Nikita Zakharov (Freiburg University) - Political Cycles of Media Repression

Nikita Zakharov (Freiburg University) - Political Cycles of Media Repression

Co-author: Günther G. Schulze (Freiburg University)

Abstract
The paper investigates targeted repression against journalists in autocratic regimes that mimic democracies by holding frequent elections and allowing relatively independent media. We propose a hypothesis that autocrats strategically repress independent media before the elections to discourage negative press coverage since it is the only time when critical information can undermine the monopoly on power. Our empirical strategy takes advantage of unique, granular data on harassment against journalists in all major Russian cities over the last 16 years and a predetermined, staggered electoral timing. We find a substantial increase in the risk of media repression in the months before a local election – this timeframe coincides with an electoral campaign’s duration. Disaggregating by the type of elections, we find that high-stake elections of mayors and regional governors generate much more frequent political cycles than elections of the regional parliament or city council. Further, using novel data on the tonality of media reports that mention regional governors, we show a disciplining effect of media repression on the tonality of the news coverage.

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