Deck 8: The News Media

Question 1

According to a poll result in your textbook,the media are perceived to be

A)independent and unbiased.
B)fairly biased based on the responses of 60 percent.
C)fairly unbiased based on the responses of 85 percent.
D)controlled by the government.
E)not serious enough in their reporting on elections.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

A __________ is a short phrase taken from a candidate's speech by the news media for use on newscasts.

A)shout signal
B)media signal
C)snipe
D)beep bite
E)sound bite

Answer 2

E

Question 3

A current officeholder is referred to as

A)an agnostic.
B)a challenger.
C)an attack candidate.
D)an incumbent.
E)an in-candidate.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

About what percentage of viewers have newspapers lost since 2000?

A)10
B)20
C)50
D)75
E)90

Question 5

To expand the size of their audience,television networks,large newspapers,and newsmagazines will often

A)cover foreign affairs exclusively.
B)hire more reporters to cover more local news.
C)ignore mainstream stories and topics in favor of more in-depth coverage of complex policy issues.
D)highlight dramatic events and celebrities in order to appeal to more people.
E)not discuss the news at all.

Question 6

Media consolidation means

A)the government owns the media.
B)the cable news organizations own the talk radio stations.
C)all newspapers must own at least one TV news station.
D)one parent corporation owning many media outlets of various types.
E)newspapers and radio stations cannot be owned by the same corporation.

Question 7

Which of the following is

A)Its presidential debates were less popular than the World Series.
B)Cable TV and the Internet were more important than ever before.
C)The McCain convention speech won more viewers than the presidential debates.
D)Newspaper subscribers increased dramatically.
E)Internet sites covering campaigns had the fewest readers ever.

Question 8

Cuban residents who write articles critical of the Cuban government for foreign websites

A)are deported.
B)are tortured.
C)are given awards by Reporters without Borders.
D)are protected by the First Amendment.
E)are subject to 20-year prison terms.

Question 9

Which of the following is

A)The vast majority of news journalists are Democrats.
B)The media have grown increasingly negative in recent years.
C)The news media are clearly biased in favor of incumbents.
D)The media prefer positive stories on political candidates.
E)The media have increasingly been dominated by the words of the candidates themselves.

Question 10

Which of the following is an argument against new media regulation?

A)First Amendment rights are subject to limits.
B)The new media have impaired voters' political efficacy.
C)The traditional media can be subverted by the new media.
D)Journalists need not be professionals with academic credentials.
E)The Internet is less accessible than print media.

Question 11

When it comes to media bias,most Americans

A)know they have no choice but to accept it.
B)believe the government should own the media to avoid bias.
C)choose the news sources that reflect their particular biases.
D)simply stop watching the news.
E)would prefer to see more bias.

Question 12

Which of the following can be concluded from "You Are What You Watch" on page 151?

A)Fox News favored John Kerry.
B)Republicans generally chose to watch Fox News.
C)Both Fox News and ABC News endorsed George Bush.
D)ABC overwhelmingly endorsed George Bush.
E)Democrats seem to have received less biased information.

Question 13

The new media consist of all of the following EXCEPT

A)the Internet.
B)ezines online news magazines).
C)satellite radio.
D)cable television.
E)weblogs.

Question 14

When it comes to policy formulation and adoption,

A)the media play primarily a framing role.
B)the media play no role.
C)government agencies rely heavily on the media to be their advocates.
D)the media are prohibited by the First Amendment from interfering in the policy process.
E)the new media are dominant.

Question 15

Which of the following is

A)PBS and NPR are government owned.
B)The U.S.government has direct ownership of no media outlets.
C)The U.S.government directly controls relatively few media outlets.
D)The U.S.government primarily owns print media.
E)The U.S.owns an unusually large number of media outlets.

Question 16

It is said that the media may not tell people what to think,but they do tell people what to think about.This refers to the media's

A)hypnotic role.
B)signaling role.
C)signature role.
D)sacrificial role.
E)sound bite role.

Question 17

Since 1960,campaign coverage by the news media has become

A)increasingly positive.
B)less sensational.
C)increasingly negative.
D)increasingly pro-incumbent.
E)entirely negative.

Question 18

Journalism that presents all sides of an issue and focuses on facts rather than opinion is called

A)utopian journalism.
B)objective journalism.
C)euro journalism.
D)new journalism.
E)antijournalism.

Question 19

The Public Broadcasting Service PBS)and National Public Radio NPR)

A)are corporate owned.
B)are foreign owned.
C)are part of the new media.
D)are nonprofit media services with public and private financial support.
E)are financed completely with funds from the federal government.

