Deck 14: Media

Question 1

By 1935, William Randolph Hearst could boast that nearly _____ Americans read one of his papers.

A) one in two
B) one in three
C) one in four
D) one in five

Answer 1

C

Question 2

What allowed the penny press to thrive in the 19th century?

A) Constant and aggressive coverage of politics was the most attractive strategy.
B) Maintaining low prices to ensure that newspapers were widely available.
C) Expanding the news to include human interest stories and coverage of crime, business, and social events.
D) Embracing long-form stories for the Sunday editions combined with extensive advertising of new products.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

In today's political climate, media outlets are reminding Americans that they are aligned with which of the following?

A) truth
B) facts
C) helping voters hold elected leaders accountable
D) all of these

Answer 3

D

Question 4

News outlets ______.

A) can publish anything without fear of criminal or civil penalties because of freedom of the press
B) have unfettered access to the U.S. military, even during times of war
C) are the organizations that gather, package, and transmit the news
D) operate, because of freedom of the press, without the federal government imposing taxes on the sale of newspapers or on the revenue generated through television or online advertising

Question 5

What played an important role contributing to the growth of television?

A) the fact that televisions were cheap and provided constant entertainment
B) the use of satellite technology that enabled Americans to see programs from all across the globe
C) the rapid development of a broadcast infrastructure
D) the easy availability of live sporting events

Question 6

The two technological innovations of the adaptation of steam power to printing and the development of faster and more reliable cylinder presses meant that publishers could sell their papers more cheaply ______.

A) so publishers could increase their reading audience, and thus break away from party sponsorship
B) and publishers could become more closely aligned with the political parties
C) although they actually raised their prices to pay for the new technologies
D) and publishers could aggressively pursue overseas markets, especially in Europe and South America

Question 7

Organizations that base the majority of their content on the work of trained reporters are referred to as ______.

A) legacy outlets
B) contemporary outlets
C) social media platforms
D) digital media platforms

Question 8

The rivalry between Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst led to ______.

A) the establishment of the annual competition for the America's Cup
B) innovations in publishing that created the modern mass circulation newspaper
C) parties co-opting newspaper publishers all across the country
D) the first movie studio and theater chain owned by a newspaper chain

Question 9

Who were the real principals of newspaper publishers?

A) their readers who demanded exacting coverage of government and politics
B) their reporters who would provide content in exchange for protection against legal action
C) their advertisers who paid the bills through classified ads and other forms of advertisings
D) the politicians who recruited and financed them

Question 10

To characterize the news media as businesses ______.

A) does not discredit their integrity as suppliers of vital civic information
B) discredits their integrity as suppliers of vital civic information
C) demonstrates that the media simply report news as presented to them by politicians
D) suggests that media elites, pollsters, and politicians form a classic iron triangle that is still vibrant today

Question 11

How did the spread of television in its first decade compare with the spread of radio during its first decade?

A) Radios spread into 40% of all households, while televisions spread to almost 90% of all households.
B) Radios spread into 40% of all households, while televisions only spread into about 25% of all households.
C) Radios spread into 90% of all households, while television only spread to about 40% of all households.
D) The pattern was about the same for each medium as penetration was nearly 40% during the first decade.

Question 12

The New York Times is an example of a ______.

A) traditional legacy news outlet
B) digital-only platform
C) social media platform
D) modern legacy news outlet

Question 13

"Yellow journalism" was a term first used at the end of the 19th century that referred to ______.

A) reliance by journalists on services to provide most of their stories, so-called because the journalists were afraid to personally go to the location in which the story was developing
B) all of the penny press papers, so-called because the paper was so cheap it yellowed within a matter of days
C) the use of sensational stories to attract readers to newspapers, so-called because of the color of ink used in the New York World's comic strips
D) those papers published south of the Mason-Dixon line, so-called because the editors had surrendered to General Grant at the first sight of Union troops

Question 14

In the mid-1770s, approximately ______ newspapers were serving the colonies.

