Media Effects

Opium for the Masses: How Foreign Media Can Stabilize Authoritarian Regimes

In Kern and Hainmueller (2009), this study examines the impact of West German television on public support for the East German communist regime, challenging the widely held belief in the democratization literature that foreign mass media undermine authoritarian rule.

Using a natural experiment and formerly classified survey data, the authors employ instrumental variable estimators to measure the effect of foreign media exposure. Surprisingly, the findings reveal that East Germans with access to West German television were more satisfied with life in East Germany and more supportive of the regime.

The study attributes this counterintuitive result to the primary use of West German television as a source of entertainment rather than political information. Additional evidence, including regional patterns in exit visa applications and archival documents on the East German regime’s response to West German television, supports this explanation.

This research highlights the complex and context-dependent nature of media effects, offering important insights into the interplay between entertainment media and public opinion under authoritarian regimes.