Deck 6: Legal Considerations

Question 1

The Freedom of Information Act of 1966 is designed primarily to do which one of the following?

A)To give media access to all meetings and proceedings in government
B)To promote full disclosure from the executive branch of government
C)To make such law consistent across the 50 states
D)To make both documents and computer files available to the public
E)To give everyone access to information about different religious faiths

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which of the following is "lobbying" and therefore covered by the Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act of 1946 and more clearly defined in the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995?

A)Conducting a public relations campaign to convince citizens to support a
B)Testifying before a committee of Congress about your expertise on the effect of the legislation
C)Writing an editorial in your company newsletter about the legislation
D)Contacting a former colleague who works in the president's press corps to set up an interview with someone in the White House about a bill
E)Hiring a staff member to conduct a direct mail campaign to representatives and senators providing basic information about a bill

Answer 2

E

Question 3

Which of the following requirements must be met for a libel lawsuit to be actionable?

A)Defamation
B)Identification
C)Publication
D)Fault
E)All of the above

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Public relations practitioners who work in investor relations or financial relations typically and legally are not involved in which of the following activities?

A)Preparing the annual report
B)Reporting nonpublic information to other managers in order to help them buy or sell stock
C)Issuing proxy materials telling shareholders what business will be conducted at the annual meeting
D)Releasing announcements about changes in company officers to national business and financial media
E)Giving specific directions to investors about how to cast their votes if they cannot attend the annual meeting B

Question 5

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, along with related legislation, resulted in which of the following important changes in financial public relations?

A)Held top management personally accountable for a company's financial reports
B)Helped public relations practitioners gain inside information on companies, which would help them decide whether to buy or sell those companies' stocks
C)Made it more difficult for public relations practitioners to disclose company financial information in a timely way
D)Established oversight boards to ensure uniform legal behavior by companies' outside auditors
E)Both A and D are correct

Question 6

In deciding the precedent-setting corporate political speech

A)That corporations are too powerful to be allowed to participate in politics
B)That the voice of corporations has been overwhelming in politics
C)That "political speech" is protected, regardless of who is speaking
D)That the First Amendment applies only to individuals, not to corporations
E)That corporations undermine citizens' confidence in government

Question 7

Which one of the following rights is protected by the First Amendment?

A)Print media have the right to choose what to publish and what not to publish.
B)Advertisers have the right to insist that newspapers publish their paid advertisement.
C)The FCC has the right to make and enforce programming policies for broadcast media.
D)Public relations practitioners have the right to insist that newspapers publish their press releases.
E)Children have the right to view whatever Internet content they wish, as long as they are using school computers.

Question 8

Which of the following rights is NOT protected explicitly by the First Amendment?

A)Freedom of speech
B)Freedom of the press
C)Freedom of assembly
D)Freedom of religion
E)Freedom of publicity

Question 9

If a state legislature passes and the governor signs a law that grants public relations the status of a profession that requires a state license in order to practice, which of the following would take precedence and lead to the law being reversed?

A)Common law
B)Executive actions
C)Law of equity
D)Statutory law
E)U.S.Constitution

Question 10

The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 prohibits which of the following?

A)Corporations contributing funds to referendum campaigns
B)Solicitations for soft money accounts by members of Congress
C)Giving more than $1,000 for commercials that endorse candidates
D)Individuals contributing to federal Political Action Committees (PACs)
E)Contributions to local political organizations by labor unions

Question 11

In corporate communications with its employees regarding the possibility of workers bringing in a union, the Taft-Hartley Act prohibits which of the following?

A)Telling employees that union dues will be high
B)Describing current working conditions without unions as ideal
C)Arguing that the proposed union has a long history of strikes
D)Promising early vacations to workers not affiliated with the union
E)All of the above

Question 12

Which of the following branches of government make laws in the United States?

A)Executive branch alone
B)Legislative branch alone
C)Judicial and legislative branches
D)Executive and legislative branches
E)Executive and judicial branches

Question 13

Copyright protection cannot be extended to which of the following:

A)The design of the table lamp on your nightstand
B)The musical score to a hit Broadway play
C)Editorials in national newspapers
D)Photographs transmitted by the Associated Press to clients on its worldwide circuit
E)The textbook we use for this class, Effective Public Relations.

Question 14

The Freedom of Information Act of 1966 allows government employees to withhold-under special conditions-whole or parts of documents if the information deals with which of the following?

A)Oil and gas wells
B)National security
C)Personnel information
D)Confidential business information
E)All of the above

Question 15

Administrative law include rules and decisions written by government agencies established by statute to write and enforce rules in regulated areas and activities-such as mass communication, public trading of stocks, and labor relations.Which of the following supersedes (overrules)administrative law?

A)Statutory law
B)Executive actions
C)Common law
D)Law of equity
E)None of the above

Question 16

The U.S.Supreme Court

A)Formed the basis of the modern practice of advertising
B)Extended from individuals to organizations the First Amendment protection of commercial speech
C)Required corporate commercial speech to be non-misleading
D)All of the above
E)None of the above

Question 17

Freedom of expression is protected from government control in the United States by which one of the following?

A)Third Amendment
B)Taft-Hartley Act
C)First Amendment
D)McCain-Feingold Act
E)Freedom of Information Act

Question 18

The Securities Act of 1933 and subsequent acts regarding public trading of company stock require that public relations practitioners report information if it does which one of the following?

A)Relates to material financial information about the company
B)Is likely to affect securities prices
C)Is likely to be considered important by a reasonable investor in making investment decisions
D)All of the above
E)Only A and B

Question 19

What was the significance of the 1964 landmark Supreme Court

A)Balanced First Amendment right to free speech with libel laws
B)Defined three categories of legal persons for the purposes of libel
C)Extended First Amendment protection of political speech to corporations
D)Extended First Amendment protection of commercial speech to corporations
E)Protected children from television content that is "harmful to minors"

Question 20

When Congress passed a law in 1938 to deal with "political propaganda" and to put "the spotlight of pitiless publicity" on "the sources of such efforts," they were concerned about which one of the following?

A)Foreign agents
B)Communists organizing labor
C)Unscrupulous stockbrokers
D)Religious conservatives
E)Radical suffragettes

Question 21

The concept of privacy as it relates to public relations practice includes which of the following:

A)Public disclosure of "embarrassing" facts about a plaintiff
B)Publicity that puts the plaintiff in a "false light" in the eyes of the public
C)"Appropriation" of the plaintiff's name or likeness
D)Only A and B
E)A, B, and C

Question 22

In countering a libel lawsuit, which one of the following legal defenses basically means that time has run out?

A)Summary judgment
B)Truth
C)Privilege
D)Statute of limitations
E)Opinion

Question 23

Which one of the following appropriately connects the plaintiff's burden of proof with his or her legal status as a person?

A)Both public officials and private figures need to show negligence
B)Public officials need to show actual malice, whereas private figures need to show negligence
C)Both public officials and private figures need to show actual malice
D)Public officials need to show negligence, whereas private figures need to show actual malice
E)Both negligence and actual malice must be shown, regardless of the plaintiff's legal status as a person