Deck 6: The Media

Question 1

Facebook has over ________ users worldwide.

A) 100 million
B) 500 million
C) 1 billion
D) 3 billion

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Despite its widespread availability, ________ typically provide(s) the least depth of news coverage.

A) radio
B) television
C) the Internet
D) newspapers

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which of the following statements is true?

A) The top news source for Americans is the radio.
B) The top news source for Americans is the newspaper.
C) Over 95 percent of Americans have a television.
D) More Americans subscribe to newspapers today than 20 years ago.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

About ________ percent of Americans use Twitter.

A) 3
B) 13
C) 23
D) 53

Question 5

Which group is the LEAST likely to have high-speed Internet access at home?

A) whites
B) Asians
C) non-English-speaking Hispanics
D) African Americans

Question 6

The greatest challenge for journalism organizations today is

A) obtaining access to high-level political leaders.
B) protecting themselves from libel and slander lawsuits.
C) generating enough revenue to finance traditional investigative journalism.
D) fact-checking the stories written by their journalists and columnists.

Question 7

Daily Internet users who participate in society and politics through online activities are called

A) 2.0 participators.
B) online activists.
C) Internet junkies.
D) digital citizens.

Question 8

The fact that only 63 percent of high school graduates have broadband Internet access at home while almost 90 percent of college graduates do is an example of

A) the "filter bubble."
B) "collegiate privilege."
C) the "digital divide."
D) the "education dividend."

Question 9

Large media conglomerates own approximately ________ percent of daily newspapers.

A) 25
B) 40
C) 55
D) 75

Question 10

Which of the following statements best describes the changing ownership patterns in the American media?

A) There has been a recent trend toward homogenization of national news, as conglomerates have come to own a larger percentage of media outlets.
B) There has been a recent trend toward homogenization of national news because the Telecommunications Act of 1996 required print media outlets to follow the Fairness Doctrine.
C) There has been a recent trend toward diversification of national news, as conglomerates have come to own a smaller percentage of media outlets.
D) There has been a recent trend toward diversification of national news because the Telecommunications Act of 1996 required print media outlets to follow the Fairness Doctrine.

Question 11

Which of the following news sources reaches the most Americans?

A) radio
B) television
C) the Internet
D) newspapers

Question 12

What is "niche journalism"?

A) news reporting targeted for a demographic of readers based on content or ideological presentation
B) journalism that is uncritical of government officials and the status quo
C) journalism that is highly critical of government officials and the status quo
D) any political reporting that can only be found online

Question 13

It is estimated that over ________ percent of Americans have a television.

A) 50
B) 66
C) 75
D) 95

Question 14

Much of the national news that is published in local newspapers is provided by

A) UPI.
B) the Associated Press.
C) the New York Times.
D) National Public Radio.

Question 15

The "metered model" used by many newspaper websites

A) allows access only to users who have yearly subscriptions.
B) requires that users click on at least one advertisement for each article they read.
C) allows a certain number of free visits before requiring users to pay.
D) charges users to pay for each and every article they read.

Question 16

Which of the following statements about newspapers is accurate?

A) Newspapers are the primary source of news for most Americans.
B) Political, social, and economic elites rely very little on newspapers.
C) Daily newspaper print circulation has declined by over 30 percent over the past 20 years.
D) Newspapers tend to provide less complete coverage of political events than other media.

Question 17

Which of the following is NOT a reason that many Americans appear to prefer online news?

A) the accuracy and objectivity compared to traditional media outlets
B) the depth of the information available online
C) the up-to-the-moment currency of the information available online
D) the convenience of getting news online

Question 18

Today, advertising revenue at print newspapers is ________what it was in 2005.

A) roughly equal to
B) one-tenth
C) half
D) more than double

Question 19

Which of the following is NOT one of the potential disadvantages of shifting away from traditional media and toward digital media?

