Deck 10: The News Media: Communicating Political Images

Question 1

Which of the following broadcast news sources has seen its audience grow?

A)ABC
B)CBS
C)NBC
D)NPR
E)None of these answers is correct.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Objective journalism is based on the idea that the reporter's job is to

A)report the facts and cover alternative sides of a partisan debate.
B)report what political leaders want them to report.
C)discover what other reporters are saying and provide a uniform interpretation of events.
D)scrutinize the partisan debate,and inform the news audience about which party has the better argument.
E)All these answers are correct.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

In terms of news consumption,since the 1980s young adults

A)have been more informed than older ones.
B)have been less informed than older ones.
C)have experienced a rise in news consumption because of the Internet.
D)have experienced a rise in news consumption because of cable news channels.
E)have remained on par with older adults in terms of news consumption.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The yellow journalism of the late nineteenth century was characterized by

A)the use of the telegraph.
B)the emphasis on sensationalism as a way of selling newspapers.
C)prejudice against Asian people and countries.
D)an unwillingness to take editorial positions because of a fear of losing circulation.
E)the desire to present the news in an objective manner.

Question 5

In contrast with European news media,American news media are more likely to

A)guide readers by providing ideological interpretations of current events.
B)play a partisan role by taking sides in political debate.
C)act primarily as neutral transmitters of information.
D)use yellow journalism.
E)None of these answers is correct.

Question 6

The media perform the signaling role by

A)informing the public of breaking events and new developments.
B)serving as an open channel for leaders to express their opinions.
C)exposing officials who violate accepted performance and moral standards.
D)acting as the public's representative.
E)All these answers are correct.

Question 7

Most successful Internet blogs

A)have a conservative bias.
B)have bolstered the strength of traditional newspapers by drawing on their stories as sources for material they post online.
C)have achieved the same kind of reporting access to government leadership that the major news outlets have traditionally had.
D)are beginning to mimic the impartiality and objective journalistic standards of the major media outlets.
E)have a liberal bias.

Question 8

What development brought about a dramatic reduction in television's capacity to generate an interest in news?

A)an increase in newspaper circulation
B)the loss of objective journalistic standards
C)the rapid spread of cable
D)the rise of Internet news consumption
E)a drop in education levels in the United States

Question 9

The term "framing" is used to describe the

A)media's ability to influence what is on people's minds.
B)process of selecting certain aspects of reality and making them the most salient part of the communication,thereby conveying a particular interpretation of a situation.
C)media's obligation to convey a uniform and standard interpretation of a situation.
D)nature of media reporting when objectivity has weakened and the system has tilted in favor of yellow journalism.
E)primary right of the media that is protected by the First Amendment.

Question 10

One of the reasons the reporting of national news is relatively uniform among news sources is that

A)the government dictates much of what is reported.
B)there are only a few important events each day that merit news coverage.
C)the network newscasts are brief and the day's top stories tend to dominate.
D)reporters are not given much freedom by their editors.
E)modern journalists have become fairly lazy and use mostly wire reports to create news copy for the network newscasts.

Question 11

In comparison with today's newspapers,early American newspapers

A)were written by hand.
B)were so inexpensive that nearly everyone read a daily paper.
C)could not have survived without political party support.
D)were more widely read.
E)All these answers are correct.

Question 12

What technology led editors to substitute news reports for opinion commentary?

A)radio
B)telegraph
C)broadcast TV
D)cable TV
E)power-driven printing press

Question 13

The federal government's licensing of broadcasting is based primarily on

A)the fact that broadcasting is a national medium.
B)the scarcity of broadcasting frequencies.
C)the fact that broadcasting was invented after the First Amendment was adopted.
D)the desire of national officials to control the content of broadcast news and entertainment.
E)a desire to censor reporters so that they will stop criticizing governmental officials.

Question 14

At which of the following times did the American media step back from their watchdog role?

A)after the Korean War
B)during the Vietnam War
C)after the September 11^th terrorist attacks
D)at the height of the Iraq War
E)during Obama's proposed elevation of the Afghanistan War

Question 15

How has the Internet affected the watchdog role of the media?

A)It has diluted the watchdog capacity with an overflow of opinions.
B)It has expanded the watchdog capacity of the media.
C)It has tainted the watchdog role with a partisan bent.
D)It has almost completely usurped the watchdog role from the traditional media outlets.
E)It has had little to no effect because it lacks the objective standards of traditional media outlets.

