Deck 7: The Mass Media and the Political Agenda

Question 1

According to journalist Mark Hertsgaard,which of the following is one of the seven principles on which news management in the Reagan White House operated?

A) Express the message once and only once.
B) Be spontaneous.
C) Stay on the offensive.
D) Expand reporters' access to the president.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

People who invest their political capital in an issue are called __________.

A) agenda setters
B) policy entrepreneurs
C) lobbyists
D) gatekeepers

Answer 2

B

Question 3

What is an event called that is purposely staged for the media and that is significant just because the media are there?

A) a think tank
B) a pork-barrel project
C) a media event
D) a round-robin event

Answer 3

C

Question 4

In 1934,Congress created which body to regulate the use of the airwaves?

A) Federal Trade Commission
B) Equal Opportunity Commission
C) Federal Communications Commission
D) Department of Media Communications

Question 5

Who declared,"The president of the United States will not stand and be questioned like a chicken thief by men whose names he does not even know"?

A) Herbert Hoover
B) John F. Kennedy
C) Richard Nixon
D) Ronald Reagan

Question 6

How does the increasing focus of media conglomerates on making a profit affect television news?

A) The quality of news reporting has increased considerably in an attempt to sway more viewers and more advertisers.
B) A study of a set of major newspapers found that the total number of foreign news stories in U.S. newspapers doubled between 1985 and 2014.
C) Media organizations have cut back on their foreign bureaus and on international news.
D) Television news is increasingly viewed as a public service that benefits the media conglomerate by generating goodwill with viewers.

Question 7

An intentional news leak for the purpose of assessing the political reaction it generates is called a(n)__________.

A) talking head
B) press release
C) earmark
D) trial balloon

Question 8

The average length of time that a presidential candidate was given to talk uninterrupted on the TV news in 1968 was __________; in 2008,it was __________.

A) 5 seconds; 25 seconds
B) 43 seconds; 9 seconds
C) 5 minutes; 5 seconds
D) 8 minutes; 20 seconds

Question 9

Increasing public attention to specific problems is a core feature of the media's __________ power.

A) watchdog
B) investigative
C) agenda-setting
D) score-keeping

Question 10

What are the specific locations from which news frequently emanates called?

A) trial balloons
B) news houses
C) reporters' clubs
D) beats

Question 11

The primary interest of privately owned media is __________.

A) making a profit
B) serving the public interest
C) spreading propaganda
D) informing the public

Question 12

Research suggests that the overriding bias in the news is one toward stories that __________.

A) favor liberals
B) favor conservatives
C) draw the largest audience
D) put the president in a good light

Question 13

Television,radio,newspapers,magazines,the Internet,and other forms of communication are collectively referred to as the __________.

A) mass media
B) media conglomeration
C) partisan press
D) fifth estate

Question 14

Differences in press coverage between the initial speeches given to Congress by President Reagan and by President Obama show __________.

A) a diminishing audience for national news and presidential messages
B) that presidential addresses receive higher Nielson ratings today than they did several decades ago
C) more Americans read presidential addresses in newspapers, while fewer view coverage on TV
D) that more than 50 percent of Americans can be expected to tune in to watch presidential addresses to Congress

Question 15

Which of the following is a consequence of the rise of television broadcasting?

A) Candidates are more capable of running for office on their own by appealing to people directly through TV.
B) Individuals have a greater need for political parties to help them make decisions.
C) Groups have greater access to spread their issues and messages to the public.
D) The American public is better informed about politics and Congress is basing its opinions more on public opinion.

Question 16

In 1960,one newspaper was sold for every two adults; by 2008,one paper was sold for every __________.

A) adult
B) three adults
C) five adults
D) 50 adults

Question 17

The issues that attract serious attention from public officials and other people actively involved in politics at the time are collectively referred to as __________ agenda.

A) news
B) policy
C) media
D) entrepreneurial

Question 18

In democracies,the primary interest of publicly owned media is __________.

A) reducing recidivism
B) serving the public interest
C) promoting the government
D) entertaining viewers

Question 19

Over 80 percent of the nation's daily newspaper circulation is published by massive media conglomerates called __________.

A) narrowcasters
B) chains
C) broadcasters
D) associated press outlets

Question 20

The cozy relationship between politicians and the press in the twentieth century lasted until when?

A) the Iran Hostage Crisis
B) World War II
C) the beginning of Franklin Roosevelt's presidency
D) the Vietnam War and Watergate

Question 21

The use of in-depth reporting to unearth scandals,scams,and schemes,at times putting reporters in adversarial relationships with political leaders,is referred to as __________ journalism.

