more
vulnerable to influence peddling (-).

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Hypercompetition
Per unit
price
C
Phc + subsidy
A
Pme
Size of subsidy
per unit sold
B
Phc
Qme
Qhc
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Quantity
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Hypotheses
Media performance/media
quality
Intensity of competition
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The data
Population: 76 emerging media markets
where data were available.
 Measures:

 Index
of professional journalism (IREX)
 Number of media outlets/GDP
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Findings – the whole population
Professional journalism and competition, all countries.
3,5
IREX index of professional journalism.
3
2,5
2
1,5
1
0,5
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Number of total media outlets per billion USD PPP GDP.
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Findings – Sub-Saharan Africa
Professional journalism and competition, Africa.
3,5
IREX index of professional journalism
3
2,5
2
1,5
1
0,5
0
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Number of total media outlets per billion USD PPP GDP.
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The theoretical relationship
Media quality
Countries with
low competition:
Djibouti, Libya
Mauritania,
Saudi Arabia
Countries with
moderate
competition not
included in these
analyses
Countries with
hypercompetition
such as Ukraine,
Republic of Congo,
Togo
Intensity of
Competition
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Conclusion and future research




Our study casts theoretical and empirical doubt
on the assumption that more competition is
always better.
This is important for the design of, for example,
media development.
Need for better and more data.
Goal: find country specific indicators for what is
a good level of media competition.
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