Question 16

The news provides a refracted version of reality because it

A)emphasizes dramatic and compelling news stories.
B)is biased in favor of a Republican viewpoint.
C)is biased in favor of a Democratic viewpoint.
D)is biased in favor of a liberal perspective.
E)is biased in favor of a conservative perspective.

Question 17

The news media's common-carrier role is based on the idea that

A)the news will be available to all citizens.
B)various news organizations should interpret the news in nearly the same way.
C)the press should not charge for public service announcements.
D)the press should provide a channel through which political leaders can communicate their views to the public.
E)the press should be patriotic in the reporting of the news.

Question 18

The FCC restriction requiring broadcasters to "afford reasonable opportunity for the discussion of conflicting views of public importance" was known as the

A)"Equal Time" rule.
B)objective-reporting model.
C)signaling function.
D)common-carrier function.
E)Fairness Doctrine.

Question 19

Which of the following is true of age differences in news consumption?

A)Younger adults are more than twice as likely as older adults to use the web for news consumption.
B)The disparity in age for news consumption is greater with television than with newspapers.
C)Older adults are more likely than younger adults to access the web.
D)Age differences in news consumption shrink for Internet-based news but do not disappear.
E)About 60 percent of young adults pay little or no attention on a regular basis to any news source.

Question 20

The FCC's equal time requirement

A)includes the print media.
B)prohibits broadcasters from selling or giving time to political candidates and denying it to their opponents.
C)requires broadcasters to give equal time to the two major political parties.
D)requires broadcasters to give equal time to news programming and to commercial advertising.
E)requires broadcasters to give equal time to third parties as well as the Democrats and Republicans.

Question 21

Yellow journalism contributed to public support for the

A)Spanish-American War.
B)Civil War.
C)War of 1812.
D)Mexican War of 1848.
E)American Revolution.

Question 22

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC)has regulatory oversight over which of the following?

A)radio
B)cable TV
C)Internet content
D)newspapers
E)All these answers are correct.

Question 23

Which of the following statements has been shown by scholarly research to be true?

A)Network journalists have a very substantial liberal bias.
B)Network journalists have a very substantial conservative bias.
C)Network journalists have a clear Republican bias.
D)Network journalists have a clear Democratic bias.
E)Network journalists tend to be negative.

Question 24

In the 1960s,presidential candidates

A)received more negative coverage than they do today.
B)were largely ignored by the media.
C)were hounded by the media incessantly.
D)had longer sound bites,on average,in broadcast television newscasts.
E)None of these answers is correct.

Question 25

________ once said,"You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war".

A)Joseph Pulitzer
B)Theodore Roosevelt
C)William Randolph Hearst
D)Woodrow Wilson
E)William McKinley

Question 26

Agenda-setting is an action that falls under which of the major roles played by the press?

A)common-carrier
B)signaling
C)watchdog
D)partisan advocate
E)news interpreter

Question 27

One special contribution of Internet-based news is that it

A)provides the ordinary citizen with an opportunity to be part of the news system.
B)provides much faster reporting.
C)offers more unbiased reporting.
D)prevents rampant editorializing.
E)is more accessible by a larger audience than television or radio news reporting.

Question 28

The Watergate scandal illustrates the

A)futility of media attempts to forecast political events.
B)inadequacy of the media as a common-carrier to the public.
C)power of the media to serve as watchdog to safeguard against abuses of power.
D)ability of the press to serve as the public's representative in political disputes.
E)abuse of power by journalists in the United States.

Question 29

The Gazette of the United States was founded to promote the policies of President

A)Warren Harding.
B)Grover Cleveland.
C)William Henry Harrison.
D)James Madison.
E)George Washington.

Question 30

On-the-scene coverage of a natural disaster is an example of the press's role of

A)watchdog.
B)signaler.
C)partisan advocate.
D)common-carrier.
E)interpreter.

Question 31

The circulation battle of which two newspapers may have contributed to the outbreak of the Spanish-American War?

A)Chicago Tribune and Boston Herald
B)Los Angeles Times and New York Times
C)New York Journal and New York World
D)Gazette of the United States and National Gazette
E)San Francisco Examiner and New York Journal

Question 32

During what decade did the American network news audience change from a growing to a shrinking one?

