Deck 14: The Media

Question 1

Why do newspapers remain an important source of news?

A)The broadcast media largely cover stories already broken by major newspapers.
B)People generally read them at least once each week.
C)They are usually the first to cover breaking news such as the events of September 11, 2001.
D)Most individuals prefer to read a paper to watching television.
E)Most readers preserve them as a historical record.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which age group is most likely to get political news on the Internet?

A)18-34
B)35-44
C)45-54
D)55-64
E)65+

Answer 2

A

Question 3

American radio and television are regulated by an independent regulatory agency established in 1934 called the

A)Public Broadcasting Corporation.
B)National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).
C)National Public Regulation Authority (NPR).
D)Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
E)Federal Broadcast Regulatory Authority (FBRA).

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Up until about the mid-1990s, what were the main two classes of media?

A)print and broadcast
B)print and journalistic
C)journalistic and wave-based
D)audio and visual
E)wave-based and print

Question 5

Internet media have

A)decreased in market share relative to newspapers.
B)become insulated from market incentives.
C)faced heavy censorship.
D)provided greater in-depth coverage of issues than the print media.
E)increased their market share relative to print media over the last decade.

Question 6

Between the hours of 6a.m.and 10 p.m., radio and television stations are prohibited from airing

A)one-sided political discussions.
B)issue ads sponsored by noncandidates.
C)explicit sexual references.
D)programs with swearing.
E)noneducational cartoons.

Question 7

Per broadcast hour, radio stations usually devote how much time to coverage of the news?

A)five minutes
B)eleven minutes
C)seventeen minutes
D)twenty-five minutes
E)fifty-five minutes

Question 8

What is the prime source of news for educated and influential individuals?

A)radio
B)blogs
C)television
D)newspapers
E)infotainment

Question 9

Infotainment shows

A)largely promulgate falsehoods.
B)rarely discuss political material.
C)appeal to a large section of people under 35 years of age.
D)have been exempted from the fairness doctrine.
E)mostly appeal to senior citizens.

Question 10

In terms of profitability, today's newspaper industry is

A)doing better than ever because of the Internet.
B)similar to the last twenty years of newspaper sales.
C)in serious economic trouble.
D)waning because of increasingly burdensome federal regulations.
E)more profitable than ever as coupon marketing blooms.

Question 11

More than any other single news source, Americans get their news from

A)radio.
B)television.
C)the Internet.
D)newspapers.
E)magazines.

Question 12

Which current popular television program presents comedic parodies of political figures and calls itself "America's most trusted name in fake news?"

A)Weekly Update
B)The Daily Show
C)Tomorrow Now
D)Serious News Central
E)Yesterday's Tomorrow

Question 13

Most nationwide radio talk shows tend to support causes and candidates who are

A)liberal.
B)apolitical.
C)moderate.
D)conservative.
E)physically attractive.

Question 14

Which news source reaches the majority of Americans?

A)radio
B)television
C)the Internet
D)newspapers
E)neighborhood gossip

Question 15

Generally speaking, radio news is essentially a

A)forum for editorializing.
B)good source for in-depth news analyses and coverage.
C)headline service without pictures.
D)mirror reflection of coverage in weekly news magazines.
E)commercial for cable news networks.

Question 16

In recent years, much of the content of the news, especially local news, has shifted away from politics and public affairs toward

A)soft news.
B)public policy.
C)business news.
D)international relations.
E)attacks on competing media.

Question 17

Which choice best describes the relationship between the government and broadcast media?

A)Government controls media content.
B)Government owns the broadcast media but does not control content.
C)Government does not own the communications networks but does regulate broadcast media.
D)Government does not own the communication networks and does not regulate broadcast media.
E)Media own the government and control its content.

Question 18

Rush Limbaugh's show is an example of the

A)lack of attention to detail on radio programs.
B)conservative dominance of the talk-radio format.
C)strict fairness regulations placed on the broadcast media.
D)even-handed tone of talk radio.
E)willingness of radio personalities to pay FCC fines.

Question 19

How did media ownership in the United States change after the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996?

A)It became more regulated.
B)It became more specialized.
C)It became more educational.
D)It became more decentralized.
E)It became more concentrated.

Question 20

How often must radio and TV stations renew their FCC licenses?

A)every six months
B)every year
C)every two years
D)every five years
E)every ten years

Question 21

Historically, newspapers that printed false and malicious stories could be compelled to pay damages to those they defamed according to the law of

A)libel.
B)slander.
C)denigration.
D)besmirchment.
E)retribution.

