Deck 14: The News Media

Question 1

A form of journalism that was popular in the late nineteenth century and featured pictures,comics,color,and sensationalized,oversimplified news coverage was called __________.

A) muckraking
B) the penny press
C) blue dog journalism
D) yellow journalism

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which news medium has had the hardest time competing with newer news sources?

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

Answer 2

B

Question 3

In the White House Press Room,which organization would you find closest to the podium?

A) Associated Press
B) Dallas Morning News
C) foreign press
D) Voice of America

Answer 3

A

Question 4

How do some analysts explain media inattention to stories critical of government and big business?

A) The typical journalist has a relatively elite background.
B) Most journalists today identify as Republicans.
C) There are considerable boundaries of respect between the government and the press.
D) The public dislikes critical news.

Question 5

Which of the following is a media effect?

A) agenda setting
B) campaign finance reform
C) selective perception
D) press background

Question 6

Which political faction demanded that freedom of the press be amended to the U.S.Constitution?

A) Anti-Federalists
B) Democratic-Republicans
C) Federalists
D) Nationalists

Question 7

When covering Congress,reporters typically focus on which of the following?

A) party leaders
B) consensus builders
C) lobbyists
D) staff members

Question 8

Information provided to a journalist on the condition that it will not be attributed to any source is considered to be __________.

A) agenda setting
B) on deep background
C) narrowcasting
D) off the record

Question 9

What is the term for change in public opinion and voting preferences caused by media coverage?

A) agenda setting
B) media effects
C) media aspiration
D) framing

Question 10

The first penny press paper was the __________.

A) Cincinnati Enquirer
B) National Gazette
C) New York Post
D) New York Sun

Question 11

Over the last thirty years,media ownership has __________.

A) broken up across dozens of corporations
B) become more diverse
C) been split between Comcast and Time Warner
D) become more consolidated

Question 12

What was one result of nineteenth-century muckraking?

A) corporations began purchasing favorable coverage b anti-trust regulations
C) glorification of the president by the press
D) yellow journalism

Question 13

Television and radio are regulated by the federal government because __________.

A) a free press requires the number of broadcast stations to be kept in check
B) they are considered dangerous to the spirit of democracy
C) the airwaves are public property
D) they are specifically regulated by the U.S. Constitution

Question 14

Consumption of which of the following news sources is most slanted in favor of the Republicans?

A) NPR
B) CNN
C) C-SPAN
D) Fox News

Question 15

The equal time rule prohibits television stations from doing which of the following?

A) denying candidates equal time to speak during debates
B) excluding third-party candidates from debates
C) refusing to sell advertising time to bigoted candidates if it sells advertising time to non-bigoted candidates
D) refusing to sell advertising time to all candidates in a given election

Question 16

The president addresses the nation directly during a __________.

A) press release
B) press background
C) press briefing
D) press conference

Question 17

A __________ is a live engagement between a press secretary and the press in which the range of questions is limited.

A) press briefing
B) press conference
C) press release
D) news conference

Question 18

The media are also known as the __________.

A) fourth estate
B) paper empire
C) third party
D) civil engineer

Question 19

In 1983,90 percent of American media were owned by fifty companies.In 2012,how many companies controlled 90 percent of American media?

A) six
B) forty
C) sixty
D) seventy

Question 20

AIM and FAIR are __________.

A) partisan watchdogs of the media
B) governmental agencies that regulate the media
C) citizen journalist cooperatives
D) partnerships between television news networks designed to aid journalistic accuracy

Question 21

A main difference between a press briefing and press conference is the level of what?

A) intelligence
B) attendance
C) restriction
D) bias

Question 22

In New York Times Co.v.U.S.(1971)the Supreme Court affirmed the principle of __________.

A) prior restraint
B) the equal time rule
C) the right to privacy
D) shield laws

Question 23

Which of the following is a reason why politicians value appearing on soft news and infotainment shows?

A) They get to select the questions they wish to answer in advance.
B) They get a chance to interact with a homogenous audience.
C) They prefer to reach fewer voters at a time.
D) They receive fewer difficult questions.

Question 24

What is a potential downside of narrowcasting?

A) It gives Democrats an unfair advantage in elections.
B) It restricts the public's access to news that represents different ideologies.
C) It allows people to ignore news contradicting their preexisting points of view.
D) It increases the power of partisan newspapers.

Question 25

What derogatory term did Theodore Roosevelt use to describe the behavior of reporters who focused on the carnal underbelly of politics rather than its more lofty pursuits?

A) bias
B) muckraking
C) yellow journalism
D) framing

Question 26

A public official has the most control over the spin of his or her message __________.

A) during a press briefing
B) during a press conference
C) in an interview
D) in a press release

Question 27

Imagine you are a journalist covering a scandal that may destroy a member of Congress.You obtain your information from a source at the Department of Justice under the condition that the source would be completely unattributed.The information you obtained from this source is considered to be __________.

A) on the record
B) off the record
C) on background
D) on deep background

Question 28

The type of information presented by a privately owned,for-profit press may be suspect because of the importance of what?

A) the bottom line
B) editorial preferences
C) the penny press
D) government regulations

Question 29

The rise of Spanish-language television and news programming is an example of __________.

A) narrowcasting
B) the fairness doctrine
C) media consolidation
D) the equal time rule

Question 30

The press has the greatest impact on public opinion regarding __________.

A) national disasters
B) events in foreign countries
C) elections and campaigns
D) immigration policy

Question 31

A press briefing is generally delivered by the __________.

A) elected official
B) communications director
C) press secretary
D) reporter

Question 32

Of the following news sources,which do the highest percentage of Democrats regularly watch?

