Deck 5: News Media

Question 1

As an alternative to mainstream journalism, the blogs of "citizen journalists" __________.

A) employ editors and fact checkers
B) offer facts instead of opinions
C) compete with media giants
D) focus exclusively on national politics

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Government officials might purposefully leak information during an interview in order to __________.

A) gauge a reaction to a potential policy
B) maximize damage to an ally
C) help an adversary
D) suppress public debate on an issue

Answer 2

A

Question 3

There were no "mass media" in the United States until the __________.

A) 2000s
B) 1900s
C) 1800s
D) 1700s

Answer 3

B

Question 4

People today use technology, such as social networking websites, to communicate as people traditionally used __________.

A) meetings
B) protests
C) word-of-mouth
D) mass mailings

Question 5

Fragmentation of the media refers to the __________.

A) diminished influence of the national media
B) biases of talk radio
C) duplication of cable programming throughout the nation
D) satellite coverage of news events

Question 6

Disclosures to the media of information that some officials want to keep secret are called __________.

A) inside trades
B) leaks
C) off-the-record commentaries
D) yellow journalism

Question 7

CBS attempted to break a story, during the 2004 presidential election, with documents, later deemed forgeries, about George W. Bush's service in the National Guard. High-interest stories like this reported by news organizations before their rivals can publish them are called __________.

A) leaks
B) scoops
C) instant news
D) yellow journalism

Question 8

False blog posts and tabloid stories that are, nontheless, so widely circulated that the mainstream media feel pressured to report them have been called __________, by at least one writer-journalist.

A) "fake news"
B) "undernews"
C) "overnews"
D) "trash"

Question 9

The mass media __________.

A) include newspaper, magazines, books, radio, television, movies, records, and the Internet
B) do not have an impact on government
C) are declining in influence in the United States
D) were established to influence the government

Question 10

Almost 50 percent of Americans get news from __________ or more platforms on a typical day.

A) ten
B) two
C) four
D) seven

Question 11

A blog is a(n) __________.

A) independent web log
B) illegal method of stopping a leak
C) monopoly of the Internet by a conglomerate
D) example of professional, unbiased reporting

Question 12

One outcome resulting from the concentrated control of information and entertainment in the hands of fewer and fewer media companies is __________.

A) less profitable media organizations
B) wider ranges of reported viewpoints
C) fewer sources of news
D) greater access to local news coverage

Question 13

The standards of the fringe media are different from those of the mainstream media, because their goal is to __________ their audiences.

A) inform
B) disrupt
C) entertain
D) mentor

Question 14

Shifting dominance among the media show a(n) __________.

A) increase in the audience of nightly news programs among the major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC)
B) increase in conservative listeners tuning into National Public Radio (NPR)
C) decrease in liberals using the Internet
D) continued decrease in newspaper readership

Question 15

Only six companies own about __________ of the cable television market.

A) 20 percent
B) 35 percent
C) 65 percent
D) 80 percent

Question 16

C-SPAN is an example of a cable television outlet that covers mostly __________.

A) the White House
B) Congress
C) the Supreme Court
D) Hollywood gossip

Question 17

__________ is(are) not considered a mass medium.

A) Radio
B) Television
C) Newspapers
D) Personal journals

Question 18

Most newspapers get their international and national news from the same source: the __________.

A) Drudge Report
B) Associated Press
C) New York Times
D) United Press International

Question 19

The textbook describes the relationship between the media and politicians, in which they use each other for their mutual advantage, as __________.

A) fringe
B) adversarial
C) supportive
D) symbiotic

Question 20

On average, eight- to eighteen-year-olds can pack __________ hours of media viewing and playing time into __________ hours, according to one study.

A) 24, 12
B) 7-1/2, 11
C) 11, 7-1/2
D) 3, 2

Question 21

__________ do not try to be neutral.

A) Network media
B) Broadcast media
C) Advocacy media
D) Mainstream media

Question 22

Today's publicly aired presidential press conferences __________.

A) are similar, in many respects, to Franklin D. Roosevelt's "fireside chats"
B) lead to animosity between television and newspaper reporters
C) allow presidents to convey messages directly to the public
D) showcase spontaneous answers by presidents to tough questions

Question 23

The relationship between the media and politicians has become increasingly adversarial because of which of the following factors?

A) an increase media in concentration
B) an increase in media fragmentation
C) an increase in media literacy
D) an increase in media accuracy

Question 24

When politicians shade the truth, portraying themselves and their programs in the most favorable light possible, regardless of the facts, it's called __________.

