American Government 100
American Government 100 Part III
Patterson, pgs. 279-305, A:AG20-17
The News Media
True/False Questions
1. In the period leading up to the first 2016 presidential primaries, Donald Trump received far less news coverage than any of his leading Republican rivals. True or False
2. For nearly everyone, politics is a secondhand experience, something they observe through the media rather than directly. True or False
3. Both Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton used public funds to establish a partisan press to argue their views to the public. True or False
4. Early newspapers were printed a page at a time on flat presses, a process that limited production and kept the cost of each copy beyond the reach of the ordinary citizen. True or False
5. By 1900, at the height of American newspaper circulation, it was also the high point of their civic contribution. True or False
6. Initially the government did not regulate radio broadcasting, helping create an era of efficiency and innovation. It proved once again that regulation is wasteful and disruptive as opposed to the free market. True or False
7. By the late 1950s, the objective-reporting model practiced voluntarily by the newspapers was imposed by law on broadcasters. True or False
8. As a result of the elimination of the Fairness Doctrine hundreds of radio stations switched from playing music to airing partisan talk shows. True or False
9. Even though not required to, when Ted Turner started CNN in 1980 he chose to abide by the Fairness Doctrine, instructing his correspondents to pursue a path of partisan neutrality. True or False
10. The news is shaped by the need of news organizations to attract and hold a large audience for getting advertisers to assure maximum profitability. True or False
11. Journalists are attentive primarily to the things that do change regularly, such as politicians’ tactical moves and their level of political support. True or False
12. The signaling function is largely performed by the new internet media, e.g., the bloggers, face book, and twitter. True or False
13. The irony of the media in an effort to bolster its ratings in the 1990s by devoting so much attention to crime was the fact that crime had actually gone down. True or False
14. With some fifteen hundred daily newspapers and a thousand local television outlets in the U.S., Americans are exposed to a variety of news stories, interpreted from a variety of different perspectives. True or False
15. Congress decided in the 1960s that public broadcasting was needed and the commercial networks embraced it, convincing Congress to assign it equal status with adequate funding. True or False
16. Unlike their European counterparts, in the United States, public broadcasting depends on stories reported first by commercial outlets, where the profit motive can lead to news based more on its audience appeal than its social relevance. True or False
17. The presidency gets substantially more coverage in the national press than does Congress. True or False
18. The CNN story sensationalizing the fluid-transmitted Ebola disease was responsible because it stopped its spread in the United States, preventing a catastrophic death toll similar to Africa. False
19. The American news media have rightfully been called a fourth branch of government—part of the political system’s checks on abuses by those in power. True or False
20. The news media created a scandal and highlighted Hillary Clinton’s private e-mail account for months on end, contributing to the public’s perception that Clinton was not trustworthy. True or False
21. Donald Trump was caught on microphone making lewd comments and bragging about kissing and groping women, all distorted, based on lies by the media had no effect on his campaign. True or False
22. Scholarly research does support the allegation that the traditional media have a substantial and systematic liberal bias. True or False
23. The Center for Media and Public Affairs found that Clinton’s negative coverage exceeded his positive coverage in every quarter of every year of his two-term presidency. True or False
24. Coverage of the Democrat-controlled Congresses has steadily been negative by the media since the 1970s but not for the Republican-controlled Congresses. True or False
25. The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press has been tracking Americans’ media preferences for two decades and finds that Americans’ news choices have been expanding. True or False
26. The same media system that makes news available on demand at any time also makes it easy for people to ignore the news in favor of entertainment programs. True or False
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of the following comments attributed to Donald Trump that occurred during the 2016 presidential election is factually true? a) Mexico is sending nothing but criminals across the border with drugs and they go back with cash, b) John McCain is no war hero because he was captured, c) There were thousands and thousands of Muslims cheering in New Jersey as the World Trade Center was collapsing, d) He used race and religion to generate support and divide voters.
2. The following candidate for president in 2016, said the following: Ohio governor John Kasich was “pathetic,” that former Florida governor Jeb Bush was “low energy,” that New Jersey governor Chris Christie was “ridiculous,” that Texas senator Ted Cruz was a “total liar,” a) Lindsey Graham, b) Hillary Clinton, c) Donald Trump, d) Jeff Flake.
3. The major news organizations basic goal is: a) educating the public about politics and government, b) getting a profit even if the story is a lie, c) respecting the audience, d) promoting political leaders and parties.
4. Yet, because news organizations seek to attract an audience in their pursuit of a profit, their news coverage presents: a) a distorted picture of politics, b) political leaders as always serving the public interest, c) carefully crafted stories that are positive and morally correct, d) represents the elite, corporations, and financial institutions as being on the side of the “little guy.”
5. The American press initially was tied to which of the following? a) private enterprise, b) the federal government, c) state governments, d) political party system.
6. What has been the consequence of a news audience that has been fragmenting and shifting due to changes in habits, especially among young people when it comes to digesting the news? a) There has been an increasing number of better informed people, b) There has been a widening gap in the information levels among the more-attentive and less-attentive citizens, c) News organizations must be factual because people will tune out dishonesty, d) Because of a better informed public, politicians, pundits, and the media can no longer manipulate them.
7. What was the most significant reason for the decline of America's partisan press in the early 1800s? a) corruption, b) the inability to generate sales, c) technological innovation, d) changing demographics.
8. With the invention of the telegraph, editors had access to breaking news about events outside the local area, which led them to substitute news reports for: a) partisan commentary, b) yellow journalism, c) salacious, tawdry stories, d) bribery and increased corruption.
9. The invention in the 19th century of the power-driven printing press: a) decreased advertising revenue, b) reduced dependence on government patronage, c) increased dependence on government contracts, d) decreased circulation.
