Chapter 8: The Media: Truth, Power, and American Democracy

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. Americans are increasingly getting their political information through the filter of ______.

a. family, friends, and acquaintances who influence our lives

b. news outlets that inform us of political issues

c. school and church sources that indoctrinate us on American values

d. politicians and their personal campaign outreaches

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.1: Describe both who the news media are and the major questions of truth, power, and trust at stake in the media today.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. The variety of sources providing information and covering events is called the ______.

a. mass media

b. social media

c. news media

d. radical media

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.1: Describe both who the news media are and the major questions of truth, power, and trust at stake in the media today.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. Americans are simultaneously witnessing a major ______ in daily newspaper readership and a ______ in social media, political talk shows, and the use of “celebrity” news sources.

a. rise; decline

b. rise; rise

c. decline; decline

d. decline; rise

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.1: Describe both who the news media are and the major questions of truth, power, and trust at stake in the media today.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. Which of the following are all valid themes of today’s media?

a. technology, dramatic change, and partisan politics

b. communal ownership, biased stories, and a lack of objectivity

c. capitalistic ownership, freedom from bias, and objectivity

d. relative stability, partisan-free politics, and bias-free reporting

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.1: Describe both who the news media are and the major questions of truth, power, and trust at stake in the media today.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Hard

5. Which of the following best presents the central question that underlies changes in today’s media?

a. How reliable and trustworthy are those who report the news?

b. Where does today’s news originate and how is it reported?

c. How effective are the news media in shaping Americans political understandings?

d. How does the idea of biased news sources impact the reporting of today’s news?

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.1: Describe both who the news media are and the major questions of truth, power, and trust at stake in the media today.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. Which of the following best describes the state of the current media?

a. There are a growing number of newspaper subscriptions.

b. The number of TV news viewers has dramatically declined.

c. The definition of the media has been redefined due to the development of the Internet and social media.

d. A majority of Americans get their news from public radio and television.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.1: Describe both who the news media are and the major questions of truth, power, and trust at stake in the media today.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. Which of the following statements is not true about forms of broadcast media?

a. They brought political news directly and immediately to Americans.

b. The news was consumed while people were doing other things.

c. Broadcast media outlets largely avoided politics.

d. They broke down geographical barriers.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: The Twentieth Century Brought Radio and TV News Directly into Americans’ Homes

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. Forms of electronic communications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking are called ______.

a. weblogs

b. social media

c. milblogs

d. Internet sites

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: How Media Have Reinvented the Media Landscape

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. Nonprofessionals who cover or document news and events or offer their own analyses of them are called ______.

a. web masters

b. Internet journalists

c. social media gurus

d. citizen journalists

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: How Media Have Reinvented the Media Landscape

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. While citizen journalists may operate in a variety of contexts, one of the most extreme is ______.

a. foreign affairs and regime change

b. combat and military operations abroad

c. domestic protests and political activities

d. local news events and information

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: How Media Have Reinvented the Media Landscape

Difficulty Level: Hard

11. Which of the following items is not characteristic of the new media?

a. speed of delivery

b. unlimited choices of media

c. objectivity

d. unrestricted content of news

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: New Media Have Reinvented the Media Landscape

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. The new media ______.

a. is not competing with traditional media

b. does not need to have a digital platform

c. is restricted to limited geographical regions

d. is a form of mass media since it reaches a large audience much faster than traditional media

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: New Media Have Reinvented the Media Landscape

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. The beat system reflects ______.

a. the emerging commercial bias in the media

b. politicians’ desires to control the news cycle

c. the media’s need to report the news efficiently and expertly

d. an effect of the 24/7 news cycle

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.3: Understand the issue of bias in the American media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Bias and the Perception of Bias Is a Problem in Media Coverage

Difficulty Level: Hard

14. An unintended consequence of the equal time rule and the fairness doctrine was that ______.

a. some news stations stopped covering politics altogether

b. radio was no longer regulated

c. media companies became large conglomerates

d. net neutrality was introduced

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss changes in the regulation of media ownership and media content.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Regulation Also Affects Content

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. The connection between the nation’s media and American politics has been shaped by which of the following?

a. tradition, politics, capitalism, and the need to preserve national security

b. technology, politics, the rights of a free press, and the need to preserve national security

c. politics, the rights of a free press, and the need to preserve national security

d. the rights of a free press, capitalism, and the tradition of printed media

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Evolution of American Media Shows That Issues of Power and Trustworthiness are Not New

Difficulty Level: Medium

16. The earliest printed news material in America was the ______.

a. gazette

b. newspaper

c. pamphlet

d. almanac

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Early Newspapers and Pamphlets Shaped a New Nation

