Deck 7: The News and Social Media

Question 1

Which of the following refers to news sources such as newspapers, television, radio, and the Internet that provide a large audience with information about the nation and the world?

A) Mass media
B) Social media
C) Muckrakers
D) Watchdogs
E) Electronic media

Answer 1

A

Question 2

When a newspaper staff decides to put a news story about a senatorial race on the front page while putting an article about a local firefighter on page 7 of the paper, it is engaging in which of the following functions of the news?

A) Investigating
B) Informing
C) Interpreting
D) Inciting
E) Inducting

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The role of the press in monitoring government actions is known as which of the following?

A) Watchman
B) Trendsetter
C) Opinion creator
D) Muckraker
E) Watchdog

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Which of the following best describes concerns about concentrated media ownership?

A) Concentration could lead to a decline in the democratic debate.
B) Media owners might steer the national agenda.
C) Cable news viewers will be lost to newspapers owned by the parent company.
D) Concentration could lead to a decline in the democratic debate, and media owners might steer the national agenda.
E) All of these are correct.

Question 5

Which of the following statements about the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is most accurate?

A) The FCC has little control over wireless frequencies because Congress has not given it this authority.
B) The media is limited with the stories that they can cover related to the government because of censorship by the FCC.
C) The government established the FCC to distribute and regulate the radio, television, and wireless frequencies.
D) The Supreme Court ruled that allowing the FCC to regulate interstate telephone service was a violation of the Commerce Act.
E) The FCC has permitted large corporations to secure control of the telephone, cable, satellite television, and Internet services.

Question 6

The main focus of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was to do which of the following?

A) Attempt to tighten national control over media ownership and product content
B) Attempt to deregulate all privately owned media
C) Encourage restrictions on web pages
D) Relax the rules governing media ownership
E) Spark an increase in government-owned media outlets

Question 7

A single corporation can offer television, phone, and Internet services due to which of the following?

A) A key merger between a phone and cable company in the early 2000s
B) The Supreme Court supporting companies' right to make a profit by offering multiple products
C) The Telecommunications Act of 2001
D) The Telecommunications Act of 1996
E) The First Amendment

Question 8

Which of the following is not usually considered to be a part of the media?

A) Newspapers
B) Television
C) Personal correspondence
D) Radio
E) The Internet

Question 9

In 1934, Congress created which of the following-now a powerful agency that regulates all forms of electronic media, including radio, television and cable television, cell phones, and even wireless networks?

A) Central Intelligence Agency
B) Federal Communications Commission
C) Federal Media Agency
D) National Broadcasting Association
E) National Broadcasting Commission

Question 10

Which of the following is a potential problem with concentrated media ownership?

A) It may result in government restrictions on competition.
B) It may result in a limited watchdog function.
C) It may result in too much competition.
D) It may result in information overload.
E) It may result in too much accountability to the public.

Question 11

Forms of communication, including radio and television, that have a broad reach to many people are known as which of the following?

A) Mass messages
B) Journalism
C) Popular press
D) Media
E) News

Question 12

While most of the mass media in the United States is privately owned, which of the following is also correct?

A) They are able to regulate large swaths of information flow on the Internet.
B) The government has cracked down on the use of copyrighted material.
C) They have focused most of their energy on monitoring the activities of hate groups.
D) They do not operate free of government regulation.
E) They operate free of government regulation.

Question 13

Over time, what has happened to the concentration of media ownership due to more lax FCC control?

A) It has grown.
B) It has shrunk.
C) It has remained unchanged.
D) It has become unattainable.
E) It has disappeared.

Question 14

When reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein researched and revealed information about the Watergate scandal, they demonstrated which of the following media roles?

A) Entertaining
B) Investigating
C) Inquiring
D) Interpreting
E) Evaluating

Question 15

The first televised presidential debate was between which of the following?

A) Eisenhower and Stevenson in 1956
B) Kennedy and Nixon in 1960
C) Johnson and Goldwater in 1964
D) Nixon and Humphrey in 1968
E) Nixon and McGovern in 1972

Question 16

The 1996 Telecommunications Act did which of the following?

