Effect of network viewership on weekly vaccination rates by age group, 2021 (2SLS). Coefficient plots with 95% CIs from 2SLS regressions showing the effect of one standard deviation changes in viewership on weekly vaccinations per 100 people, by age group. Viewerships are instrumented using the lineup channel positions. Regressions include demographic and cable-system controls. Standard errors are clustered by state.

Our results show that Fox News is reducing COVID-19 vaccination uptake in the United States, with no evidence of the other major networks having any effect. We first show that there is an association between areas with higher Fox News viewership and lower vaccinations, then provide an instrumental variable analysis to account for endogeneity, and help pin down the magnitude of the local average treatment effect.

Overall, an additional weekly hour of Fox News viewership for the average household accounts for a reduction of 0.35–0.76 weekly full vaccinations per 100 people during May and June 2021. This result is not only driven by Fox News’ anti-science messaging, but also by the network’s skeptic coverage of COVID-19 vaccinations.