On January 15th, 2021, Prof. Dr. Michael Rochlitz participated in the TriECON Workshop on Media Economics, a workshop series organized by the Institute for Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU) at Trier University. Michael presented his paper "Independent Media and Polarization under Autocracy: Evidence from Two Field Experiments in Russia" (co-authored by Ruben Enikolopov, Koen Schoors and Nikita Zakharov). Using two randomized field experiments during the 2016 Duma elections in Russia, the paper shows how access to independent media in an environment where most media are controlled by the state can increase political polarization, and thus inadvertently strengthen support for the government.