Deck 12: The Media

Question 1

The term yellow journalism was coined to describe media sensationalism in what era?

A)The early days of the republic
B)The time of the Civil War
C)The turn of the century
D)Post-World War II
E)The Great Depression

Answer 1

C

Question 2

For all their excesses,the sensationalist mass newspapers of the late nineteenth century effected several important changes in the press,including

A)freeing the press from government control.
B)encouraging cultural diversity in U.S.society.
C)limiting the role of technology in journalism.
D)giving greater power to a social elite.
E)giving greater power to a political elite.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

While newspapers do slant their news to make money,they are limited in the amount of slanting because

A)they have to satisfy many different people,from advertisers to editors,to make money.
B)the law limits the amount of distortion in the news.
C)newspaper editors in the United States have a strong commitment to non-biased news.
D)newspapers employ the best reporters.
E)newspaper owners are terrified of libel suits,and so stick only to the facts.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

In the early years of the republic,newspapers were financially supported by

A)advertising.
B)payments from the Associated Press.
C)subsidies from political parties and politicians.
D)mass circulation.
E)religious clubs and organizations.

Question 5

To attract large readership to their papers,Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst had their newspapers focus on

A)objectivity in their coverage.
B)sensationalism in their coverage.
C)partisanship in their coverage.
D)presenting objective facts.
E)only international stories.

Question 6

Which of the following statements about newspapers during the early years of the republic is true?

A)They were cheaper than today.
B)They made little or no attempt to appear objective.
C)They were supported by paid advertising.
D)They were read avidly by both the elite and the masses.
E)They were generally objective.

Question 7

In 2004,ran a news program claiming that President Bush had performed poorly in the Air National Guard,which bloggers showed had been based on forged documents.

A)the Washington Post
B)the New York Times
C)Daily Kos
D)60 Minutes
E)CNN

Question 8

During the 2010 midterm elections,more than half of all Americans used to get political news about the elections.

A)the Internet
B)newspapers
C)radio
D)NPR
E)the BBC

Question 9

Only of adults under 30 read a newspaper.

A)13 percent
B)15 percent
C)27 percent
D)30 percent
E)55 percent

Question 10

The Nation,the Atlantic Monthly,and Harper's were

A)mass-circulation magazines founded during the early 1900s.
B)magazines specializing in yellow journalism during the mid-1800s.
C)newspapers sponsored by the political parties of the early 1800s.
D)the first magazines to present public policy issues during the mid-1800s.
E)newspapers specializing in party news and election reports founded during the early 1900s.

Question 11

The medium that first allowed public officials to reach the public in a relatively unfiltered manner was

A)the national magazine.
B)the national newspaper.
C)radio.
D)the New York Times.
E)the wire service.

Question 12

A study of "sound bites" on the broadcasts of the evening news in 2000,found the average length of bites to be about _.

A)8 seconds
B)36 seconds
C)42 seconds
D)63 seconds
E)100 seconds

Question 13

The liberal Daily Kos and the conservative Power Line are examples of

A)blogs.
B)newspapers.
C)magazines.
D)cable news stations.
E)old media.

Question 14

News coverage by the Associated Press had to be nonpartisan because

A)its funding came from the federal government.
B)its reporters' standards were highly professional.
C)government regulations required it.
D)it served papers of various political hues.
E)its managers held the parties in contempt.

Question 15

In this country,the libel laws make it almost impossible to prevent press criticisms of

A)public figures.
B)the military.
C)the education system.
D)dead persons.
E)persons with jobs in the private sector.

Question 16

America has a long tradition of media that are

A)objective.
B)centralized.
C)government-friendly.
D)primarily concerned with governmental policy.
E)privately owned.

Question 17

The Watergate scandal during the Nixon administration was first exposed by

A)opposition research by the Democratic Party.
B)the FBI.
C)a private detective.
D)the Washington Post.
E)donors who were unhappy with Nixon.

Question 18

Most Americans rely on as their source for news.

A)the Internet
B)radio
C)television
D)Facebook
E)Twitter

Question 19

Which statement is correct about libel laws?

A)Laws governing libel are much stricter in Great Britain than in the United States making it easier for British politicians to sue newspapers for publishing articles that defame or ridicule them.
B)Laws governing libel are much stricter in the United States than in Great Britain making it easier for American politicians to sue newspapers for publishing articles that defame or ridicule them.
C)The Official Secrets Act in the United States makes it difficult for reporters to publish stories dealing with national security.
D)The Freedom of Information Act in Great Britain makes it easy for reporters to get access to many public documents.
E)None of these choices is true.

