Deck 7: The Media

Question 1

"Filter bubbles" appear when

A) news aggregation sites include content from a wide variety of sources and give no preference to American media organizations.
B) search engines automatically screen out information that might challenge or broaden our worldview.
C) journalists choose to cover only those stories that are acceptable to advertisers.
D) reporters intentionally ignore protest movements that challenge the capitalist economic system.
E) people intentionally expose themselves to perspectives that challenge what they already believe to be true about the political world.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Why do radio stations repeat the news so often throughout the day?

A) In order for radio news to sink in, people need to hear stories more than once.
B) The audience is constantly changing since most people listen to the radio in their cars.
C) There is not enough news to fill an entire day's worth of programming.
D) Radio news normally provides more headlines than in-depth coverage since it comes directly from the television script.
E) The owners of radio stations are legally allowed to devote only a limited amount of time to political stories.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Approximately what percent of Americans are completely offline?

A) 0
B) 10
C) 20
D) 33
E) 50

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Cheap, tabloid-style papers produced in the nineteenth century were collectively referred to as

A) social media.
B) the penny press.
C) citizen journalism.
D) news aggregators.
E) niche journalism.

Question 5

Brief quotes and short characterizations of the day's events in news coverage are called

A) précis.
B) spin.
C) sound bites.
D) news nuggets.
E) catchphrases.

Question 6

Which media source is most critical in setting news agendas?

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

Question 7

According to the text, which of the following is the most important, but not the most popular, source of news?

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

Question 8

A website devoted entirely to reporting on climate change and other environmental issues is an example of

A) protest journalism.
B) adversarial journalism.
C) niche journalism.
D) nonprofit journalism.
E) public journalism.

Question 9

Which group has had great popularity on radio talk shows?

A) conservatives
B) liberals
C) socialists
D) communists
E) racial and ethnic minorities

Question 10

The United States has approximately ______ television stations and ______ daily newspapers.

A) 100; 250
B) 200; 300
C) 150; 1,000
D) 2,000; 1,400
E) 3,400; 5,500

Question 11

In order to be an online citizen, an individual must have

A) the right to vote in elections.
B) a college education.
C) experience with political participation offline.
D) the basic skills necessary to read a simple newspaper article.
E) a government-issued ID number.

Question 12

0 participators.
B) online activists.
C) Internet junkies.
D) digital citizens.
E) Web entrepreneurs.

Question 13

Despite its high reach, ______ typically provides the least depth of news coverage.

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

Question 14

Niche journalism refers to

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.
E) any political reporting that can only be found offline.

Question 15

The following are all concerns raised by the growing popularity of online news except

A) a decline in investigative journalism.
B) a reduction in the diversity of perspectives that can potentially be heard.
C) a negative impact on political knowledge.
D) a decrease in political tolerance.
E) uneven quality in news content.

Question 16

Which statement is NOT correct?

A) National news reporters, as opposed to local reporters with less access, are generally more favorable toward politicians.
B) Most radio news is essentially a headline service.
C) More local news reporters than national reporters are inclined to give politicians positive coverage.
D) Most television news offers more headlines and sound bites than analysis.
E) Politicians often seek to manipulate the news by providing the media with sound bites that will dominate news coverage for at least a few days.

Question 17

Google News and Real Clear Politics are good examples of

A) digital citizenship.
B) nonprofit journalism.
C) the penny press.
D) news aggregators.
E) niche journalism.

Question 18

Which of the following news sources reaches the most Americans?

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

Question 19

Which of the following is not a reason that Americans prefer online news?

A) the convenience of getting the news online
B) the up-to-the-moment currency of the information available online
C) the depth of the information available online
D) the diversity of online viewpoints
E) the accuracy and objectivity of the information found online

Question 20

Which of the following statements about newspapers is not accurate?

A) Newspapers are no longer the primary source of news for most Americans.
B) Newspaper reporters break most important news stories.
C) Political, social, and economic elites rely most heavily on newspapers.
D) The newspaper industry has been more profitable in recent years than ever before.
E) Newspapers tend to provide more detailed and complete coverage of political events than other media.

Question 21

When media coverage affects the way the public evaluates a political leader in future actions, this effect is called

A) framing.
B) spinning.
C) logrolling.
D) priming.
E) agenda setting.

Question 22

The development of media giants with access to a variety of media holdings raises the question of whether

A) local newspapers are no longer a viable source of news.
B) the level of censorship and manipulation of news media by the federal government will increase.
C) there is enough competition among the media to produce a diverse set of views and opinions.
D) there is a large enough audience for all of the news media sources that have proliferated in the last decade.
E) government has the authority to regulate corporations that are so large.

Question 23

The media can set the political agenda in the United States by

A) identifying an issue as a problem that must be solved.
B) endorsing a particular political candidate.
C) accepting advertising only from businesses that are identified as being ideologically "correct."
D) maintaining a strictly nonpartisan approach to news reporting.
E) refusing to follow government regulations regarding the content of news broadcasts.

Question 24

Which of the following statements best describes the media's role in the Watergate affair?

