Public policy and mass media : the interplay of mass communication and political decision making / edited by Sigrid Koch-Baumgarten and Katrin Voltmer.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Introduction: Mass Media and Public Policy {u2013} Is There a Link? - Sigrid Koch-Baumgarten and Katrin Voltmer -- Part I: Policy Issues, Agendas And The Media -- 2. Public Policy and The Mass Media: An Information Processing Approach / Bryan D. Jones and Michelle Wolfe -- 3. Do the Media Shape Parties{u2019} Agenda Preferences? An Empirical Study of Party Manifestoes in Belgium (1987-2003) / Stefaan Walgrave And Jonas Lefevere -- 4. Closing the Circle: A Case Study in the Role of Spin in the Policy Cycle / Neil Gavin -- 5. Knowledge Culture and Power: Biotechnology and the Popular Press / Pieter Maeseele and Dimitri Schuurrman -- 6. Aid Organizations, Governments and the Media: The Critical Role of Journalists in Signaling Authority Recognition/ Matthias Ecker-Ehrhardt -- Part II: Policy Institutions, Constellations of Actors and the Media -- 7. The Media and the Policy Process: A Policy Centric Approach/ Robin Brown -- 8. Contested Processes, Contested Influence: A Case Study of Genetically Modified Food In Britain / Anita Howarth -- 9. Going Public? (Re)Presentation Of Women{u2019}s Policy in the Media / Birgit Sauer -- 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 / Christoph Strünck -- 11. Condemned to Repeat: The Media and the Accountability Gap in Iraq War Policy / Robert M. Entman, Steven Livingston and Sean Aday -- 12. Conclusion: The Interplay of Mass Communication and Political Decision Making - Policy Matters! / Sigrid Koch-Baumgarten and Katrin Voltmer

The mass media are playing an increasingly central role in modern political life that expands beyond their traditional function as mediators between the world of politics and the citizens. This volume explores the extent and circumstances under which the media affects public policy; 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. It provides an in-depth understanding of the conditions under which the media might, or might not, play a role in the policy process and what the nature of their influence is. Bringing together conceptual and methodological approaches from both political science and communications studies, this book presents an interdisciplinary perspective. It presents empirical evidence of the processes involved in the interaction between mass communication and policy and features case studies from Western Europe and the US and across different policy fields. The book will be of interest to students of public policy, political communication and comparative politics.