Information can have an important impact on health behavior and, according to the World Health Organization, an ‘infodemic’ has accompanied the current pandemic. Observing TV news viewership in Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic using actual consumption data, we investigate whether demand for national and local news depends on national or local epidemiological developments, as measured by the number of new positives or the number of current positives on any given day. Exploiting the fact that the impact of the pandemic displays a great deal of variation among the different regions, we find that at the regional level, demand for both national and local news responds to national epidemiological developments rather than to local ones. This has implications regarding the incentives for local politicians to take preventive action.

信息可以对健康行为产生重要影响，据世界卫生组织称，当前的大流行伴随着“信息流行病”。我们使用实际消费数据观察了 COVID-19 大流行期间意大利的电视新闻收视率，调查了对国家和地方新闻的需求是否取决于国家或地方的流行病学发展，以新阳性数量或当前阳性数量来衡量。给定的一天。鉴于疫情的影响在不同地区之间存在很大差异，我们发现，在地区层面上，对国家和地方新闻的需求对国家流行病学的发展做出反应，而不是对当地的流行病学发展做出反应。这对当地政治家采取预防行动的激励产生影响。