A) The media's relentless investigations revealed various abuses of power by President Nixon and led to his resignation.
B) The media did not investigate the Watergate affair until after President Nixon resigned.
C) The media investigated the Watergate affair but uncovered no wrongdoing on the part of President Nixon.
D) The media's reporting on the Watergate affair was filled with factual errors and led to government attempts to regulate the print media's coverage.
E) The media never reported on the Watergate affair.

Question 25

When the media focus on a candidate's relative standing in the polls instead of substantive issues, they are demonstrating ______ coverage.

A) bandwagon
B) horse race
C) momentum
D) lame duck
E) dog show

Question 26

What has helped accelerate the trend toward less variety in national news in the past decade?

A) the rise of the Internet as a major source of news reporting
B) the growing level of government censorship and restrictions on the media
C) the corporate consolidation of news media into a small number of conglomerates
D) the increasing popularity of AM radio talk shows
E) the growing popularity of newspapers as a source of news

Question 27

Most newspaper reporters identify themselves as

A) liberal.
B) conservative.
C) anarchist.
D) nonpolitical.
E) socialist.

Question 28

Approximately what percentage of daily newspapers is owned by large media conglomerates?

A) 10 percent
B) 25 percent
C) 40 percent
D) 55 percent
E) 75 percent

Question 29

Which of the following is generally regarded as a conservative news broadcasting service?

A) ABC Nightly News
B) 60 Minutes
C) Fox News
D) CNN
E) PBS

Question 30

Which of the following is not an important national newspaper?

A) Wall Street Journal
B) Christian Science Monitor
C) Newsweek
D) USA Today
E) New York Times

Question 31

What percentage of radio stations in the United States are devoted to talk, news, or public affairs?

A) 2 percent
B) 20 percent
C) 33 percent
D) 50 percent
E) 80 percent

Question 32

Besides their ideological biases, journalists also 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) important for the public to be aware of.
D) sympathetic to the government as a whole.
E) critical of leaders and issues they oppose.

Question 33

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

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

Question 34

Most local newspapers get their national news from

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

Question 35

The Valerie Plame affair is important because it illustrates

A) how prominent political figures inevitably fail to influence media coverage on important events.
B) how selection bias is much less important than ideological bias in understanding media coverage.
C) how the preferences of better educated and more affluent segments of the audience have little influence over the content of media coverage.
D) the declining homogenization of national news since passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
E) how prominent political figures can manipulate news coverage and secure the publication of stories that serve their purposes through leaking information to journalists.

Question 36

The most important selection bias in news is

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

Question 37

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

A) agenda setting.
B) framing.
C) sound bites.
D) news enclaves.
E) adversarial journalism.

Question 38

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 and larger percentage of media outlets.
B) There has been a recent trend toward homogenization of national news as the Telecommunications Act of 1996 has 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 and smaller percentage of media outlets.
D) There has been a recent trend toward diversification of national news as the Telecommunications Act of 1996 has required print media outlets to follow the fairness doctrine.
E) There have been no meaningful changes in media ownership patterns over the last 200 years of American history.

Question 39

Which of the following statements best describes the coverage given to American politics by international newspapers?

A) International newspapers rarely cover American politics but, when they do, their coverage is often critical of American policy.
B) International newspapers frequently cover American politics and are often critical of American policy.
C) International newspapers rarely cover American politics but, when they do, their coverage often praises American policy.
D) International newspapers frequently cover American politics and often praise American policy.
E) International newspapers never cover American politics.

Question 40

Approximately ______ percent of news coverage in American newspapers is devoted to international events.

A) 5
B) 20
C) 33
D) 50
E) 75

Question 41

Which statement about the Telecommunications Act of 1996 is false?

A) The act loosened federal restrictions on media ownership.
B) The act attempted to regulate the content of material transmitted over the Internet.
C) The act allowed broadcasters, telephone companies, and cable companies to compete with one another for telecommunications services.
D) Following passage of the act, several mergers between telephone and cable companies produced a greater concentration of media ownership.
E) The act required broadcasters who air programs on controversial issues to provide time for opposing views.

Question 42

During the nineteenth century, newspapers were controlled by

A) Wall Street.
B) political parties.
C) churches and other religious groups.
D) state governments.
E) the federal government.

Question 43

The______ regulates broadcast media.

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

Question 44

Television reaches more Americans than any other single source of news.

Question 45

The Vietnam War initiated the growth of ______ journalism.

A) yellow
B) advocacy
C) adversarial
D) corporate-driven
E) government-regulated

Question 46

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) Children's Programming Act of 1966
E) Communications Decency Act

Question 47

The Supreme Court case Red Lion Broadcasting Company v. FCC upheld

A) the fairness doctrine.
B) the right of rebuttal.
C) the equal time rule.
D) framing.
E) the agenda-setting provision.

Question 48

Which governmental regulation provides candidates for the same political office equal opportunities to communicate their messages?

A) the right of rebuttal
B) the equal time rule
C) the fairness doctrine
D) the diversity in media doctrine
E) the agenda-setting provision

Question 49

Which statement about the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is false?