A) beat
B) gatekeeping
C) investigative
D) law-and-order

Question 22

Which of these is an example of a major television network?

A) ABC
B) Knight-Ridder
C) Associated Press
D) Gannett

Question 23

Public officials often leak __________ to reporters to see what the political reaction will be.

A) trial balloons
B) sound bites
C) beats
D) oiled news

Question 24

Investigative journalism may contribute to __________.

A) public cynicism and negativity about politics
B) corporate ownership of the media
C) an increase in long-term media consumption rates
D) a legal environment that favors plaintiffs over defendants

Question 25

Research by Miller and Krosnick demonstrates that the effects of agenda-setting are particularly strong among which group?

A) politically knowledgeable citizens who trust the media
B) politically knowledgeable citizens who distrust the media
C) younger citizens who trust the media
D) older citizens who distrust the media

Question 26

Top aides to President Clinton leaked his admission of an "inappropriate relationship" to the New York Times in order to gauge the public response to the revelation.Based on the public's response to this __________,Clinton went ahead and admitted the "inappropriate relationship" to the grand jury.

A) beat
B) trial balloon
C) talking head
D) sound bite

Question 27

As technology has enabled the media to pass along information with greater speed,news coverage has become __________.

A) more homogenous
B) less thorough
C) more objective
D) less biased

Question 28

Thomas Patterson's careful analysis of campaign reporting has shown that since 1960,its emphasis has changed dramatically from __________.

A) negative information about the candidates to negative assessments about the parties
B) the candidates' policy statements to the campaign as a horse race
C) covering events to covering ideas
D) sensational information about the candidates to substantive information about the issues

Question 29

Television,radio,and the Internet are __________ media; newspapers and magazines are __________ media.

A) electronic; print
B) public; private
C) private; public
D) liberal; conservative

Question 30

The "minimal effects hypothesis" suggested that the media have a minimal effect on __________.

A) public opinion
B) policymakers' issue positions
C) Americans' consumption of newspapers
D) Americans who do not watch TV

Question 31

Politicians and journalists have a(n)__________ relationship: Politicians rely on journalists to get out their message,and journalists rely on politicians to keep them in the know.

A) parasitic
B) symbiotic
C) cooperative
D) adversarial

Question 32

An example of a newsweekly is __________.

A) Time
B) the New York Times
C) the Washington Post
D) the Daily News

Question 33

Policy entrepreneurs are people who invest __________ in an issue.

A) their life savings
B) financial expertise
C) political capital
D) scant attention

Question 34

During a 1976 presidential debate,President Ford made a mistake by saying that the Soviet Union was not the dominant force in Eastern Europe.The statement was given much press coverage,and polls indicated that most viewers did not recognize the error until they learned of it on the news.What effect did this reporting have on public opinion?

A) It made Ford more personally likable.
B) It made Ford seem less vulnerable.
C) It made Ford seem more qualified.
D) It made Ford seem less qualified.

Question 35

Epstein's News From Nowhere suggests which of the following about newsworthiness?

A) TV networks define news as what is entertaining to average viewers.
B) The media strive for quality of story rather than ratings.
C) The media tend to report only the most important stories.
D) The media tend to pitch stories to a relatively high level of viewer sophistication.

Question 36

Which of these would a major TV network be least likely to show for very long?

A) ambassadors fighting at the United Nations
B) talking heads discussing a major news event
C) the aftermath of a major natural disaster
D) footage of a domestic terrorist attack

Question 37

Iyengar and Kinder's research found that TV news __________.

A) can alter the priorities Americans attach to problems depending on which stories are covered
B) has minimal effects on the public opinion of viewers
C) discourages citizens from voting by focusing on the imperfections of the democratic system
D) selects stories that are especially important to business interests

Question 38

In covering military conflicts,the majority of TV news stories usually originate from correspondents posted at __________ including the White House,the Pentagon,and the State Department.

A) associated presses
B) networks
C) trial balloons
D) beats

Question 39

The media act as a __________ between the people and policymakers.

A) key linkage institution
B) stockbroker
C) real estate agent
D) standard operating procedure

Question 40

Which of the following is a consequence of the rise of narrowcasting?

