Paul Balluff, Jakob-Moritz Eberl, Sarina Joy Oberhänsli, Jana Bernhard-Harrer, Hajo G. Boomgaarden, Andreas Fahr, and Martin Huber published their new article "The Austrian Political Advertisement Scandal: Patterns of 'Journalism for Sale' in The International Journal of Press/Politics. Congratulations!

Mounting concern surrounds the influence of political actors on journalism, especially as media outlets face increasing financial pressures. These circumstances can give rise to instances of media capture, a mutually corrupting relationship between political actors and media organizations. However, empirical evidence substantiating such mechanisms and their consequences remains limited, particularly in the context of Western democracies. This paper investigates a recent case in which a former Austrian chancellor allegedly colluded with a tabloid newspaper to receive better news coverage in exchange for increased ad placements by government institutions. They employ automated content analysis to investigate political news articles from seventeen prominent Austrian news outlets spanning 2012–2021 (n = 222,659). Adopting a difference-in-differences approach, they find a substantial increase in media visibility of the former Austrian chancellor within the news outlet that is alleged to have received bribes, as well as a decrease in favorability for challenger candidates. Although this study does not aim to prove or disprove the involvement of specific political actors or media organizations in unethical or illegal activities, it introduces an innovative method for detecting unusual patterns in media reporting. Findings are discussed in the context of current threats to media independence and underscore the crucial need to protect journalistic integrity and ensure unbiased information for the public.

Balluff, P., Eberl, J.-M., Oberhänsli, S. J., Bernhard-Harrer, J., Boomgaarden, H. G., Fahr, A., & Huber, M. (Online First). The Austrian Political Advertisement Scandal: Patterns of “Journalism for Sale”. The International Journal of Press/Politics.

Find the full open-access paper here:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/19401612241285672