ECO334H1

The Political Economy of Media

We develop tools to analyze voters and the role of information in democracies. Theories of voter information are evaluated using empirical literature on media its political economy. We explore the effects of information-technology innovation, evaluating how the empirical results square with the theory. We focus on empirical methods used to identify the effects of media—from newspapers, radio and television to the internet and social media—on voters. Note: hands-on analysis of real-world data using computer programs is a course requirement. The course is open to all students who meet the prerequisites and necessary support for applicable software is provided.