A) 10
B) 15
C) 25
D) 39

Question 15

Within a few decades of ratification of the First Amendment, the notion that the free press would guard the citizenry's liberties against the designs of ambitious politicians ______.

A) had proven to be precisely the way the free press developed
B) had been replaced by the press as dedicated partisan boosters
C) had been replaced with pamphleteering as the only available way for publishers to express their opinions
D) was undermined by the Supreme Court when it struck the words "press" from the Bill of Rights

Question 16

During the early days of the republic, newspapers ______.

A) were primarily full of objective news reporting
B) advocated party platforms, promoted candidates, and attacked the political opposition
C) rarely reported on politics or government at all
D) were almost always nonpartisan

Question 17

Donald Trump has repeatedly accused the media of reporting ______.

A) fake news
B) biased news
C) bad news
D) wrong news

Question 18

Which of the following statements regarding news in the colonial days is true?

A) The news was distributed over large geographic areas with poor infrastructure.
B) The news took vast amounts of time and effort.
C) It was difficult to maintain a large staff both locally and globally to provide full coverage.
D) News had to be submitted to the censorship of the British government.

Question 19

One study in 2004 of talk radio programs found ______.

A) national and state conservative talk programs totaled forty thousand broadcast hours each week compared with three thousand for liberal programs
B) the implementation of the fairness doctrine reduced the advantage of conservative talk programs significantly
C) national and state liberal talk programs totaled forty thousand broadcast hours each week compared with three thousand for conservative programs
D) a significant decline in listenership for all programs because Americans rarely listen to the radio anymore

Question 20

By the end of the 1960s, households with televisions outnumbered those with ______.

A) indoor plumbing
B) glass windows
C) radios
D) electricity

Question 21

The Watergate scandal broke and Richard Nixon was forced to resign largely due to which of the following?

A) the Senate investigation spurred by the "leaks" of "Deep Throat," later claimed to be Federal Bureau of Investigation bureaucrat Mark Felt
B) the House investigation into impropriety in the savings and loan industry
C) the House banking scandal
D) a casual conversation between President Nixon and Henry Kissinger, which was overheard by a reporter at a state dinner

Question 22

The relationship between politicians and reporters can best be described as ______.

A) built on a tension between reciprocity and competition
B) a principal-agent relationship in which the politicians are principals and the reporters are agents
C) a principal-agent relationship in which the reporters are principals and the politicians are agents
D) built on a complementary interaction between a monopoly and the regulators

Question 23

Which of the following were identified as a great example of the way digital streaming has changed news provision and consumption?

A) podcasts
B) blogs
C) forums
D) chatrooms

Question 24

Which of the following criteria is not typically employed when the media decide whether or not to include a story in the newspaper or broadcast?

A) the level of controversy
B) negativity-bad news is preferred to good news
C) foreign or domestic policy
D) authority and status of a source

Question 25

The Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism have identified ______ as the cornerstones of journalistic integrity and ethics.

A) honesty and loyalty
B) verification and independence
C) collegiality and accuracy
D) trust and accountability

Question 26

During the 1920s, when hundreds of radio stations overcrowded desirable spots on the radio dial, the FCC was created in part to solve this classic ______.

A) monopoly
B) tragedy of the commons
C) yellow journalism
D) inappropriate use of the Second Amendment

Question 27

Venues in which reporters are permanently assigned are referred to as ______.

A) beats
B) frames
C) primes
D) embeds

Question 28

At the national level, regular news beats include all of the following except for ______.

A) the White House
B) Congress
C) the Pentagon
D) state legislatures

Question 29

The proliferation of alternative media gives viewers the opportunity ______.

A) to choose news sources that create the most dissonance with their views
B) to see even more contextualized news because websites provide more data
C) to opt out of consuming political information all together
D) to become well-informed voters and participants

Question 30

Which of the following complicated the quest for consumers by legacy news outlets?

