Acknowledgments -- Introduction: political officials, the news, and public opinion -- The research on media bias -- Split party government and reporting on the minimum wage, 1996 and 2007 -- Unified republican government : debating tax cuts and social security, 2001-2005 -- Unified democratic government : debating the stimulus and executive pay, 2009 -- The attack dog bias? : bad news and economic policy, 1996-2009 -- Media effects on public opinion -- Media coverage and its effects: expanded case studies, 1993-2014 -- Experimental evidence of media effects on public opinion -- Conclusion