1 Introduction: Mass media and public policy is there a link?
Part I: Policy issues, agendas and the media;
2 Public policy and the mass media: An information processing approach;
3 Do the media shape parties' agenda preferences?: An empirical study of party manifestos in Belgium (1987-2003);
4 Closing the circle: A case study in the role of spin in the policy cycle;
5 Knowledge culture and power: Biotechnology and the popular press
6 Aid organizations, governments and the media: The critical role of journalists in signaling authority recognition
Part II: Policy institutions, constellations of actors and the media;
7 The media and the policy process: A policy centric approach;
8 Contested processes, contested influence: A case study of genetically modified food in Britain;
9 Going public?: (Re)presentation of women's policy in the media;
10 Public pushing for pension reform?: The short-term impact of media coverage on long-term policy making in Germany, Britain and the United States
11 Condemned to repeat: The media and the accountability gap in Iraq war policy
12 Conclusion: The interplay of mass communication and political decision making policy matters!

Explores the extent and circumstances under which the media affects public policy; and whether the political impact of the media is confined to the public representation of politics or whether their influence goes further to also affect the substance of political decisions