Deck 5: Media Organizations and Professionals

Question 1

Rationalizing the news-gathering process means that news outlets ______.

A) need to anticipate where news will happen
B) cover only stories about the economy
C) pay all their journalists the same salary
D) eliminate all editorials and opinion pieces

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The sociology of news work explains that the definition of "news" is shaped by the ______.

A) important events of the day
B) interests of the owners of news outlets
C) pronouncements of politicians
D) ways that reporters organize their work

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Practices or techniques that are widely used by media professionals are referred to as ______.

A) conventions
B) skills
C) a creative vision
D) work rules

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The process by which we learn the basic ground rules of a particular social role is known as ______.

A) role-playing
B) socialization
C) observation
D) professionalization

Question 5

The "Q" score system used in media marketing and production refers to the ______.

A) indicator of the familiarity and appeal of Hollywood actors
B) total cost of potential media production
C) rating by the television viewers
D) dividend that will be paid to producers and actors after production

Question 6

Objectivity emerged as a norm in American journalism in the ______.

A) early 1800s
B) years following the U.S. Civil War
C) years following World War I
D) 1960s

Question 7

Which of the following is not an example of User-Generated Contents (UGC)?

A) citizen journalism
B) letters to the editor section in newspapers
C) Wikinews
D) editorial section in newspapers

Question 8

All of the following help booksellers select the titles to stock in their bookstores, except ______.

A) publisher's catalogue descriptions
B) past sales of the author's previous books
C) the popularity of the book's genre
D) the author's formal request

Question 9

In publishing houses, acquisitions editors are responsible for ______.

A) soliciting and evaluating book manuscripts
B) working with bookstores to distribute books
C) inducing prominent publications to review their books
D) preparing the index for a book

Question 10

Which of the following is not a reason to use "stars" in media production?

A) Stars increase the chance of hits.
B) Stars are used to combat the uncertainty.
C) Stars nowadays are inexpensive to hire.
D) Stars increase the visibility of media products.

Question 11

______ refers to the establishments where journalists visit regularly expecting news.

A) Beat
B) Round
C) Agency
D) Newswire

Question 12

When we say that objectivity is a "method," we mean that it is a ______.

A) set of practices to which journalists adhere
B) commitment to facts
C) state of mind
D) search for the truth

Question 13

Which of the following is not the reason that mainstream news among major news outlets is similar to each other?

A) News outlets constantly monitor and imitate others.
B) Reporters from different news outlets share the same news beats and sources.
C) News outlets depend heavily on official government sources.
D) News outlets often share reporters.

Question 14

When we talk about the "organizational premises" that shape the work of book editors, we are referring to ______.

A) the location of editorial offices
B) the informal definition of appropriate books to publish
C) relationships between editors and authors
D) the editorial hierarchy at a publishing house

Question 15

At newspapers, who selects which photographs will appear in the paper?

A) the photo editor
B) the reporter
C) the photographer
D) the advertiser

Question 16

Journalists' schedule for visiting locations and talking to sources is called ______.

A) role
B) socialization
C) round
D) check-up

Question 17

The "news net" refers to the ______.

A) use of computers in the newsroom
B) standard practice news organizations use to gather news
C) editor-in-chief of a newspaper
D) lead story on the network news

Question 18

Trolling, spamming, morphing, and lurking are terms used in ______.

A) cyberspace
B) publishing houses
C) newsrooms
D) photography

Question 19

Which of the following is considered a chief norm of news photographer?

A) unobtrusiveness
B) technical mastery
C) aesthetics
D) obedience

Question 20

Which of the following explanations about news "objectivity" is not true?

A) Objectivity is socially constructed.
B) Objectivity emerged as a scientific solution to the crisis of journalism.
C) Objectivity is always achieved in every news report.
D) Objectivity is a routine practice.

Question 21

The most common strategy mainstream commercial media companies use to increase the odds of success is ______.

A) to put a lot of money into the efforts of making the media product
B) use someone who is famous
C) there is no one formula for success in the media industry
D) to imitate products that have already been successful

Question 22

Journalistic objectivity is socially constructed.

Question 23

In media sociology, these are known as the bundles of expectations that are associated with different social positions ______.

A) routines
B) norms
C) cultures
D) roles

Question 24

The pattern commercial success of New Edition and New Kids on the Block in the 1980s; the Backstreet Boys, Boyz II Men, and 'N Sync in the 1990s; and then One Direction in the 2000s is an example of what?

A) the organization of media work and it's many conventions
B) instant Internet success
C) using stars to combat uncertainty
D) media companies imitating products that have already been successful

Question 25

Media producers seek "stars" for their productions because stars ______.