Question 20

Americans are beginning to rely more on as their source for news.

A)the Internet
B)radio
C)television
D)Facebook
E)Twitter

Question 21

When the Supreme Court upheld the right of the police to search newspaper offices,Congress responded by passing legislation that

A)encouraged such searches.
B)made it easier for the police to lawfully conduct future searches.
C)forbade such searches,except in special cases.
D)completely banned the police from securing records of newspaper offices.
E)police could still search the offices,but they must obtain a search warrant first.

Question 22

Since the 1980s,broadcasting licenses are automatically renewed unless

A)the station has been found guilty of broadcasting obscenity.
B)some community group formally objects.
C)the station has been found to criticize the government unfairly.
D)the station's ownership has changed.
E)the station's ownership has not changed for a considerable period of time.

Question 23

When the Israeli general Ariel Sharon sued Time magazine for libel,the jury decided that

A)Time's stories on Sharon were accurate.
B)Time had libeled Sharon and must pay damages.
C)Time had libeled Sharon but not maliciously.
D)Sharon lacked standing to sue in a U.S.court.
E)Sharon had shown no true case and controversy.

Question 24

The text states that the media typically report presidential elections as horse races.This means that they

A)have an instinctive desire to expose scandals.
B)play the roles of gatekeeper,scorekeeper,and watchdog in a presidential campaign.
C)seek opportunities to write background or interpretive stories about issues in the campaign.
D)focus more on the contest itself than on the issues of the campaign.
E)have an instinctive desire to investigate personalities.

Question 25

For a newspaper to be found guilty of libeling a public official,the accused party must

A)prove beyond reasonable doubt that what was printed was damaging,even if it was printed accidentally.
B)sue the reporter who wrote the story and not the newspaper that published it.
C)sue the newspaper that published the story and not the reporter who wrote it.
D)provide clear and convincing evidence that what was printed was malicious.
E)establish that what was printed could have been interpreted in more than one manner.

Question 26

States where the capital is located in a city with a vigorous press have less corruption because the media in those states act as

A)gatekeepers.
B)scorekeepers.
C)watchdogs.
D)ombudsmen
E)whistle blowers

Question 27

The federal government sued the New York Times to prevent it from publishing

A)accounts of Japanese Americans detained in U.S.concentration camps during World War II.
B)the Pentagon Papers.
C)secret grand jury findings on the Watergate scandal.
D)reports of Reagan's arms­for­hostages dealings.
E)videotapes of G.Gordon Liddy orchestrating a break-in.

Question 28

The television weekly "60 Minutes" runs a segment on the role of local politicians in the drug trade.The issue soon becomes the subject of national debate.In these circumstances,"60 Minutes" is acting as an)_.

A)gatekeeper
B)scorekeeper
C)watchdog
D)investigator
E)ombudsman

Question 29

The Carter-Reagan debate in 1980 was sponsored by the League of Women Voters LWV)because

A)the LWV had an exclusive license for that purpose.
B)the LWV threatened to sue the networks.
C)both candidates wanted an impartial forum.
D)the fairness doctrine did not apply.
E)that arrangement allowed circumvention of the equal access rule.

Question 30

The is responsible for regulating radio and television broadcasting.

A)National Public Radio
B)American Broadcast Organization
C)Federal Communications Commission
D)Federal Exchange Commission
E)Office of Television in the Department of Commerce

Question 31

Media coverage of politics that focuses on polling is coverage or horserace coverage.

A)arbiter
B)watchdog
C)scorekeeper
D)mirror of reality
E)mediator

Question 32

In New York v.Farber,a reporter for The New York Times was asked to produce notes that he had taken in regard to the behavior of a .

A)schoolteacher
B)police officer
C)physician
D)fellow reporter
E)senator

Question 33

The Federal Communication Commission could use its powers of renewal to influence what stations put on the air by

A)inducing stations to reduce the amount of violence shown.
B)increasing the proportion of "public service" programs on the air.
C)altering the way it portrays various ethnic groups.
D)Inducing a reduction in the amount of violence,increasing the proportion of "public service programs" on the air,and altering the way the stations portray various ethnic groups are all true.
E)None of these choices is true.

Question 34

Most of the national news that local papers publish comes from

A)local affiliates.
B)their own news staffs.
C)television networks.
D)wire services.
E)investigative reporting.