A) Young adults are more likely than other age groups to use newspapers and broadcast media as news and information sources.
B) Young adults are less likely than other age groups to use newspapers and broadcast media as news and information sources.
C) Most Americans follow politics more frequently and with greater intensity than they follow popular culture.
D) Narrowcasting has encouraged less repetition of stories on cable news programs.

Question 41

Policy entrepreneurs are political activists who employ media strategies to get their ideas placed high on the governmental agenda.

Question 42

A majority of Americans believe that press criticism of political leaders is worthwhile because it keeps leaders from doing things that should not be done.

Question 43

The First Amendment guarantees American journalists the freedom to criticize government leaders and policies.

Question 44

The media's emphasis on the slowly improving American economic situation in 2012 rather than the record number of long-term unemployed Americans is an example of __________.

A) investigative journalism
B) agenda setting
C) policy entrepreneurship
D) narrowcasting

Question 45

Civil rights activists in the 1960s used the media to show Americans the injustice of the treatment of minorities,successfully placing the civil rights issue onto the __________.

A) policy entrepreneur
B) policy agenda
C) press conference
D) news beat

Question 46

After the 2004 Iowa caucuses,the press repeatedly showed an unusually awkward clip of Howard Dean screaming rather than any substantive portions of the event.What does this illustrate?

A) a sound bite
B) the newsworthiness of odd events
C) a trial balloon
D) a beat

Question 47

A media event is staged for the purpose of being covered by the media.

Question 48

The increased number of news and infotainment options has resulted in __________ in which media outlets focus on a particular interest and aim at a particular audience.

A) infotainment
B) watchdog journalism
C) narrowcasting
D) selective exposure

Question 49

Up until the early 1960s,the relationship between politicians and the press was relatively cozy and many reporters accepted most of what government officials told them.

Question 50

Research suggests that most reporting is systematically biased in a liberal direction.

Question 51

Some viewers gain political information by watching comedy television shows.

Question 52

Many political scientists believe that investigative journalism contributes to public cynicism and negativity about politics.

Question 53

A majority of presidential campaign spending is devoted to TV ads.

Question 54

In focusing public attention on particular events,the media influence the criteria by which the public evaluates political leaders.

Question 55

In high-tech politics,the behavior of citizens and policymakers and the political agenda are increasingly shaped by technology.

Question 56

The issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and others involved in politics are collectively known as the policy agenda.

Question 57

Trial balloons are used for which of the following?

A) avoiding a political reaction
B) assessing a political reaction
C) exposing media bias
D) limiting media bias

Question 58

__________ is the tendency for viewers to seek news that aligns with their existing ideas.

A) Narrowcasting
B) Investigative journalism
C) Selective exposure
D) Logrolling

Question 59

What do network executives blame for the superficiality in media reporting?

A) cable news
B) social media
C) the Internet
D) the public

Question 60

Television has enabled voters to rely more on political parties and social groups to make their decisions about candidates and less on their own assessments.

Question 61

The __________ is the set of issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other people actively involved in politics at the time.

Question 62

__________ is the process through which people consciously choose to get the news from information sources that have viewpoints compatible with their own.

Question 63

News coverage of campaigns has become more negative since the 1960s.

Question 64

The United States is in an era of high-tech politics.

Question 65

Chains are groups of newspapers published by __________ and account for over 80 percent of the nation's daily newspaper circulation.

Question 66

Media events are those everyday campaign events that would be organized whether or not the press is likely to show up.

Question 67

If a reporter is assigned to cover news from the Pentagon,it is considered the reporter's __________.

Question 68

A dog-bites-man story is more likely to be newsworthy than is a man-bites-dog story.

Question 69

Newspaper circulation rates in the United States have been steadily declining.

Question 70

Republicans are more likely to get their news from Fox News than from CNN or MSNBC.

Question 71

The proposed __________ would offer newspapers the option of operating as nonprofit organizations for educational purposes.

Question 72

What are media events,and how are they used?

Question 73

What are sound bites? How does their use influence the nature of the news?

Question 74

Press conferences are meetings of __________ with reporters.

Question 75

While there is little evidence that the media directly affect how citizens vote,there is considerable evidence that the media shape what citizens think about.

Question 76

Americans today hear __________ of about 10 seconds or less of important political speeches on television news.

Question 77

__________ are intentional news leaks for the purpose of assessing the political reaction.

Question 78

Explain how the media determine what is newsworthy.Do you think these criteria should be changed?

Question 79

Reporters believe that exposing officeholders is an essential task of the media.

Question 80

The __________ Amendment guarantees freedom of the press.