A) always make profitable productions
B) reduce the perception of risk
C) always produce high-quality products
D) are often close friends with producers

Question 26

The FCC historically has been reluctant to be a firm enforcer, in large part because of the complexities of its relationship to the U.S. Congress and to the media industries it is supposed to regulate. This has enabled many forms of media industries to do what political constraint response?

A) compliance
B) ignore
C) preemption
D) interpretation

Question 27

______ help clarify the relationship between society and individuals, and the relationship between the forces of structure and agency.

A) Editorial decision-making
B) Socialization
C) Journalism
D) Roles

Question 28

The 1990 Children's Television Act required stations to include educational television in their Saturday morning lineups but lacked a definition of what "educational" programming is by law. As a result, broadcasters were willing to define almost anything as educational, including old cartoons such as The Flintstones and The Jetsons. What type of political constraint response is this?

A) preemption
B) interpretation
C) challenge
D) compliance

Question 29

For the past 2 years, a majority of the scripts Kayley has written have been considered to be commercially undesirable, leading to poor advertisement sales. Their future as a television writer may be in jeopardy. What type of constraint is this?

A) emotional constraint
B) political constraint
C) economic constraint
D) all of these

Question 30

Which of the following is not a strategy by media firms to deal with uncertainties in media production?

A) using stars
B) copying past hits
C) producing sequels
D) discovering local talents

Question 31

The creation and promotion of media products comes with two problems ______.

A) it is expensive and time-consuming
B) it is time-consuming and audience preference greatly differs
C) it is expensive and audience preference greatly differs
D) it is time-consuming and sponsors are hard to come by

Question 32

The "Q" score in media marketing quantifies stars' appeal to the public.

Question 33

The voluntary adoption of age-appropriate content ratings and warning labels for motion picture, television, music, and video gaming industry products to stave off more direct government regulation. What political constraint response is this?

A) challenge
B) ignore
C) preemption
D) compliance

Question 34

New members of Internet "newsgroups" can learn the norms of the group from all of the following except ______.

A) a file of "frequently asked questions" (FAQs)
B) electronic "how-to" manuals for new members
C) electronic criticisms from other group members
D) face-to-face groups

Question 35

A(n) ______ is a practice or technique that is widely used in a field.

A) convention
B) routine
C) consequence
D) objectivity

Question 36

Media organizations adopting legal strategies to question the constitutionality of specific regulations or lobbying potentially supportive politicians that are for favorable media regulations and threatening opponents that are against those favorable regulations are examples of what political constraint response?

A) challenge
B) interpretation
C) preemption
D) compliance

Question 37

Students are expected to show up to class on time and show interest; however, a student lays down on to the floor to fall asleep in the middle of class. This is not only a violation of role norms of being a student but also ______.

A) is incredibly rude
B) reaffirms what we should and should not be doing in our role relationships
C) are the basic ground rules of a role called socialization
D) highlights the significance of external social controls

Question 38

"Conventions" in media organizations are arbitrary.

Question 39

We rarely think about the specific content of roles because ______.

A) we have largely internalized them
B) we often breach the roles we create for ourselves and others
C) we don't become aware of roles when we create new ones
D) all of these

Question 40

What is the easiest strategy for media organizations to avoid conflict with regulators, thereby enabling them to shape the actions of media organizations?

A) compliance
B) preemption
C) interpretation
D) ignore

Question 41

Studies have shown that reviewers that have found books, songs, art, and so on to be good right after the release date have gone on to become increasingly popular on every sight it was posted on and rated to be good early on.

Question 42

Media sociologists often say that the journalistic norm of "objectivity" is a set of socially constructed "routine practices." What does "objectivity" mean? Explain.

Question 43

In scholarly publishing, choices about new books are NOT shaped by the types of books that a publisher has previously published.

Question 44

"Beats" are places where TV starts frequent.

Question 45

Flip the channels during the evening news and you will find the networks covering many of the same stories, often in a very similar way. Pick up a couple of daily newspapers, and you will probably notice many of the same stories prominently featured. Why is news from different outlets so much alike? Explain.

Question 46

What is objectivity and where did the term originate?

Question 47

Why are "stars" so sought after by media producers? What do these stars bring to a media production?

Question 48

"Structure" in media sociology refers to media professionals and their will.

Question 49

What is the concept of a role? What do roles help clarify?

Question 50

Book editors prefer unsolicited manuscripts to minimize selection bias.

Question 51

The faith in facts held by American journalists was thrown into doubt in the 1920s. Why did this happen?

Question 52

What are "conventions" in media organizations? Why do you think conventions are used in media organizations?