Difficulty Level: Medium

17. The first daily newspaper in the United States was the ______.

a. Saturday Evening Post

b. Pennsylvania Evening Post, and Daily Advisor

c. Boston Globe

d. New York Times

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Early Newspapers and Pamphlets Shaped a New Nation

Difficulty Level: Medium

18. A major limiting factor of early newspaper readership was the ______.

a. overall lack of literacy

b. public disinterest in political information

c. cost of a yearly subscription

d. intense amount of competing media

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Media Go “Mass” with the Penny Presses in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

Difficulty Level: Medium

19. The main consumers of early newspapers were the ______.

a. uneducated masses

b. middle class

c. financial and political elite

d. literate lower class

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Media Go “Mass” with the Penny Presses in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

Difficulty Level: Medium

20. By taking political positions and supporting candidates and parties, early newspapers were acting as a ______.

a. political elite

b. partisan press

c. penny press

d. mass media

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Media Go “Mass” with the Penny Presses in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

Difficulty Level: Medium

21. The press played a pivotal role in the ratification debates of the U.S. Constitution through the publication of ______.

a. The Federalist Papers and Anti-Federalist counterarguments

b. Thomas Paine’s Common Sense

c. the Bill of Rights

d. the Declaration of Independence

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Freedom of the Press Became Enshrined in the Constitution through the Bill of Rights

Difficulty Level: Easy

22. On August 20, 1787, Charles Pinckney from South Carolina proposed the inclusion of which of the following guarantees to the Constitution?

a. Freedom of Assembly

b. Freedom of Religion

c. Freedom of Speech

d. Freedom of the Press

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Freedom of the Press Became Enshrined in the Constitution through the Bill of Rights

Difficulty Level: Easy

23. After the 1830s, newspapers were nicknamed the ______.

a. partisan press

b. yellow press

c. penny press

d. people’s press

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Media Go “Mass” with the Penny Presses in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

Difficulty Level: Medium

24. Sources of information that appeal to a large audience, including newspapers, radio, television, and Internet outlets, are known as the ______ media.

a. news

b. mass

c. broadcast

d. public

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Media Go “Mass” with the Penny Presses in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

Difficulty Level: Medium

25. The news “bosses” of the penny press were the ______.

a. industrialist publishers

b. wealthy elite

c. parties and candidates

d. public

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Media Go “Mass” with the Penny Presses in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

Difficulty Level: Medium

26. The use of sensational headlines, cartoons, graphics, and emotional language in order to influence public opinion is known as ______ journalism.

a. yellow

b. investigative

c. partisan

d. biased

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Media Go “Mass” with the Penny Presses in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

Difficulty Level: Medium

27. William Randolph Hearst used yellow journalism in his publication, The New York Journal, to promote U.S. involvement in what became known as the ______.

a. Korean War

b. Mexican War

c. Spanish American War

d. Vietnam War

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Media Go “Mass” with the Penny Presses in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

Difficulty Level: Medium

28. Which of the following technologies first allowed the instantaneous transmission of news over long distances in the mid- to late 19th century?

a. the telegraph

b. the telephone

c. the Internet

d. the Pony Express

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Journalists Became Investigators and Activists in the Nineteenth Century

Difficulty Level: Easy

29. The Associated Press took advantage of telegraph technology to create the world’s first ______.

a. mass media

b. partisan news service

c. wire service

d. consolidated media

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Journalists Became Investigators and Activists in the Nineteenth Century

Difficulty Level: Easy

30. A news reporter follows an important story from its origins to its ultimate end by digging into every possible corner of the story. This would be an example of ______ journalism.

a. investigative

b. partisan

c. yellow

d. citizen

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Journalists Became Investigators and Activists in the Nineteenth Century

Difficulty Level: Medium

31. During the Progressive Era, many investigative journalists were nicknamed ______.

a. partisans

b. muckrakers

c. politicos

d. yellow journalists

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Journalists Became Investigators and Activists in the Nineteenth Century

Difficulty Level: Medium

32. Technological advances during the 20th century brought news, political figures, and candidates into Americans’ lives in a ______ way.

a. direct

b. indirect

c. partisan

d. nonpartisan

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Twentieth Century Brought Radio and TV News Directly into Americans’ Homes

Difficulty Level: Medium

33. Outlets for news and other content that relies on mass-communications technology to bring stories directly into people’s homes but are subject to stricter content regulations than cable television outlets and alternative sources of information are known as ______.

a. mass media

b. citizen media

c. news media

d. broadcast media

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Twentieth Century Brought Radio and TV News Directly into Americans’ Homes

Difficulty Level: Easy

34. In order to speak directly to American citizens about the Great Depression and, later, World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt used which of the following?

a. radio advertising

b. public speeches

c. fireside chats

d. television commercials

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Twentieth Century Brought Radio and TV News Directly into Americans’ Homes