Question 35

In general,what position has the Supreme Court taken on the government's right to compel reporters to divulge information concerning the commission of a crime?

A)It has ruled against it.
B)It has upheld it.
C)It has avoided ruling on it.
D)It has yet to rule on it.
E)It has ruled in a contradictory manner.

Question 36

In 2005,the reporter Judith Miller of The New York Times spent 85 days in jail because she would not reveal the name of the individual who told her the name of a CIA employee.Why was the government able to hold her for so long?

A)There is no federal shield law that will protect journalist refusing to identify sources.
B)The state that she was in did not have a state shield law.
C)The issue was a matter of national security.
D)The reporter had written a libelous article.
E)The reporter leaked confidential information.

Question 37

According to the text,reporters rely on scorekeeping and horserace coverage because

A)it is easy.
B)the people like it.
C)it allows reporters to act independently of the party elite.
D)the people like it and it allows reporters to act independently of the parties.
E)it is easy,the people like it,and it allows reporters to act independently of the parties.

Question 38

Compared with the print media,the electronic media are

A)less competitive but more strictly regulated.
B)more competitive but less strictly regulated.
C)more competitive and more strictly regulated.
D)less competitive and less strictly regulated.
E)less competitive and completely free of regulation.

Question 39

When it comes to the freedom of the press,the First Amendment has been interpreted as meaning that no government,federal or state,can

A)place "prior restraints" on the press except under very narrowly defined circumstances.
B)regulate the types of words used on broadcast television.
C)regulate advertisements on network television.
D)place conditions on cable providers.
E)None of these choices is true.

Question 40

Which best describes individual privacy protections in newspaper articles.

A)Newspapers can print libelous stories due to the freedom of the press.
B)Newspapers can print an individual's name and picture without consent if they are part of a news story of some conceivable public interest.
C)Newspapers can print false statements about people.
D)Newspapers can print information without it being part of a story of some conceivable public interest.
E)All of these choices are true.

Question 41

The ability of the media to influence which issues the public uses to assess its political leaders is

A)priming.
B)framing.
C)agenda setting.
D)media bias.
E)watchdog journalism.

Question 42

What made it possible for the Internet to replace TV for more Americans' news source?

A)Competition between Internet and traditional media
B)The expansion of broadband connections
C)Increased media bias in traditional media
D)More television being offered through the web
E)The Internet is not regulated as thoroughly as other media.

Question 43

Selective exposure is

A)when citizens only hear one side of an issue: the one they disagree agree with.
B)when citizens only hear one side of an issue: the one they agree with.
C)when media outlets only cover one side of a story.
D)when media outlets do not cover a story at all.
E)bloggers get a story before the traditional media does.

Question 44

In evaluating media sources,the text suggests thinking about

A)what stories the source normally covers.
B)where the reporter gets their information.
C)what type of language the story uses.
D)The stories,sourcing,and language of the media source.
E)None of these choices is true.

Question 45

Public distrust of the media

A)appears to be growing.
B)has remained about the same for three decades.
C)appears to be decreasing.
D)has never been studied in any rigorous manner.
E)has decreased for persons who read magazines of opinion.

Question 46

While a majority of newspaper reporters are democrats and liberals,bias is limited in part by

A)journalistic norms of objectivity.
B)federal laws.
C)the ideological bent of media corporation owners.
D)newspapers are more biased against incumbent politicians.
E)None of these answers are true.

Question 47

According to the text,the first president to raise cultivation of the media to an art form was

A)Theodore Roosevelt.
B)Woodrow Wilson.
C)Herbert Hoover.
D)Franklin Roosevelt.
E)William McKinley.

Question 48

In comparison with the general public,the great majority of the members of the national news media are

A)without any particular ideological leaning.
B)politically moderate.
C)liberal.
D)conservative.
E)very conservative.

Question 49

The abandonment of the fairness doctrine permitted

A)liberals to have more access to mainstream media.
B)small-business owners to restrict access.
C)the rise of controversial talk radio.
D)politicians to regulate media more directly.
E)interest groups to have greater influence on elections.

Question 50

The press secretary heads a large staff that .

A)meets with reporters.
B)briefs the president on questions he is likely to be asked
C)attempts to control the flow of news from cabinet departments to the press
D)meets with reporters,briefs the president on questions he is likely to be asked,and attempts to control the flow of news from cabinet departments to the press.
E)None of these choices is true.

Question 51

In ,the Court ruled that freedom of the press applies to state governments,so that they cannot impose prior restraints on newspapers.