Question 22

In the 1969 case of Red Lion Broadcasting Company v.Federal Communications Commission, the Supreme Court upheld the FCC's determination that a radio station was required to provide a liberal author with an opportunity to respond to an attack from a conservative commentator that the station had aired based on the regulation known as the

A)equal time rule.
B)right of rebuttal.
C)fairness doctrine.
D)matching time requirement.
E)balance rule.

Question 23

The trend toward homogenization of national news has been hastened by dramatic changes, which became possible in part due to the

A)technological advancements in satellite feeds and microwave links.
B)availability of additional news sources such as cable television and the Internet.
C)tendency of broadcast networks to favor entertainment programming over news.
D)relaxation of government regulations on media ownership since the 1980s.
E)diminishing public interest in local news.

Question 24

A television station that sells commercial time to a state's Republican gubernatorial candidate but not the Democratic gubernatorial candidate is subject to which of the following regulations?

A)right of rebuttal
B)equal time rule
C)fairness doctrine
D)prior restraint
E)executive privilege

Question 25

In the case of Cable News Network v.Noriega, the Supreme Court ruled that prior restraint is permissible to preserve

A)state secrets.
B)clergy-parishioner privilege.
C)the right to a fair trial.
D)the Ninth Amendment right to privacy.
E)the right of free speech.

Question 26

In the case of New York Times v.United States, the so-called Pentagon Papers Case, the Supreme Court ruled against

A)nude advertisements in print newspapers.
B)the fairness doctrine.
C)monopoly ownership.
D)the matching time requirement.
E)prior restraint.

Question 27

An individual in opposition to the war in Iraq illegally obtains and distributes secret Defense Department documents to a national newspaper.According to the Supreme Court ruling in New York Times v.United States (1971), which of the following can occur?

A)The federal government can prevent the publication of the documents.
B)The federal government can prevent the publication of the document because the documents originate from the Defense Department.
C)The newspaper must wait at least 30 days before publishing the documents.
D)The newspaper can publish the documents, even without the consent of the federal government.
E)The newspaper can publish the documents, but only with the consent of the federal government.

Question 28

The Communications Decency Act, which made it illegal to make "indecent" sexual material on the Internet accessible to those less than 18 years of age,

A)relies on citizen lawsuits for judicial review.
B)was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
C)was opposed by the Christian Coalition.
D)is enforced by a special unit of the Department of Justice.
E)as written, does not apply to registered sex offenders.

Question 29

In the 1991 case of Masson v.New Yorker Magazine, the Supreme Court held that fabricated quotations attributed to a public figure were libelous only when the

A)reporter was unable to produce a copy of the interview notes.
B)reporter was unable to produce an audio recording of the interview.
C)defamed individual was proven to have experienced actual harm as a direct result of the printed story.
D)fabricated quotations harmed the public interest.
E)fabricated quotations materially changed the meaning of what was actually said.

Question 30

Libel suits against CBS News by General William Westmoreland and against Time magazine by General Ariel Sharon of Israel were defeated in court because they failed to show actual

A)errors.
B)malice.
C)damages.
D)falsification.
E)harm to the public welfare.

Question 31

A federal requirement that broadcasters provide candidates for the same political office an equal opportunity to communicate their messages to the public is called the

A)equal time rule.
B)right of rebuttal.
C)fairness doctrine.
D)matching time requirement.
E)balancing mandate.

Question 32

In the 1964 case of New York Times v.Sullivan, the Supreme Court held that to be deemed libelous a story had to

A)be untrue and result in actual damages.
B)be untrue and result from actual malice.
C)show reckless disregard for the truth and result in actual damages.
D)show reckless disregard for the truth and embarrass a private citizen.
E)show reckless disregard for the public interest and embarrass a private citizen.

Question 33

What was the main effect that the 2001 court case A&M Records v.Napster had on the news media?

A)It was legal for newspapers to provide musical accompaniment for their stories without paying royalties.
B)The Supreme Court affirmed a First Amendment right for college students to trade video and audio clips of their favorite news broadcasts.
C)The profitability of news corporations was severely reduced.
D)There was no effect because the rulings only affected the record industry.
E)Internet distribution of copyrighted material became legally similar to other forms of distribution.

Question 34

How many daily newspapers exist in the United States?

A)less than 50
B)about 100
C)about 500
D)about 1,000
E)more than 1,000

Question 35

Today, what is the nation's most popular cable news source?

A)CNN
B)CNBC
C)Comedy Channel
D)MSNBC
E)Fox News

Question 36

An effort by a government agency to block the publication of material it deems libelous or harmful is also known as

A)right of rebuttal.
B)equal time rule.
C)prior restraint.
D)fairness doctrine.
E)executive privilege.

Question 37

Most of the national news that is published by local newspapers is from a single wire service provided by

A)New York Times.
B)Associated Press.
C)Washington Post.
D)Rutgers News Service.
E)Cable News Network.

