Thomas Schillemans is professor in public governance, Utrecht University School of Governance. His research focuses on public accountability, behavioral knowledge for public policy and the role of the media.Jon Pierre is professor in political science, University of Gothenburg. His research focuses on contemporary governance and the changing role of political institutions. Key issues are political responsiveness and democratic accountability.

• Introduction: Entangling and disentangling governance and the media ~ Thomas Schillemans and Jon Pierre;Governance and the media: exploring the linkages ~ B. Guy Peters;Media and public accountability: typology and research agenda ~ Sandra Jacobs and Thomas Schillemans;Political control or legitimacy deficit? Bureaucracies' symbolic responses to bottom-up public pressures ~ Saar Alon-Barkat and Sharon Gilad;Mediatised local government: social media activity and media strategies among local government officials 1989–2010 ~ Monika Djerf-Pierre and Jon Pierre;Fighting or fumbling with the beast? The mediatisation of public sector agencies in Australia and the Netherlands ~ Thomas Schillemans;The mediatisation of university governance: a theoretical and empirical exploration of some side-effects ~ Andres Friedrichsmeier and Frank Marcinkowski;Managing commercialised media attention in complex governance networks: positive and negative effects on network performance ~ Erik Hans Klijn;Over-responsibilised and over-blamed: elected actors in media reporting on network governance. A comparative analysis in eight European metropolitan areas ~ Karin Hasler, Daniel Küebler, Anna Christmann and Frank Marcinkowksi.

"This timely book addresses the impacts of media on governance, policy and public accountability. It is a unique collection of studies about the interaction between new media actors and unelected government entities.. It is a must read for all who are interested in the role of media and democratic governance." Per Laegreid, University of Bergen