A) the rise of the Internet as a form of information transmission
B) the increase in cable TV subscription costs
C) the decline of newspapers as a news medium
D) the proliferation of news media agencies

Question 31

By the 1960s, what was the chief source of news for many Americans?

A) newspapers
B) radio
C) magazines
D) nightly evening network news

Question 32

The airwaves were identified as a commons with the invention of the ______.

A) newspaper
B) radio
C) television
D) internet

Question 33

"Pack journalism" refers to ______.

A) journalists traveling abroad to find a story
B) journalists repeating the same story because they talk to one another and validate each other's reporting
C) journalists hovering around one person to ask questions
D) journalists crowding outside the hall of a congressional hearing to try to cover the story all at the same time

Question 34

The equal access provision required stations to provide equal time to ______.

A) candidates for office
B) teachers
C) business executives
D) the entire American public

Question 35

When politicians strategically give important information to the news media on the condition that its source not be identified by name, this is referred to as ______.

A) a plumber
B) a trial balloon
C) a leak
D) a stopper

Question 36

When politicians participate in news making, they usually have one or both of two audiences in mind-the public and ______.

A) fellow politicians
B) soft money donors
C) newspaper editors and reporters
D) political scientists

Question 37

Today, approximately what percentage television households subscribe to cable or to satellite services?

A) 90
B) 75
C) 50
D) 25

Question 38

Which of the following presidents was the first to use the radio as a medium to deliver news to the people?

A) Franklin D. Roosevelt
B) Harry S. Truman
C) Dwight Eisenhower
D) John F. Kennedy

Question 39

Which of the following statements regarding the beat system is true?

A) Beat reporters routinely file stories or updated throughout the day.
B) They can report remotely.
C) The system is quite inefficient, but it is still widely used.
D) Beat reporters view reporters from other news organizations as competitors, rather than colleagues.

Question 40

Innovation in mass communication has resulted in ______.

A) the resurgence of the daily newspaper as the only credible source for news
B) a dramatic expansion of news as a consumer product
C) a dramatic compression of freedom of speech
D) less substance in news reports

Question 41

What is the term for when the news media affects the criteria with which we evaluate candidates or elected leaders?

A) agenda setting
B) coordination
C) low information rationality
D) priming

Question 42

The franking privilege ______.

A) gives members of Congress free unlimited broadcast time on C-SPAN
B) refers to confidential information given to reporters under the condition that they not reveal their sources
C) refers to the weekly free lunches members of Congress provide reporters
D) allows members of Congress free access to the postal system for official correspondence

Question 43

Since newspapers were the only source of news in colonial times, those who established successful newspapers could earn a good living.

Question 44

What does the example of the Pentagon Papers illustrates about the doctrine of prior restraint?

A) The government can easily make a case that the press should not be allowed to publish national security documents while the nation is at war.
B) The courts have been skeptical of the claims of the press, and the government can operate under a presumption of secrecy.
C) Exercising prior restraint requires the government to demonstrate that the publication of documents would damage national security.
D) The Supreme Court prefers to avoid these issues so the legislative and executive branches can resolve the problems.

Question 45

Sen. Joseph McCarthy always appeared before television cameras with loose sheets of paper, which he could wave at the camera and claim contained the names of known ______.

A) communists in the State Department
B) KKK members in the Justice Department
C) undercover reporters in the Federal Bureau of Investigation
D) felons who contributed to the President's reelection campaign

Question 46

Radio remains a critical source of news even as the talk radio format has declined because of alternative ways of expressing opinions.

Question 47

How have the courts played a vital role in protecting the media under the First Amendment?

A) by limiting government efforts to exercise prior restraint and limiting the press's exposure to libel and slander laws
B) by ruling that the press is a constitutionally protected fourth branch of the government that may write anything it wishes
C) by limiting the subsidies provided to news organizations to ensure their independence
D) by requiring politicians to answer questions from the press and expanding the availability of government documents

Question 48

Most people get to fake news from ______.