A) a decline in investigative journalism
B) uneven quality in news content
C) less "horse race" coverage during elections
D) a decline in knowledge and tolerance

Question 20

Most local newspapers get their national news from

A) local reporters.
B) wire services.
C) the Internet.
D) government reports, press briefings, and announcements.

Question 21

Which media source is regulated by the federal government?

A) newspapers
B) television
C) magazines
D) the Internet

Question 22

The Fairness Doctrine required that

A) all network news reports be balanced and fair-minded or they would be labeled editorials.
B) broadcasters who aired controversial issues provide time for opposing viewpoints.
C) all regulated newspapers establish a section of the editorial page for letters from readers.
D) all broadcasters provide candidates for the same political office with equal opportunities to communicate their messages to the public.

Question 23

Which of the following best describes the relationship between the government and the media in the United States today?

A) The government controls most media content through regulations and tightly controlled press briefings.
B) The government owns, but does not control, the major sources of media.
C) The government does not own but regulates the content and ownership of broadcast media.
D) The government heavily regulates print media but imposes no regulations on radio and television broadcasts.

Question 24

The BBC in Britain is owned by

A) the government but allowed to report whatever it wants.
B) a private corporation but not allowed to report anything without first receiving government approval.
C) the government and not allowed to report anything without first receiving government approval.
D) a private corporation and allowed to report whatever it wants.

Question 25

In 1985, the federal government stopped enforcing the ________, arguing that it was no longer necessary due to the increasing number of television and radio stations.

A) Fairness Doctrine
B) right of rebuttal
C) equal time rule
D) Communications Decency Act

Question 26

Journalists exhibit selection biases in favor of news stories they view as

A) favorable to leaders and issues they support.
B) having a great deal of dramatic or entertainment value.
C) sympathetic to the government as a whole.
D) critical of leaders and issues they oppose.

Question 27

In recent years, ________ has released thousands of secret government documents.

A) the New York Times
B) the Washington Post
C) WikiLeaks
D) Lewis "Scooter" Libby

Question 28

In Red Lion Broadcasting Company v. FCC (1969), the Supreme Court upheld the

A) Fairness Doctrine.
B) right of rebuttal.
C) equal time rule.
D) Framing Doctrine.

Question 29

Priming refers to the

A) bias that news organizations show toward covering dramatic and entertaining stories.
B) process of preparing the public to bring specific criteria to mind when evaluating a politician or issue.
C) tendency that people have to seek out news sources that confirm their prior beliefs about politics.
D) fact that many important news stories go uncovered by the mainstream media.

Question 30

A website devoted entirely to reporting on climate change and other environmental issues would be an example of ________ journalism.

A) protest
B) adversarial
C) niche
D) nonprofit

Question 31

In the Pentagon Papers case, the Supreme Court ruled

A) President Nixon did not commit an impeachable offense.
B) President Nixon would be impeached.
C) the government could not block the release of the papers.
D) the government could block the release of any documents that were illegally leaked to the press.

Question 32

The Communications Decency Act
A) made it illegal to make "indecent" sexual material on the Internet accessible to those under age 18.

A)m. and 10 p.m. on the radio and on television.
B) made it illegal to broadcast explicit sexual and excretory references between 6
C) imposed a tax on all websites containing obscene material.
D) required that individuals be given the opportunity to respond to personal attacks broadcast on radio and television.

Question 33

Which agency regulates broadcast media?

A) Federal Bureau of Investigation
B) Federal Communications Commission
C) Public Broadcast System
D) Department of Commerce

Question 34

The ________ provides candidates for the same political office equal opportunities to communicate their messages.

A) equal time rule
B) Fairness Doctrine
C) Diversity in Media Doctrine
D) agenda-setting provision

Question 35

Edward Snowden is most known for

A) creating and maintain the WikiLeaks site.
B) leaking the Pentagon Papers to the press.
C) leaking the material that revealed widespread global surveillance programs by the U.S. government and major telecommunication companies.
D) leaking information about the Iraq War to the press while serving as Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff.