A) Ended a rule prohibiting the merging of media from two different domestic markets
B) Ended a rule prohibiting foreign ownership of any media in the United States
C) Ended a rule prohibiting telephone companies from entering the cable business
D) Created a rule prohibiting foreign ownership of any media in the United States
E) Created a rule to create a publicly owned cable television provider

Question 17

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 has allowed which of the following?

A) Companies to own more media outlets
B) The government to seize stations from defiant companies
C) Companies to receive tax benefits from state governments
D) The government to fully regulate cable television
E) The FCC to raise the national audience reach cap from 35% to 45%

Question 18

Which of the following amendments to the Constitution protects the freedom of the press?

A) First Amendment
B) Second Amendment
C) Fourth Amendment
D) Fifth Amendment
E) Ninth Amendment

Question 19

Which of the following is a subset of the mass media that provides the news of the day gathered and reported by journalists?

A) The Internet
B) Radio
C) Blogs
D) News media
E) Public opinion

Question 20

Radio, television, wire, and cable are regulated by which of the following?

A) The Department of Communications
B) The states
C) The Federal Communications Commission
D) The Constitution
E) Themselves, with no government oversight

Question 21

By the 1960s, people started to rely more on which of the following for news as opposed to newspapers for their political information?

A) Internet
B) Periodicals
C) Radio
D) Television
E) Word of mouth

Question 22

In what ways do social networking, blogging, and the Internet play a role in politics today?

A) Politicians at all levels of government office have placed importance on having a web presence.
B) The two major party candidates for president in 1996 were the first to develop political websites for their campaigns.
C) Because social networks were intended for friends and families, politicians have limited their presence in these applications.
D) Modern political candidates have had limited success using the Internet to raise money to fund campaigns.
E) While local politicians use social networking successfully, most national politicians do not.

Question 23

An individual who posts outrageous things on blogs merely to get attention is sometimes referred to as which of the following?

A) Citizen journalist
B) Talking head
C) Troll
D) Advocate
E) Professional journalist

Question 24

The leading platform for social networking is which of the following?

A) LinkedIn
B) XING
C) Tumblr
D) eHarmony
E) Facebook

Question 25

Statistics on the changing media environment suggest which of the following?

A) Americans invent new media every decade; less attention is focused on international affairs.
B) Americans adopt new media quickly; there are more options for getting news than ever before.
C) Americans are increasingly less interested in the news; technology cannot make up for the lack of interest.
D) Americans adopt new media quickly; they abandon previous options when new technology emerges.
E) Americans are resistant to new technology; there are more options for getting news than ever before.

Question 26

The power of the media to determine what the government ought to do is referred as which of the following?

A) Framing
B) Priming
C) Setting the public agenda
D) Political socialization
E) Content aggregation

Question 27

When the media uncovers public wrongdoing and brings that wrongdoing to the public's attention, it is engaged in which role of the media?

A) Entertaining the public
B) Socializing new generations
C) Providing a political forum
D) Making profits
E) Setting the public agenda

Question 28

When Benjamin Day began selling the New York Sun in 1833, he began which of the following eras?

A) Penny press
B) Anti-government press
C) Sensationalist press
D) Advocacy press
E) Partisan press

Question 29

What novel exposed the horrors of the meatpacking industry in 1906?

A) John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress
B) Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian
C) Jeremy Rifkin's Beyond Beef
D) Upton Sinclair's The Jungle
E) Rachel Carson's Silent Spring

Question 30

Which of the following is the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States?

A) Latinos
B) Asians
C) African Americans
D) Eastern Europeans
E) Native Americans

Question 31

Which of the following is a website that provides a forum for "bottom-up" commentary, description of events, video postings, and general conversation?

A) Blog
B) Tweet
C) Listserv
D) Thread
E) Troll

Question 32

When learning about politics, young adults today prefer to get information through the bottom-up approach made possible by which of the following?