A) web searches
B) social media
C) radio podcasts
D) local news sources

Question 49

The role of infotainment in the current media environment ______.

A) has declined and has been replaced by news produced through the craft of reporting
B) is largely confined to cable networks while the broadcast networks focus on hard news
C) means that it is harder to mix argument and assertion in with fact and verification
D) can prove highly informative for people who are not that interested in public affairs or current events

Question 50

Sensationalization involves ______.

A) making sure that the audience gets what it wants so it will tune in and come back
B) making sure that the audience gets what it needs so it will return to a trusted brand
C) making sure that headlines accurately convey the gist of the story
D) making things up about public figures since the media is protected from libel

Question 51

How has the importance of making profits affected the news media?

A) It means that media must work harder than ever to remain a trusted brand.
B) News outlets do everything they can to attract and keep an audience.
C) Most news outlets have gotten smaller and more specialized.
D) They have been forced to raise their prices so fewer Americans are able to get information.

Question 52

Walter Lippman's view of the press was ______.

A) holding politicians accountable for all of their actions
B) providing the information a good citizen needed to know to function in a democracy
C) engaging in muckraking so that the endemic corruption would be exposed and citizens should be cynical of their government
D) working closely with politicians to gently lead the public in the right direction on the most important matters of public policy

Question 53

The medium of Internet communication ______.

A) is well suited for the cultivation of cozy politician-press relations
B) makes it unlikely the public is well informed on many political issues
C) is conducive to the flourishing of a prisoner's dilemma between reporters and government officials
D) makes it likely the public is well informed on many political issues

Question 54

Not only did the editors of penny press newspapers squeeze out space devoted to party politics but they muted their partisan affiliations to appeal to a wider audience.

Question 55

Digital and online technology has enabled legacy outlets to embrace new ways to connect citizens to the news.

Question 56

What have presidents found that generates positive news coverage?

A) staying inside the White House and acting too busy to speak with the press
B) public arguments with their spouses and making jokes about their spouses
C) foreign travel and visits to disaster sites
D) refusing to salute foreign flags when abroad or shake hands with dignitaries of lower rank than president

Question 57

Americans prefer to ______.

A) watch the news
B) read the news
C) surf the web for the news
D) listen to the news

Question 58

The advent of radio not only introduced a major new player to a news industry; it exploited a commons-the airwaves.

Question 59

What role does the press play in helping citizens monitor their elected leaders?

A) They help by evaluating the claims of politicians and determining whether they are telling the truth.
B) The press ferrets out incompetence and malfeasance when challengers fail to perform due diligence.
C) They help create informational shortcuts so voters can digest news more easily.
D) They adopt a hostile tone toward the government so citizens are not easily fooled by promises.

Question 60

Traditional, legacy news outlets are organizations that gather, package, and transmit the news through some proprietary communications technology.

Question 61

Why do politicians sometimes try to communicate with other politicians through the news media rather than privately?

Question 62

How is news on social media generated?

Question 63

Explain how government regulation prevented a tragedy of the commons in the broadcasting industry.

Question 64

Explain the prisoner's dilemma faced because of the relationship between the press and politicians.

Question 65

Where do people get their news?

Question 66

The press have the power to shape people's priorities, but not to persuade them or change their attitudes about issues or politicians.

Question 67

Explain the ways the news media has adapted to technological innovation.

Question 68

Proving libel requires injured individuals to prove that a story was false and that a news producer acted with malice by publishing a damaging story it knew to be false.

Question 69

Explain the changes in how the news media covers politicians.

Question 70

The news media serve as strictly a neutral conduit for the flow of civic information to their intended audience.

Question 71

How have technological advances changed the news media?

Question 72

How, and using what criteria, do the media decide which stories to include in their papers and broadcasts?

Question 73

New communications technology drives old technologies out of business.

Question 74

How did the first papers of the "penny press" attract new readers?