Question 36

The fact that journalists referred to the Obama administration's health care initiative as "reform" instead of as "health care rationing" is an example of

A) agenda-setting.
B) framing.
C) sound bites.
D) adversarial journalism.

Question 37

The Pentagon Papers were released as a result of

A) President Nixon's repudiation of the Johnson administration's strategy in Vietnam.
B) investigations led by Washington Post reporters in 1972.
C) a leak by a minor Defense Department staffer.
D) a Freedom of Information Act request by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Question 38

The power of the media to draw public attention to particular issues and problems is called

A) framing.
B) canvassing.
C) agenda-setting.
D) the bandwagon effect.

Question 39

Low-level officials who hope to publicize what they view as their bosses' or the government's improper activities are usually called

A) "bell ringers."
B) "whistle-blowers."
C) "adversarial journalists."
D) "watchdogs."

Question 40

The most important selection bias in news is the

A) ideology of the journalists.
B) audience appeal of a story.
C) economic interests of the media's owners.
D) approval of government regulators.

Question 41

Evaluate the three types of traditional (i.e., nondigital) news sources in the United States. What are some of the distinct characteristics of each medium? How do the sources differ from each other in terms of the ways in which they disseminate news as well as the audiences they reach?

Question 42

Which of the following requires a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) license in order to legally broadcast in the United States?

A) satellite radio channels
B) cable television stations
C) Internet websites
D) over-the-air television stations

Question 43

Which statement about the Telecommunications Act of 1996 is true?

A) The act tightened federal restrictions on media ownership.
B) The act did not attempt to regulate the content of material transmitted over the Internet.
C) Following passage of the act, several mergers between telephone and cable companies produced a greater concentration of media ownership.
D) The act required broadcasters who aired programs on controversial issues to provide time for opposing views.

Question 44

If a radio station aired a personal attack against a candidate but refused to allow the same candidate the opportunity to respond to that attack on its station, the station would be in violation of the

A) Telecommunications Act of 1996.
B) Fairness Doctrine.
C) right of rebuttal.
D) Communications Decency Act.

Question 45

The content and character of news programming can have far-reaching political consequences. Discuss three kinds of media effects and give a detailed example of each. Is there any bias in the kind of issues media chooses to report? Explain.

Question 46

Which statement about the FCC is correct?

A) The FCC was established in 1949 by President Harry Truman.
B) The FCC licenses radio but not television stations.
C) The FCC licenses television stations but not radio.
D) The FCC does not regulate newspapers.

Question 47

With the rapid proliferation of online sources in the twenty-first century, the Internet has revolutionized the way Americans get their news. Discuss the requirements of digital citizenship and how these requirements produce the so-called digital divide. In addition, weigh the advantages and disadvantages of the Internet as a tool for Americans to learn about politics.

Question 48

The First Amendment assigns a special role for the media by providing for freedom of speech and a free press. What are the responsibilities of the media in a democratic society? What are some of the challenges the American media faces in fulfilling its democratic responsibilities? How have government actions helped or hurt the media's ability to fulfill its democratic responsibilities in the last 50 years?

Question 49

The Communications Decency Act was struck down by the Supreme Court because it violated the

A) First Amendment's right to freedom of speech.
B) FCC's equal time rule.
C) FCC's right of rebuttal.
D) Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause.

Question 50

Although the First Amendment protects freedom of the press, the federal government has passed many laws regarding media communications. Discuss the differences in how the federal government regulates different kinds of media. In your answer, be sure to discuss the 1996 Telecommunications Act, the Communications Decency Act, and at least three regulations that grew out of the FCC's licensing power.

Question 51

If a television station sold commercial time to a Republican candidate for governor but refused to sell time to the Democratic candidate for governor, this station would be in violation of the

A) Telecommunications Act of 1996.
B) Fairness Doctrine.
C) equal time rule.
D) Communications Decency Act.