Chapter 4: Media and Politics in the Changing Media Landscape

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. Concerns over “Slacktivism” deal with ______.

A. whether political activism is declining among youths

B. whether working remotely from home erodes professionalization

C. whether the digitally enabled ease of clicking to join, volunteer, or sign up for something diminishes its meaning

D. all of these

2. What is (are) major concerns from the expansion of media choice?

A. news avoidance

B. selective exposure

C. knowledge gaps

D. all of these

3. Mobile news consumption has which of the following limitations?

A. People pay attention to news stories for shorter periods of time.

B. People recall fewer facts from news stories.

C. There is not as much choice available.

D. both a and b

4. ______ is the term that describes a behavior that leads to opinion “echo chambers.”

A. Information silos

B. Agenda setting

C. Framing

D. Partisan selective exposure

True/False

1. Studies show there is no ideological diversity in people’s Facebook networks.

2. Most people pay at least some attention to politicians’ communications on social media.

3. Media hybridity refers to the fact that in the contemporary media environment, you can use dual screen.

4. Mobile app users stay on news sites for long periods of time, but many more people reach news sites via mobile browsers.

5. The use of mobile devices for news consumption has grown considerably since 2013.

6. Advertising spending for online news revenue has held steady over the last few years but ad revenue for mobile is increasing drastically.

Short Answer

1. Though early projections suggested the Internet would positively affect overall levels of political knowledge, we have seen a different and more nuanced effect. Explain.

2. What is like-minded information? What is counter-attitudinal information? Why are they relevant to consider in the current media environment?

3. What is partisan perceptual bias?

4. How has the current media landscape facilitated the emergence of citizen journalism?

5. Briefly, describe some of the various ways that campaign websites have developed over time?

6. What is “astroturfing”?

7. List the distinctive patterns of emergent campaign practices that have been facilitated by digital and social media.

Essay

1. The expansion of media choice has produced the ability for citizens to engage in partisan selective exposure. What is this behavior and why are some worried that it may contribute to societal levels of political polarization? Are there any reasons to think partisan selective exposure may not polarize?

2. The expansion of media choice has produced the ability for citizens to engage in the selection of news and political content that is in line with their partisanship. What else has the expansion of choice meant for citizens’ content selection? What are the implications for citizen learning?

3. Discuss the various ways that changes to the modern media landscape have also dramatically altered the practice and profession of journalism.

4. How are blogs different from news? How do these differences influence the relative credibility and perceived credibility of information encountered in blogs and online news? Is this important? Why?

5. Has the modern media environment lived up to expectations for a digital democracy? Why or why not?

6. Is there a relationship between today’s fragmented media environment and political polarization? Explain the argument about why fragmented media could promote polarization. Assess the state of the empirical evidence on this subject.