A)Near v.Minnesota
B)New York Times v.Sullivan
C)Miami Herald v.Tornillo
D)McCulloch v.Maryland
E)New York Times v.United States

Question 52

In recent presidential elections,media coverage has tended to be more compared to previous elections.

A)positive.
B)negative.
C)issue oriented.
D)poll-based.
E)Media coverage has not substantially changed

Question 53

The FCC rarely enforces the rule that

A)certain words cannot be used on air.
B)each hour on TV can only contain 16 minutes of commercials.
C)nudity cannot be on TV.
D)cable companies cannot have graphic violence.
E)None of these choices is true.

Question 54

The equal time rule obliges stations

A)that sell advertising to one political candidate to sell equal time to that person's opponent.
B)to allow all candidates the opportunity to participate in debates.
C)to provide all candidates the chance to appear in news stories.
D)to provide equal news coverage of the campaigns of all candidates.
E)to allow candidates equal time to respond to the airing of any of their opponents' criticisms.

Question 55

The effect of the Internet on political knowledge in the United States has been

A)no effect.
B)that everyone is more knowledgeable about politics.
C)stratifying: those who want to know about politics know a lot,while the rest ignore politics.
D)that everyone knows less about politics.
E)None of these options are true.

Question 56

Horse-race journalism concerns the critics because they feel such coverage

A)cannot adequately predict who will win or lose a race.
B)ignores the importance of issues.
C)places too much emphasis on personalities and public personas.
D)relies almost entirely on second- and third- hand reporting.
E)rarely has an impact on the flow of campaign contributions.

Question 57

According to the text,why is the public less trusting of the media today than in 1970?

A)The public thinks the press does not focus enough on campaigns.
B)The public worries about media consolidation.
C)The public finds the media too bland and neutral.
D)The public's distrust of politicians turns them against politician's endorsement of the media.
E)None of these choices is true.

Question 58

Local newspaper reporting on local politics is in decline because

A)circulation and advertising revenue are down.
B)no one reads newspapers anymore.
C)national news outlets have replaced local reporting.
D)there are too many reporters covering state and local politics to run them in the local papers.
E)local news is not important.

Question 59

The assumption that the media talking about something is a cue that the topic is important is an example of

A)priming.
B)framing.
C)agenda setting.
D)media bias.
E)watchdog journalism.

Question 60

In ,the Court ruled that public officials may not win a libel suit unless they can prove that the statement was made knowing it to be false or with reckless disregard of its truth.

A)Near v.Minnesota
B)New York Times v.Sullivan
C)Miami Herald v.Tornillo
D)McCulloch v.Maryland
E)New York Times v.United States

Question 61

When it comes to politics,Old Media is not being threatened by New Media.

Question 62

There has been a decline in the numbers of daily newspapers that serve large communities.

Question 63

In 2004,"60 Minutes," ran a story that President Bush had performed poorly during his time in the Air National
Guard based on documents that were shown by bloggers to be forgeries.

Question 64

The text suggests that the abandonment of the fairness doctrine gave rise to controversial talk-radio hosts.

Question 65

Young people are the only demographic group consistently reading newspapers at substantial levels.

Question 66

Horse-race journalism places excessive emphasis on the issues and positions that candidates take.

Question 67

Vastly more people watch American Idol than read newspaper editorials.

Question 68

When it comes to news,the Internet is dominated by a few sites and should not be considered a free market of news coverage.

Question 69

Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post played a key role in the downfall of the administration of Richard Nixon.

Question 70

Research has found that very few Americans actually got their political news from the Internet during the 2010 midterm elections.

Question 71

The government cannot employ prior restraint or censorship)on the press in any circumstance.

Question 72

Early in American history,almost everything that was printed was an expression of opinion.

Question 73

Writers for the national press tend to be more conservative than the American people as a whole.

Question 74

In the early years of the republic,newspapers were commonly sponsored by the political parties.

Question 75

Most Americans get their news exclusively from partisan presses that reinforce their existing views.

Question 76

The average news sound bite for a presidential contender drooped from 42 seconds in 1968 to 8 seconds in 2000.

Question 77

The effect of the appearance of the Associated Press in 1848 was to increase further the partisan and biased nature of reporting.

Question 78

The presidential press secretary is a relatively new White House position,dating from the Hoover administration.

Question 79

In recent years,public trust in the news media has increased.

Question 80

The Internet has allowed for stratification in American political knowledge,where some people know a lot more,and many people know a lot less about politics.