Question 38

The most important judicial decision concerning the meaning of libel was the 1964 U.S.Supreme Court case

A)Washington Post v.Nixon.
B)New York Times v.Sullivan.
C)Bay City Chronicle v.Nance.
D)Dallas Morning News v.Johnson.
E)Seattle Post-Intelligencer v.Magnuson.

Question 39

A congressional effort to require the FCC to enforce the __________ was blocked by the Reagan administration in 1987.

A)equal time rule
B)right of rebuttal
C)fairness doctrine
D)matching time requirement
E)balance rule

Question 40

For many years (until the regulation was no longer enforced), broadcasters who aired programs on controversial issues were required to provide time for opposing views under a policy known as the

A)equal time rule.
B)right of rebuttal.
C)fairness doctrine.
D)matching time requirement.
E)compensation principle.

Question 41

The New York Times' reporter Judith Miller refused to reveal the name of the source that leaked the name of an undercover CIA agent and was subsequently

A)granted immunity from testifying because of the reporter-source privilege.
B)threatened with jail time, so she agreed to testify.
C)named Reporter of the Year by the Washington Press Club.
D)fired from the reporting staff at the Times.
E)sent to prison for several months for initially refusing to testify.

Question 42

The Fox Network is owned by

A)Viacom.
B)General Electric.
C)Rupert Murdoch.
D)the Walt Disney Company.
E)Ted Turner.

Question 43

When the pharmaceutical company Pfizer wrote a story about one of its drugs in the style of a newspaper and then distributed it to news reporters and invited them to publish it under their own names with only minor revisions, Pfizer exemplified the use of

A)the news leak.
B)earned media.
C)the news template.
D)the ghosted story.
E)the press release.

Question 44

Rules changes made in 2003 by the FCC paved the way for

A)decentralization of the media.
B)government ownership of the media.
C)even greater concentration in the media industry.
D)greater regulation of the media industry.
E)reinstating the fairness doctrine.

Question 45

A protestor who records a violent clash with the police with her cell phone and then sends it to a national television station exemplifies

A)professional journalism.
B)professional bias.
C)savvy as a politico.
D)wannabe journalism.
E)citizen journalism.

Question 46

The newspaper endorsements of candidates reveal that

A)newspapers endorse Democrats much more, on average, than Republicans.
B)newspapers endorse Republicans much more, on average, than Democrats.
C)newspaper endorsements are roughly balanced between the two parties.
D)conservative newspapers rarely endorse candidates, while liberal papers do endorse.
E)liberal newspapers are more likely than conservative newspapers to endorse candidates of both parties.

Question 47

In general, publishers are most concerned with the

A)liberal-conservative tone of their papers.
B)editorial content of their papers.
C)partisan tone of their papers.
D)profitability of their papers.
E)artistic merit of their design layout.

Question 48

The importance of CNN increased dramatically after its spectacular coverage of the

A)Persian Gulf War.
B)fall of the Berlin Wall.
C)Tiananmen Square protests.
D)bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
E)Iran-Contra Scandal.

Question 49

Most leaks originate with

A)low-level officials who encounter information "accidentally."
B)disaffected midlevel managers.
C)senior governmental officials or prominent politicians.
D)White House press staffers.
E)reporters who hack into politicians' computer systems.

Question 50

In the 2008 presidential election, newspaper endorsements

A)were split evenly between Barack Obama and John McCain.
B)leaned toward John McCain.
C)leaned toward Barack Obama.
D)emphasized the business interests of the news media when justifying the endorsement.
E)tended to coincide with the party affiliation of local member(s) of Congress.

Question 51

An example of publishers' influence on media content came in 1898, when the United States was pushed into war by news of alleged Spanish brutalities against colonial Cuba as covered in the newspapers of

A)Ben Bradlee.
B)Margaret Pynchon.
C)Katharine Graham.
D)William Randolph Hearst.
E)Rupert Murdoch.

Question 52

Which company owns the American Broadcasting Company (ABC)?

A)Viacom
B)General Electric
C)Rupert Murdoch
D)the Walt Disney Company
E)Microsoft

Question 53

The general pattern in surveys of journalists is that the ratio of respondents who classify themselves as Democratic to those who classify themselves as Republican is about

A)1:1.
B)2:1.
C)3:1.
D)10:1.
E)1:2.

Question 54

Since the 1960s, the notable bias in newspaper endorsements has been

A)pro-Democratic.
B)pro-Republican.
C)pro-Eastern establishment.
D)anti-incumbent.
E)balanced out between Democratic and Republican.