A) The growing availability of new media that allows for citizen participation
B) Broadcasters filtering the news and reporting it to the public
C) Speaking with constituents at political gatherings
D) Participating in political events such as conventions and polls
E) Holding fast to the political beliefs of previous generations

Question 33

President Theodore Roosevelt coined which of the following terms for journalists who engaged in investigative reporting that sought to uncover corruption and wrongdoing?

A) Yellow journalism
B) Muckraking
C) Advocacy press
D) Opinion making
E) Scoop

Question 34

Which of the following is true of the Millennial generation and news consumption?

A) They are three times more likely to get news from BuzzFeed than baby boomers.
B) They read newspapers or listen to the radio more frequently and for longer periods than any other generation.
C) They appear completely uninterested in politics and political news.
D) They reject citizen participation in the news-gathering process.
E) They prefer top-down information processing and political analysis.

Question 35

Which of the following began publication in Boston in 1690, had only a few pages and was more a pamphlet than a newspaper during the colonial era?

A) Two Treatises of Government
B) The Boston Globe
C) The New York Weekly Journal
D) Public Occurrences
E) The Evening Post

Question 36

When the media regularly focus public attention on violent crime, political corruption, or economic woes, they are engaged in which of the following?

A) Biased reporting
B) Political socialization
C) Agenda setting
D) Changing public opinion
E) Apathy management

Question 37

The most important aspect of debates for political candidates is taking advantage of an opportunity to do which of the following?

A) Present their own views on the issues
B) Attack the views of their opponent on the issues
C) Use the power of television to project an image
D) Speak to the part of the electorate that is already committed to voting for them
E) Show the electorate that he or she is eloquent and articulate

Question 38

Which social networking site is increasingly being used by political candidates and is becoming a more common source of breaking news than Facebook?

A) SocialVibe
B) Ryze
C) Myspace
D) Twitter
E) GovLoop

Question 39

When presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon debated in 1960, those people who heard about the debate by which of the following methods thought Kennedy had won while people who learned about the debate through other media thought Nixon had won?

A) Watching it on television
B) Listening to it on the radio
C) Reading about it in the newspaper
D) Talking with family and friends
E) Listening to their state representative

Question 40

Which of the following was a form of journalism that distorted the presentation of events and could mislead the public in the interest of boosting sales?

A) Yellow journalism
B) Gold journalism
C) Muckraking
D) Penny journalism
E) Investigative journalism

Question 41

Available evidence seems to indicate that most journalists and reporters have which of the following?

A) Liberal leanings
B) Conservative leanings
C) Biases in favor of politicians
D) No biases at all
E) Negative leanings

Question 42

In the past twenty-five years, Americans' confidence in the press has done which of the following?

A) Increased by 50%
B) Decreased by 50%
C) Remained the same
D) Risen slightly
E) Declined slightly

Question 43

Priming can be defined as a way in which the media does which of the following?

A) Limits access to opinionated information
B) Sets the public agenda of what government ought to do
C) Alters public perceptions of an issue by embedding that issue in particular stories
D) Seeks to make a profit
E) Socializes new generations about major political issues

Question 44

Journalists are more likely to identify as which of the following?

A) Democrats than as Republicans
B) Republicans than as Democrats
C) Republicans than as independents
D) Libertarians than as Democrats
E) Libertarians than as Republicans

Question 45

Framing is best defined as influence on which of the following?

A) Public opinion as a result of the way a story is presented or covered, including the details and context offered in the report
B) Public opinion from a story that covers one candidate or policy favorably without providing similar coverage of the other side
C) Public opinion as a result of journalists' decisions about which news stories to cover
D) Government policy as a result of positive or negative coverage of an issue
E) Government activities as a result of media coverage of an issue

Question 46

A television network decides to run a series of news stories highlighting the need for stronger regulations over gun sales and purchases. This example is representative of which of the following?

A) Agenda setting
B) Blogosphere politics
C) Managed news
D) Gerrymandering
E) Yellow journalism

Question 47

What is the significance of the Supreme Court decision in New York Times v. Sullivan?

