Title: Media Capture by Banks (with A. Fabiani, L. Laeven, JL Peydró)

Abstract: We study whether media slant news in favor of their lenders combining data on news coverage of key financial events in major European newspapers and information on bank-firm loan connections. We find that newspapers cover earning announcements by their lenders more, relative to other banks’, when they report profits than when they report losses. They also cover more favorably bank M&As in which their lenders participate as acquirers. Finally, newspapers connected to banks more exposed to stressed sovereign bonds tend to promote a narrative of the Eurobond crisis more favorable to banks and to oppose sovereign-debt-restructuring measures detrimental to creditors.

BIO: Ruben Durante is Professor of Economics and Provost's Chair at the National University of Singapore and ICREA Researcher at Pompeu Fabra University. He is also Research Fellow of the Center for Economic Policy and Research (CEPR), the Asian Bureau for Finance and Economic Research (ABFER), CESifo, and IZA, and Research Advisor at Gallup. He has held visiting positions at Yale University,. PSE, and INSEAD. He studies political economy with a focus on the functioning and impact of traditional and new media in democratic societies. His work has been published in top journals in economics, political science, and management, and is regularly featured in the press. His research has been supported by several funding agencies including the European Research Council through a Starting Grant, a Proof of Concept Grant, and, more, recently a Consolidator Grant. He holds a Master in political economy from Sorbonne University, as well as a Master and a Ph.D. in economics from Brown University.