A) local TV news
B) Fox News
C) NPR
D) CNN

Question 33

The U.S.media have a great deal of journalistic freedoms guaranteed by law,but their corporate ownership subjects them to pressures from __________.

A) editors
B) muckrakers
C) anti-trust laws
D) the market

Question 34

"A source at the White House said…" is an example of an attribution based on information obtained __________.

A) on the record
B) off the record
C) on background
D) on deep background

Question 35

If the president wants his or her staff to address the press about a certain issue,but wants to keep the conversation focused on that issue,he or she might call for a __________.

A) press release
B) policy conference
C) press conference
D) press briefing

Question 36

Which cable news source offers the most unfiltered and erudite coverage of Washington politics?

A) MSNBC
B) C-SPAN
C) CNN
D) Fox News

Question 37

A candidate might unveil his or her proposal for bolstering the local economy by e-mailing a __________ to the local media.

A) sound bite
B) fact check
C) press release
D) campaign platform

Question 38

Which of the following gets the most media coverage?

A) the judiciary
B) the president
C) the House
D) the Senate

Question 39

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 __________.

A) led to the establishment of multimedia corporations
B) limited opportunities for media consolidation
C) assured candidates of equal time on broadcast networks
D) restructured the Federal Communications Commission

Question 40

If the owner of a television station is a staunch conservative and sells advertising time to the Republican candidate but refuses to sell available adverting time to the Democratic candidate,this would be a violation of the __________.

A) prior restraint doctrine
B) equal time rule
C) Second Amendment
D) right to rebuttal rule

Question 41

None of the three traditional news networks is independently owned.

Question 42

Which of the following has a significant impact on a news agency's likelihood of being able to ask a question at a White House press briefing?

A) the time of day when the briefing occurs
B) the agenda set forth by the press secretary
C) seat assignments in the briefing room
D) whether the president attends the briefing

Question 43

Which is a primary reason that news cameras are not allowed in the Supreme Court?

A) to preserve the justices' anonymity
B) to create an exclusive environment
C) to reduce scrutiny of Court decisions
D) to avoid politicization of Court activity

Question 44

The __________ is an example of the way in which the Federal Communications Commission works to ensure that the airwaves "serve the public interest,convenience,and necessity."

A) justice doctrine
B) equal time rule
C) press release
D) press conference

Question 45

The media have an increased influence on those who lack strong political beliefs.

Question 46

Democrats are more likely than Republicans to listen to National Public Radio.

Question 47

Muckraking journalism led to better working conditions in factories.

Question 48

Media coverage of the 2010 Arizona immigration law ignited citizens' passion about the issue and illustrates the concept of agenda setting.

Question 49

The chairs of important congressional committees receive more news coverage than do typical members of Congress.

Question 50

Internet service providers may not block users' access to legal content.

Question 51

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 increased regulations on large segments of the electronic media.

Question 52

The U.S.Supreme Court receives less media coverage than does Congress or the president.

Question 53

Americans' opinion of the news media has become increasingly unfavorable in recent years.

Question 54

For those who are highly attentive to politics,political infotainment such as The Daily Show acts as an information shortcut that helps these politically sophisticated viewers to better remember facts and figures about the governmental process.

Question 55

While the press secretary was quite powerful when the position was first created during the Hoover administration,it is now only a ceremonial post.

Question 56

Media coverage has a stronger effect on independents than on partisans.

Question 57

The Supreme Court has found that the president has "inherent power" to halt the publication of news.

Question 58

The Department of Homeland Security developed a precursor to the Internet known as ARPANET.

Question 59

When a news outlet like the Wall Street Journal identifies a source in a news story as the secretary of commerce,that information is said to be __________.

A) on the record
B) off the record
C) on background
D) on deep background

Question 60

President Franklin D.Roosevelt was effective at using the radio to connect with the American public.

Question 61

Talk radio has a clear conservative slant in its coverage,while NPR has a clear liberal slant in its coverage.

Question 62

The news media are also called the __________ because their influence on American politics is so important.

Question 63

If a White House staffer leaked inside information to you,but only wanted to be referred to as an "unnamed source close to the White House," your information attribution would be __________.

Question 64

What was the penny press,and why was it important?

Question 65

Among the president,Congress,and the Supreme Court,which receives the most attention from the press? Which receives the least? What accounts for these differences?

Question 66

Nothing an official says may be printed if the interview is __________.

Question 67

Explain the differences between source attributions on the record,off the record,on background,and on deep background.Why is it important for reporters to attribute their sources correctly?

Question 68

The biggest concern with media consolidation is the potential for price manipulation.

Question 69

During the ratification debates,the __________ believed a free press was necessary to a democratic society,and fought to have that freedom guaranteed in the Constitution.

Question 70

A reporter who covers a Ku Klux Klan rally as a civil rights issue is __________ the story.

Question 71

What is the Telecommunications Act of 1996? What effect did it have on the media in the United States?

Question 72

A __________ is a relatively restricted session between a press secretary or aide and the press.

Question 73

In 2012,90 percent of the media was controlled by six companies.

Question 74

The first president to regularly address the public using __________ as a medium was Calvin Coolidge.

Question 75

The process by which a news organization defines a political issue and consequently affects public opinion of the issue is called __________.

Question 76

The mass media is a subset of the news media.

Question 77

What is media consolidation,and what are its consequences?

Question 78

The __________ had its roots in the ARPANET project.

Question 79

Most politicians avoid social media out of concern that it is an undignified and inappropriate way to connect with citizens.

Question 80

Targeting media programming at specific populations within society is called __________.