Question 48

Lisa watched a news report on recycling and was proud that citizens had stepped up to be more conscious of what they throw away. Jeremy heard a similar report on the radio as he drove home and was frustrated because it showed that companies were still putting products in nonrecyclable containers. These two responses to similar information demonstrate the effect of which of the following?

A) Sourcing
B) Blogging
C) Socializing
D) Framing
E) Priming

Question 49

When a news program begins the broadcast each day with a certain political story and continues to highlight this issue for several days, it suggests to the public that this political story is an important issue. Which function of agenda setting does this?

A) Priming
B) Sorting
C) Replaying
D) Factoring
E) Blogging

Question 50

Issues that are perceived by the political community as meriting public attention and governmental action are known as which of the following?

A) Infotainment
B) The public agenda
C) Watchdog news
D) Whistleblowing
E) Priming news

Question 51

The distribution and regulation of frequencies for electronic media is the responsibility of which of the following?

A) The Federal Communications Commission
B) National Public Radio
C) The Supreme Court
D) The Federal Trade Commission
E) The First Amendment

Question 52

Which of the following words best describes today's media environment?

A) Informative
B) Biased
C) Soft
D) Choice
E) Declining

Question 53

If a cable news channel decides to report on a senator's financial indiscretions rather than report on a piece of congressional legislation that failed to pass, that news channel is practicing which of the following?

A) Hard news
B) Blogosphere politics
C) Net neutrality
D) Gerrymandering
E) Agenda setting

Question 54

Which of the following presidents was the first to use the radio to speak directly to the American people?

A) Woodrow Wilson
B) Franklin D. Roosevelt
C) Calvin Coolidge
D) Harry S. Truman
E) Herbert Hoover

Question 55

When politicians avoid public scrutiny or limit themselves to staged events, they are said to stay in which of the following?

A) The news sphere
B) The news cycle
C) The bubble
D) The hot seat
E) The spin room

Question 56

Which of the following is a concern about soft news?

A) Visuals may appeal to emotions more than to the intellect.
B) The discussion of public policy may overshadow the personal stories.
C) Televised debates may be harmful to a candidate's reputation.
D) The public may not be able to connect with the content.
E) Young people may change the channels too quickly to pay attention.

Question 57

According to Gallup Poll data, about half of Americans feel that the news media have what type of bias?

A) Conservative
B) Libertarian
C) Liberal
D) Corporate-leaning
E) Undetectable

Question 58

Which of the following refers to the ability of the media to alter the public's view on an issue by presenting it in a particular way?

A) Agenda setting
B) Framing
C) Softening
D) Sensationalizing
E) Investigating

Question 59

What are the three important functions of the news media? Give an example of each function.

Question 60

In January 2013, the government shut down as part of a sequestration. Some reports focused more on negative consequences of sequestration, while others discussed how Tea Party members of Congress pushed for fiscal responsibility. What aspect of agenda setting does this represent?

A) Selective attention
B) Distorting
C) Framing
D) Priming
E) Racial bias

Question 61

What are the consequences of media choice?

Question 62

Evaluate the degree to which the media engages in agenda setting. Provide an example of an item on the agenda right now.

Question 63

Analyze how the law protects the press. Why is this important in a democracy?

Question 64

Analyze how the news media have evolved and adapted to new technologies.

Question 65

Analyze why Congress created the Federal Communications Commission. Discuss its mandate and the recent challenges it has faced in its modern-day role.

Question 66

Analyze the functions of the media in American society. Identify those functions that are essential to the democratic process.

Question 67

Analyze the impact of social networking, blogging, and the Internet on political campaigning.

Question 68

Evaluate the concerns over media bias.

Question 69

Discuss the impact of the penny press on news consumption.

Question 70

Analyze the government's history of regulation of media content, including rules historically used to regulate content and how different media outlets are treated.

Question 71

Why was the freedom of the press so important to the colonists and members of the Founding generation?

Question 72

Analyze what research shows with respect to the political leanings of major news media reporters and the impact that this has on political news coverage.

Question 73

Analyze how agenda setting affects public opinion.

Question 74

Discuss the role of the media in the Watergate scandal. Why is this role important?