Giovanni Facchini (Tinbergen Institute), Anna Maria Mayda (Georgetown University, Institute for the Study of Labor), and Riccardo Puglisi (University of Pavia; Centro Studi Luca d’Agliano) have recently published a paper on how media exposure influences individual attitudes toward illegal immigration.
Illegal immigration has been the focus of much debate in receiving countries, but little is known about what drives individual attitudes towards illegal immigrants. To study this question, we use the CCES survey, which was carried out in 2006 in the United States. We find evidence that – in addition to standard labor market and welfare state considerations – media exposure is significantly correlated with public opinion on illegal immigration. Controlling for education, income and ideology, individuals watching Fox News are 9 percentage points more likely than CBS viewers to oppose the legalization of undocumented immigrants. We find an effect of the same size and direction for CNN viewers, whereas individuals watching PBS are instead more likely to support legalization. Ideological self-selection into different news programs plays an important role, but cannot entirely explain the correlation between media exposure and attitudes about illegal immigration.
Bevan Sabo
Ariel Goldring
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