Conventional wisdom suggests that competition in the modern digital environment is pushing media outlets towards early release of less accurate information. We show that this is not necessarily the case. We argue that two opposing forces determine the resolution of the speed-accuracy tradeoff: preemption and reputation. More competitive environments may be more conducive to reputation building. Therefore, it is possible to have better reporting in a more (Internet-driven) competitive world. However, we show that the audience may be worse-off due to another consequence of the Internet – outlets’ better initial information. Finally, we show how a source may exploit the speed-accuracy tradeoff to get “unverified facts” out to the audience quickly.
Pant, A., Trombetta, F., The Newsroom Dilemma, <<DISEIS Working Paper Series>>, 2022; (2205): 0-62 [https://hdl.handle.net/10807/219085]
The Newsroom Dilemma
Trombetta, Federico
2022
Abstract
Conventional wisdom suggests that competition in the modern digital environment is pushing media outlets towards early release of less accurate information. We show that this is not necessarily the case. We argue that two opposing forces determine the resolution of the speed-accuracy tradeoff: preemption and reputation. More competitive environments may be more conducive to reputation building. Therefore, it is possible to have better reporting in a more (Internet-driven) competitive world. However, we show that the audience may be worse-off due to another consequence of the Internet – outlets’ better initial information. Finally, we show how a source may exploit the speed-accuracy tradeoff to get “unverified facts” out to the audience quickly.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.