Question 55

A story written by an advocate or a publicist and distributed to the media in hopes that it will be published by journalists with little revision is a

A)news leak.
B)press release.
C)news template.
D)ghosted story.
E)surrogate story.

Question 56

Which term describes a disclosure of confidential information to the news media?

A)news leak
B)blown whistle
C)press release
D)info-drop
E)slam dunk

Question 57

When an unidentified source revealed information concerning President George W.Bush's secret wiretapping program for suspected terrorists, the revealed information was known as

A)a news leak.
B)a news bomb.
C)a press release.
D)an info-drop.
E)soft news.

Question 58

Empirical studies of bias and favoritism among journalists have revealed that

A)most reported news has a clear liberal bias.
B)reporters have clear favoritism for established politicians.
C)reporters tend to favor the losers of electoral contests.
D)the media actually have a slight conservative bias.
E)reporters suffer from implicit class bias.

Question 59

The best description of ownership structure of the media in the United States is that

A)the media are owned by the government.
B)the media are owned mostly by local companies in the areas served by the media outlets.
C)most newspapers are held by local companies, but other media are held by corporate titans.
D)the media are mostly owned by a small number of giant corporations.
E)the media are mostly operated by international nonprofit organizations.

Question 60

A legislative staffer who tweets about the activities in a committee meeting best exemplifies which of the following?

A)professional journalism
B)professional bias
C)agency slack
D)wannabe journalism
E)citizen journalism

Question 61

Why do reporters write stories from press releases even though they know that press releases are biased?

A)The reporters select the stories that conform to their biases.
B)The reporters select stories that conform to the biases of their editors and publishers.
C)Press releases allow a newspaper to present more stories with fewer employees.
D)Press releases often come with monetary incentives for their publication.
E)Press agents are typically better writers than news reporters.

Question 62

A number of conservative radio hosts such as Rush Limbaugh have huge audiences and have helped mobilize support for conservative political causes and candidates.

Question 63

When the Department of Health and Human Services released a video discussing President George W.Bush's proposed addition of a prescription drug benefit to Medicare in hopes that news stations would air the favorable coverage, it exemplified the use of

A)a video news release.
B)media priming.
C)prior restraint.
D)media framing.
E)presidential boosting.

Question 64

Advertisers are particularly interested in the news and public affairs programming audience because that audience tends to be

A)a cross section of Americans.
B)younger individuals.
C)upscale Americans.
D)susceptible to persuasion.
E)liberal.

Question 65

The downfall of Richard Nixon illustrates the

A)influence of the media on politics.
B)problems of sexual misconduct for politicians.
C)fundamental failure of conservatism.
D)influence of personality on politics.
E)inability of positive news coverage to save Nixon from public opinion.

Question 66

The tremendous power that reporters and editors wield

A)reveals the deep flaws of media run by private companies.
B)illustrates the influence of libel on public opinion.
C)emanates from the freedom of the press.
D)is a product of an elaborate system of media regulations.
E)is the result of federal subsidies distributed by the Federal Communications Commission.

Question 67

Television news is like a series of newspaper headlines connected to pictures.

Question 68

Radio news is essentially a headline service without pictures.

Question 69

A number of liberal radio hosts have huge audiences and have helped mobilize support for liberal political causes and candidates.

Question 70

In recent years, cable television has been growing in importance as a news source.

Question 71

An important quality for a news story to attract the attention and interest of the media is

A)sex.
B)conflict.
C)internationalism.
D)money.
E)drugs.

Question 72

In recent years, radio talk shows have become important sources of commentary and opinion.

Question 73

Most radio stations devote about half of their time to news coverage.

Question 74

Who is the target audience of newsmagazines, journals of opinion, and serious newspapers?

A)the middle class
B)political junkies
C)the affluent
D)elected officials
E)voters

Question 75

Individuals are most likely to pay high levels of attention to hard news if their level of educational attainment is

A)college graduate.
B)some college.
C)high school graduate.
D)not a high school graduate.
E)less than their parents.

Question 76

Television news provides greater depth of coverage in its reporting than print journalism.

Question 77

A press release in video format, designed to save TV broadcast outlets the costs of production, is called a

A)video news release.
B)video report.
C)taped release.
D)taped report.
E)video leak.

Question 78

Most of the programs on talk radio are liberal in opinion.

Question 79

The areas of media content that appeal most to the upscale audience is that of

A)finance and crime.
B)celebrities and entertainment.
C)local events and drama.
D)news and public affairs.
E)professional sports and athletes' lives.

Question 80

When the Federal Reserve sent a story about a new website to the AP in hopes that it would inform a favorable story about the site, it released a

A)news leak.
B)press release.
C)news template.
D)ghosted story.
E)circular letter.