A)the 1960s
B)the 1980s
C)the 1990s
D)the 1970s
E)The audience has not yet begun to shrink.

Question 33

Which institution receives the most news coverage from the national press?

A)the presidency
B)U.S.House of Representatives
C)U.S.Senate
D)U.S.Supreme Court
E)the federal bureaucracy

Question 34

On both radio and television,most successful partisan talk shows

A)have been hosted by liberals.
B)have been hosted by nonpartisan journalists.
C)have been hosted by conservatives.
D)have been hosted by teams of journalists holding multiple partisan viewpoints.
E)have had no discernible political bias.

Question 35

The reason the news product is designed to fascinate as well as to inform is because

A)news organizations are fundamentally businesses and must obtain revenue to survive.
B)of the high level of illiteracy.
C)the print media wish to emulate the broadcast media.
D)of the need to compete with Hollywood productions.
E)All these answers are correct.

Question 36

The traditional media have "softened" their news by

A)infusing it with more partisan talk shows.
B)infusing it with more stories about celebrities,crime,and the like.
C)infusing it with more coverage of international affairs.
D)focusing on editorials instead of nonpartisan facts.
E)None of these answers is correct.

Question 37

Which of the following is one of the two major advantages of journalists in covering the political game and strategic aspects of news instead of the policy frame?

A)Government leaders are more interested in portraying their political views than their policy accomplishments.
B)Government leaders give journalists less access to the policy sphere.
C)The reporting of policy positions is too simplified.
D)The political game is a constant source of fresh material.
E)The reporting of policy is less readily adaptable to editorial pages.

Question 38

CNN and MSNBC have responded to Fox's ratings success by

A)reducing the number of talk shows in their line-up.
B)increasing the number of talk shows hosted by liberals.
C)attempting to lure audiences by focusing on their unbiased news reporting.
D)installing talk-show hosts with nonpartisan appeal.
E)installing talk-show hosts with partisan or hard-edged appeals.

Question 39

The U.S.news system now has more outlets,including newspapers,television stations,talk shows,and bloggers,

A)and this has helped the public become more informed than ever.
B)yet it is easier than ever to consume media and avoid the news.
C)which have lowered the watchdog function of media by increasing partisanship.
D)which allow the free flow of ideas that entertain as well as inform.
E)which has led to this period in history being known as the "times that try men's souls".

Question 40

Which of the following statements is true?

A)Objective journalism is based on communication of facts and fairness.
B)Yellow journalism attempts to describe what is taking place or has occurred.
C)The New York Post is the bulletin board of major newspapers.
D)Objective journalism is based on communication of facts and fairness,while yellow journalism attempts to describe what is taking place or has occurred.
E)None of these answers is correct.

Question 41

Among the following,the news media are usually guided by events that

A)are timely.
B)affect small numbers of people.
C)occur in other countries.
D)happen to ordinary citizens.
E)are complicated to report.

Question 42

What steps did the government have to take to regulate broadcast media,and why were those steps necessary?

Question 43

The "long tail" is a phenomenon related to the

A)partisan flavor of talk shows.
B)degree of editorializing by broadcast news.
C)rate of Internet news readership.
D)increase in the age gap of news readership
E)partisan nature of Internet news.

Question 44

Identify the factors that account for the relative uniformity in news reporting among major American news institutions.

Question 45

Identify the term partisan press.Why was it superseded by the objective press?

Question 46

Explain the four functions of the modern media.

Question 47

During the era of objective journalism,the commitment of newspapers to two-sided news reporting

A)did not extend to their editorializing.
B)was enshrined in the editorial section.
C)was uniform throughout the sections of a newspaper.
D)deteriorated democracy in the United States.
E)All these answers are correct.

Question 48

Historically,the American press has shifted from

A)a political to a journalistic orientation.
B)objectivity to subjectivity.
C)a journalistic to a political orientation.
D)partisan to very partisan.
E)negative to positive.

Question 49

Which of the following does NPR serve as an example of?

A)the beneficial role of the "equal time" provision of the Communications Act
B)the economic dominance of partisan network media
C)the one true success story of public broadcasting
D)the increasing role that entertainment stories are playing in traditional news reporting
E)the rising power of Internet blogging and independent reporting

Question 50

How do the motivations of the press differ and often lead to a greater coverage of crime stories than the political process or world events?