Agency Design, the Mass Media, and the Blame for Agency Scandals

I investigate whether formal presidential authority over agencies moderates attributions of responsibility for agency activity. Using a survey experiment that manipulates news coverage of a major agency scandal, I find that providing details about formal presidential control in news coverage significantly increases attributions of responsibility to the president. I then explore broader questions of accountability by assessing mass media attention to agencies. I use a unique data set of over 150,000 newspaper articles, matched to agency design and regulatory activity data sets, and find considerable variation in total coverage and coverage that mentions the president along with the agency. Combined, the results suggest that media coverage of agency design affects how voters allocate blame for agency actions and that political accountability is hindered by minimal media attention to a large number of agencies that wield significant regulatory powers.