A) spamming
B) sparring
C) spinning
D) stumping

Question 25

In the United States, some of the earliest conflicts between the media and politicians involved __________.

A) Andrew Jackson and the commercial banks
B) Abraham Lincoln and the Southern states
C) the Reagan administration and radio pundits
D) the Federalists and the Jeffersonians

Question 26

Despite the widespread adoption of the practice of objectivity, the public still thinks that the press is biased against __________.

A) all Republicans
B) labor unions
C) business executives
D) the groups that they themselves identify with

Question 27

The adversarial relationship between press and politician stems from the fact that _________.

A) traditional rivalries exist among the branches of American government
B) the media have attacked politicians and politicians have attacked the media
C) journalists care only about scandal
D) some politicians are unskilled public speakers

Question 28

The careful staging of Ronald Reagan's visit to the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea so that viewers would have a clear view of an American president demonstrating "American strength and resolve" on the front line against communism is an example of a(n) __________.

A) photo op
B) sound bite
C) interview
D) press conference

Question 29

The mainstream media usually toe the government line in their coverage of __________.

A) state and local matters
B) national issues
C) foreign affairs
D) national issues and foreign affairs

Question 30

Media coverage of some domestic issues, such as gay rights and homelessness, tends to exhibit a tilt toward __________ positions.

A) third-party
B) liberal
C) conservative
D) libertarian

Question 31

The media often expose themselves to accusations of bias because of their habitual practice of paying attention to __________.

A) substantive issues
B) facts
C) minor matters
D) third parties

Question 32

Bias of the media is evident in the __________.

A) selection of stories reported
B) practice of objectivity
C) motto "All the News That's Fit to Print"
D) commitment to online publishing

Question 33

Sound bites ________.

A) are rarely, if ever, reported by the media
B) are a type of media event
C) are getting longer and longer
D) are similar to classical orations

Question 34

A photo opportunity __________.

A) is rarely a feature of a media event
B) is now an infrequent occurrence, because still photographs have been widely replaced with video
C) frames politicians against backdrops that symbolize the points they are trying to make
D) occurs when a press pass is issued to a photojournalist

Question 35

Which of the following form of advocacy media is currently dominated by liberals?

A) talk radio
B) television
C) documentary film
D) newspaper journalism

Question 36

The media usually ________ third-party candidates.

A) provide extensive coverage of
B) endorse
C) ignore
D) encourage voters to choose

Question 37

A "media event" staged for television to depict an official's position on a particular issue demonstrates the __________ relationship between politicians and reporters.

A) symbiotic
B) pro bono
C) adversarial
D) ethical

Question 38

The __________ involves the reporting of both sides in a dispute.

A) practice of acculturation
B) practice of commerical journalism
C) practice of media distortion
D) practice of objectivity

Question 39

Most journalists of the mainstream media are _________.

A) more likely than not to be committed ideologues
B) more likely to care about politics than the issues
C) more likely than not to be Republicans, or leaning toward being Republican
D) more likely than not to be white lower-class males

Question 40

The bias of the mass media in presidential elections can be described as _________.

A) conservative
B) extreme
C) fairly neutral
D) liberal

Question 41

Which horse-racing term is not commonly used by the media in reporting a candidate's position in a run for office?

A) "money rider"
B) "front-runner"
C) "dark horse"
D) "also-ran"

Question 42

Explain how local news has become a casualty of media concentration.

Question 43

How can one determine the direction of political bias?

Question 44

Describe two different kinds of biases that may be seen in news reporting in the United States. How do these biases influence the selection of news stories and the ways in which they are reported?

Question 45

Compare broadcast media and fringe (or fragmented) media.

Question 46

Most people who watch news on television say that newscasts devote too much time to ________.

A) entertainment
B) "infotainment"
C) politics
D) pollsters

Question 47

In their efforts to "hook and keep" viewers, networks engage in _____________.

A) crowd sourcing
B) spinning
C) branding
D) "infotainment"

Question 48

Describe examples of politicians involved in symbiotic relationships with the media.

Question 49

How is the relationship between the media and politicians symbiotic?

Question 50

What are the tools politicians use to shape their own media coverage?

Question 51

How do conglomerates affect the news media?

Question 52

Pressure to make a profit and the need to attract an audience can lead to _________ in the media.

A) ideological bias
B) racial bias
C) traditional institutional bias
D) commercial bias