A) The FCC was established in 1965 under President Lyndon Johnson.
B) The FCC licenses radio and television stations.
C) The FCC bans explicit sexual and excretory references on airwaves during certain hours of the day.
D) The FCC does not regulate newspapers.
E) The Telecommunications Act of 1996 loosened many FCC restrictions on media ownership.

Question 50

The fairness doctrine required that

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

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 violating the

A) Telecommunications Act of 1996.
B) fairness doctrine.
C) equal time rule.
D) right of rebuttal.
E) Communications Decency Act.

Question 52

The proliferation of news sources in recent years has

A) discouraged polarization because people can now access a wider array of viewpoints than before.
B) encouraged polarization because many media outlets seek to position themselves within a discrete ideological or partisan niche rather than maintain a middle-of-the-road stance.
C) discouraged polarization because it has eliminated selection bias by journalists.
D) encouraged polarization because it has led to the death of adversarial journalism.
E) had no effect whatsoever on polarization because most Americans are not influenced by media coverage.

Question 53

If a radio station aired a personal attack against you but refused to give you the opportunity to respond to that attack on its station, this station would be violating the

A) Telecommunications Act of 1996.
B) fairness doctrine.
C) equal time rule.
D) right of rebuttal.
E) Communications Decency Act.

Question 54

The press release was created

A) during the administration of James Monroe in the 1810s.
B) in the early twentieth century by a public relations firm working for a railroad.
C) by Franklin Roosevelt in 1933.
D) by P. T. Barnum as a way of publicizing his circus.
E) by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War.

Question 55

Which of the following is regulated by the federal government?

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

Question 56

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) Broadcast media are not regulated in the United States.
E) The government heavily regulates print media but imposes no regulations on radio and television broadcasts.

Question 57

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) FCC's fairness doctrine.
E) Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause.

Question 58

Which of the following is not a reason why a free media is necessary to democratic government?

A) A free media is needed to investigate wrongdoing on the part of government officials.
B) A free media is needed to publicize and explain governmental actions.
C) A free media is needed to evaluate the performance of politicians.
D) A free media is needed to shed light on matters that may otherwise be known only to a small number of government insiders with technical knowledge.
E) A free media is needed to ensure economic equality.

Question 59

Which of the following statements about leaks is false?

A) Leaks sometimes come from lower-level officials who hope to publicize what they view as their bosses' improper activities.
B) Most leaks originate with senior government officials, prominent politicians, and political activists.
C) Thousands of leaks each year are incorporated into news stories.
D) A federal statute makes it illegal to disclose the identities of covert intelligence operatives.
E) Leaks never occurred before the George W. Bush administration.

Question 60

Which of the following statements about adversarial journalism is false?

A) It has been accused of leading to increased political cynicism among American citizens.
B) It became an established practice during the Vietnam War.
C) It has permitted the media to gain more autonomy from the political figures they publicize.
D) It has enhanced the media's reputation as the "watchdog" of American politics.
E) Adversarial journalism disappeared in the 1970s and 1980s.

Question 61

Federal rules grant individuals an opportunity to respond to personal attacks made on television or the radio.

Question 62

Since the 1980s, the ownership of news media has expanded and fallen into many different hands.

Question 63

Most journalists describe themselves as conservative

Question 64

More Americans now read the news online than read a print newspaper.

Question 65

Why have the so-called new media become such a popular place for Americans to learn about politics? What are some of the potential problems associated with the rapid proliferation of online news sources?

Question 66

Nearly half of the U.S. population of 311 million are registered as users on Facebook.

Question 67

Most leaks come from low-level government bureaucrats, and they are almost never used in news coverage.

Question 68

Describe some ways in which the media can influence governments and political actors. What types of influence do the media have on the substance and style of politics? Give examples.

Question 69

The 1996 Telecommunications Act reduced the number of mergers and consolidations in the media industry by breaking up numerous media conglomerates.

Question 70

One in five Americans are completely offline.

Question 71

Despite wide freedoms, the press must still adhere to some federal laws. How does government regulate the media? Describe some of the different regulations that the government places upon the media. What are the goals of different regulatory techniques? Are they effective? Which forms of news are the least regulated? How has the government attempted to regulate the Internet?

Question 72

Because of their dependence on government sources, the news media are unable to set the agenda of debate.

Question 73

In what ways do the media help promote popular government? What are the responsibilities of the media? What do you think is the proper role for government in helping to maintain a free and responsible press?

Question 74

The most important sources for setting the broadcast media's news agenda are newspapers.

Question 75

Newspapers are among the most heavily regulated media in the United States.

Question 76

Describe the different types of news sources. What are some of the distinct characteristics of each medium? How do the sources differ from each other in how they disseminate news and in the audiences they reach?

Question 77

Media tend to cover stories with high dramatic or entertainment value and avoid more substantive political coverage in order to draw a large audience.

Question 78

The Federal Communications Commission no longer requires broadcasters who air controversial issues to provide time for opposing views.

Question 79

Throughout the nineteenth century, political parties controlled and subsidized newspapers.