Question 20

When journalists take an adversarial attitude toward candidates and elected officials,it is sometimes referred to as

A)incumbent journalism.
B)attack journalism.
C)prior-restraint journalism.
D)defamatory journalism.
E)hypocritical journalism.

Question 21

The New York Times went bankrupt in 2008 and shut down its print operation.

Question 22

Campaign managers carefully control the media and access to their candidates.

Question 23

Which of the following is an argument in favor of the political punditry of talk show hosts?

A)Freedom of speech is a fundamental right,and debate is good for democracy.
B)Talk show hosts are not journalists and should not have First Amendment protection.
C)Talk show hosts are voicing nonfactual opinions and should be censored.
D)The FCC's Fairness Doctrine is in place to control the airwaves.
E)Since talk show hosts always allow opposing views to be aired,there is no reason why they shouldn't be allowed to operate.

Question 24

Framing is the process by which a communication source

A)attacks candidates' positions on the issues.
B)analyzes the current social issues.
C)maintains objectivity.
D)defines a political issue.
E)evaluates the effectiveness of a program.

Question 25

Since the 1960s,news coverage has grown increasingly negative.

Question 26

In the United States,direct government ownership of media outlets is common.

Question 27

The role of the press in agenda building of public policy is traditionally

A)insignificant.
B)a signaling role.
C)a framing role.
D)to provide information.
E)to evaluate.

Question 28

The huge Fox network is an example of cross-media ownership of media outlets.

Question 29

A sound bite is a brief quote issued in a candidate's press report.

Question 30

How has the media landscape changed in the last few decades?

Question 31

There is no empirical evidence that the media are biased in covering presidential elections.

Question 32

Attack journalism is a government approach to the media that is negative.

Question 33

The news media impact the formulation of public policy primarily by framing issues.

Question 34

Most traditional forms of media are losing subscribers.Why do you think this is? Is there anything they could do to bring back their subscribers?

Question 35

Many mainstream newspapers,newsmagazines,and network television news broadcasts have been losing circulation and viewership for years.

Question 36

The FCC

A)is the Federal Communications Commission created by Congress in 1939 to regulate the airwaves.
B)was disbanded in 1987 and no longer regulates the airwaves.
C)ensures that some stations operate while others are censored.
D)reinstated the Fairness Doctrine in 1997.
E)is the Federal Classification Committee and regulates classification of different types of radio programming.

Question 37

What are some of the factors that influence the objectivity of the news media?

Question 38

Read the "Taking Sides" report in your textbook.What arguments would you use to favor or oppose regulation of the talk show hosts?

Question 39

Define the terms traditional media and new media,and contrast the differences in delivery of the news.

Question 40

Why would candidates and the media both rely so heavily on "sound bites" rather than attempting to give the American public stories and issues with more depth?

Question 41

What is the difference between the type of news people get from the television news programs versus the type of news they get from the Internet?

Question 42

Does the graph on page 151 support the textbook's assertion that "news consumers often choose media outlets that reflect their particular biases?"

Question 43

Discuss signaling and framing and the role of the media concerning these terms.

Question 44

Pick two television news programs,and watch them for one week.Consider biases that you note in their coverage.What are the difficulties in determining bias? How can they be overcome?

Question 45

What is objective journalism? Isn't all journalism objective-that is,fair and unbiased?

Question 46

While there is a long tradition of a free press and free speech in the United States,these freedoms are not without limits.Are there things on which the media should not be allowed to report? What about questions of security or life-threatening situations? What about the impact some stories might have on innocent bystanders or the loved ones of those who have died? In what kinds of situations would you allow censorship of the media?

Question 47

The role played by the media in policy formulation and adoption is indirect.Pick a recent major news event,and describe how the media presentation of the event shaped or helped define the way policymakers dealt with the issue.

Question 48

Read the article in your text about government control of the media in Cuba.Write an essay giving your thoughts on this situation and include answers to the questions being asked after the article.

Question 49

The media landscape in the United States has changed dramatically in recent decades.Describe and discuss some of the key changes and how these changes have altered the role of the media in the policy process.

Question 50

Spend some time surfing the Internet for political blogs.Write an essay outlining the types of opinions you find posted out there.Are they mostly conservative or mostly liberal? How accurate is the information being published? Can you even tell how accurate it is? Can you make any argument for government regulation of these sites based on the information you encountered?