10. By 1900 a new style of journalism emerged that emphasized a "shrieking, gaudy, sensation-loving kind of reporting to lure the reader: a) tabloid journalism, b) sensational journalism, c) black journalism, d) yellow journalism.
11. A circulation battle between William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal and Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World is believed to have contributed to the outbreak of the: a) Mexican-American American War, b) the War with the Philippines, c) Spanish-American War, d) American Civil War.
12. A model of reporting which is based on the "facts" rather than opinions and was "fair" in that it presented both sides of a partisan debate: a) independent reporting, b) responsible journalism, c) objective journalism, d) conscientious writing.
13. Why was it necessary to establish a regulatory agency to license radio broadcasts? a) because the wrong people were broadcasting, b) because religious leaders had monopolized the broadcasts, c) because broadcasters were interfering with each other, creating a chaotic situation, d) because far too many extremist groups and organizations were broadcasting, crowding out the public interest.
14. Broadcasters, which are licensed and regulated by the following, must meet certain performance standards: a) the Federal Communications Commission, b) the Federal Broadcasting Bureau, c) the Electronic Media Commission, d) the Airways Regulatory and Investigative Bureau.
15. The following required broadcasters to “afford reasonable opportunity for the discussion of conflicting views of public importance.” a) the Equal-Treatment Principle, b) the Fairness Doctrine, c) the Shared Social Responsibility Act, d) the Community Standards Rule.
16. When the media each day determines which events will be covered and which ones will not: a) framing, b) gatekeepers, c) prioritizing, d) journalistic license.
17. Developments that have taken a clear and definable shape within the past twenty-four hours are referred to by news organizations as: a) periodical developments, b) cursory fragmentation, c) hard events, d) combustible information.
18. One of the responsibilities of journalists is to alert the public to important developments as soon as possible after they happen: a) watchdog role, b) media role, c) signaler role, d) common-carrier role.
19. The media's ability to influence what is on people’s minds: a) subjective reporting, b) agenda setting, c) influence peddling, d) media manipulation.
20. Which was the most heavily reported news stories of the early 1990s, overshadowing all others? a) struggling economy, b) growing poverty rates, c) health care, d) crime.
21. Roughly 90 percent of the nation’s dailies (as well as most broadcast stations) subscribe to the following wire service: a) Reuters News Service, b) Associated Press, c) United Press International, d) Electronic Journal.
22. There are about how many reporters assigned to cover the presidency and the White House? a) more than 35, b) more than 47, c) more than 105, d) more than 200.
23. What blunts the efforts of officials to get favorable coverage by the media? a) partisan neutrality and the shrinking soundbite, b) journalists agenda and a corrupt media, c) disconnected and ignorant public and advertisers, d) public indignation and distrust of government.
24. The length of time within a television story that a candidate speaks without interruption: a) sound bite, b) on the record, c) verbal tone, d) on background.
25. The process by which journalists select particular aspects of situations and craft their stories around them: a) signaling, b) framing, c) admonishing, d) coordinating.
26. The press stands ready to expose officials who violate accepted legal, ethical, or performance standards: a) admonishing function, b) moral standards function, c) investigative function, d) watchdog function.
27. A scandal reported by the Washington Post in 1972 that led to the resignation of President Nixon: a) Iran-Contra, b) Teapot Dome, c) Watergate, d) Rockefeller Center.
28. When the media acts as an advocate for a particular viewpoint or interest: a) loyalty response, b) partisan function, c) party ideologue, d) self interest.
29. Rather than slanting the news to favor the Republican or Democratic side, journalists sought to give their audience both sides, leaving it to them to decide which one was better. a) integrity reporting, b) objective journalism, c) factual analysis, d) public scrutiny.
30. What is the primary reason why Americans have an unfavorable view of politicians and political institutions? a) American culture is based on rugged individualism resulting in a healthy skepticism of government, b) As many Americans have turned to religion, they are less civic –minded and less preoccupied with the public square, c) the press negative bent has caused the rise of cynicism and hostility toward politicians and government, d) the overwhelming majority of Americans are patriotic and civic minded; therefore the question itself is fallacious.
31. In the 1990s, how did Rush Limbaugh characterize Bill Clinton? a) as a hardworking, conscientious politician, b) as a homosexual who paid prostitutes and regularly took illegal drugs, c) as a draft dodger, womanizer, and wimp, d) as a responsible husband and father with an scrupulous reputation.
32. The most influential pamphleteer of his time who wrote Common Sense, a pamphlet that sold over a hundred thousand copies and mobilized American opposition to British rule: a) Benjamin Franklin, b) Alexander Hamilton, c) Thomas Paine, d) John Adams.
Fill-in Questions
1. The news is mainly an account of obtruding events,
a) particularly those which are _______ (new or unfolding developments rather than old or static ones),
b) _________ (striking developments rather than commonplace ones),
c) and ___________ (developments that arouse people's concerns and emotions.)
2. In fulfilling its responsibility to provide public information, the news media effectively performs the following significant roles:
a) the ___________ role (the press brings relevant events and problems in to public view),
b) _______ ________ (the press serves as a channel through which leaders and citizens can communicate),
c) _________ (the press scrutinizes official behavior for evidence of deceitful, careless, or corrupt acts, and
d) _________ (the press promotes particular interests and values).
Answers
True or False Questions
1. False
3. True
5. False
7. True
9. True
11. True
13. True
15. False
17. True
19. True
21. False
23. True
25. False
Multiple Choice Questions
1. d
3. a
5. d
7. c
9. b
11. c
13. c
15. b
17. c
19. b
21. b
23. a
25. b
27. c
29. b
31. c
Fill-in Questions
1. a) timely, b) dramatic, c) compelling
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