Difficulty Level: Easy

35. Today’s radio talk shows are often, but not solely, used to distribute partisan messages for which of the following political parties?

a. Libertarian

b. Democratic

c. Green

d. Republican

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Twentieth Century Brought Radio and TV News Directly into Americans’ Homes

Difficulty Level: Easy

36. Talk radio broadcasts have been criticized for their efforts to ______.

a. disseminate propaganda

b. provoke emotional responses

c. generate revenue for their owners

d. be as fair and impartial as possible

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Twentieth Century Brought Radio and TV News Directly into Americans’ Homes

Difficulty Level: Easy

37. In September 1960, candidates ______ and ______ participated in the first of a series of televised presidential debates in U.S. history.

a. Franklin D. Roosevelt; Alfred “Alf” Landen

b. Harry S. Truman; Thomas E. Dewey

c. Adlai Stevenson; Dwight D. Eisenhower

d. John F. Kennedy; Richard M. Nixon

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Twentieth Century Brought Radio and TV News Directly into Americans’ Homes

Difficulty Level: Easy

38. In 1961, John F. Kennedy gave the first live televised ______.

a. news conference

b. press release

c. public speech

d. executive order

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Twentieth Century Brought Radio and TV News Directly into Americans’ Homes

Difficulty Level: Easy

39. As the Vietnam War progressed, American casualties mounted, and protests against American involvement spread and grew, trusted television journalist ______ questioned if the war had become unwinnable.

a. Edward R. Murrow

b. Rodger Mudd

c. Walter Cronkite

d. Frank Magee

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Twentieth Century Brought Radio and TV News Directly into Americans’ Homes

Difficulty Level: Easy

40. The 1990s witnessed the rise of which new outlet for television and television news?

a. one-hour news magazines

b. 24-hour cable news

c. local news stations

d. citizen reporting

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Twentieth Century Brought Radio and TV News Directly into Americans’ Homes

Difficulty Level: Medium

41. A news reporter is covering an accident between a car and a motorcycle. This reporter is biased against the city government for overtaxing her property and not responding to her complaints. As a result of her bias, she employs framing to portray the car accident as ______.

a. motorcyclists’ inattention to others on the road

b. the result of the car’s failed brake lights

c. a failure of clear road signage

d. the car driver’s texting habit

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.5: Explain the different perspectives on the power of the media to shape political understanding and behaviors.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Scholars Have Differed on the Media’s Effects

Difficulty Level: Hard

42. In 1996, Australian media entrepreneur Rupert Murdoch launched which news channel?

a. CNN

b. Fox News

c. MSNBC

d. HLN

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Twentieth Century Brought Radio and TV News Directly into Americans’ Homes

Difficulty Level: Medium

43. Since they operate under looser regulatory constraints than the broadcast networks, television news has become more ______ and less ______.

a. partisan; objective

b. objective; reliable

c. subjective; partisan

d. reliable; subjective

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Twentieth Century Brought Radio and TV News Directly into Americans’ Homes

Difficulty Level: Medium

44. While often criticized, cable news channels are ______.

a. becoming more and more subjective and less like traditional news

b. pandering to specific audiences and lacking hard news stories

c. becoming more like what newspapers had been before—unapologetically partisan

d. less partisan and more balanced in their delivery of news stories

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Twentieth Century Brought Radio and TV News Directly into Americans’ Homes

Difficulty Level: Medium

45. The Internet was first developed and deployed through a collaboration between ______ and ______.

a. the CIA; the military

b. DARPA; research universities

c. the NSA; the CIA

d. the FBI; the NSA

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: New Media Have Reinvented the Media Landscape

Difficulty Level: Medium

46. A strategy used to create a greater presence of traditional network broadcast journalists in other venues has been to ______.

a. emphasize traditional news broadcasting

b. emphasize nontraditional news broadcasting

c. blur the lines between traditional and nontraditional news broadcasting

d. rebrand traditional news media services as nontraditional news outlets

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: New Media Have Reinvented the Media Landscape

Difficulty Level: Medium

47. There were demands in the 20th century to have federal regulations of broadcast media. Which of the following was NOT a reason for this?

a. Radio and television frequencies were finite.

b. Federal regulations prevented radio stations from overgrazing.

c. Regulations would regulate the morality of the content of material.

d. Regulations would ensure that one political viewpoint was represented.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss changes in the regulation of media ownership and media content.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Regulation Affects Who Owns the Media and How We Consume It

Difficulty Level: Hard

48. Media that caters to fragmented and specialized audiences is called ______.

a. niche journalism

b. new media

c. traditional media

d. citizen journalism

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: New Media Have Reinvented the Media Landscape

Difficulty Level: Medium

49. Efforts to regulate the media have focused primarily on what two aspects?

a. celebrity and media ownership

b. media ownership and media content

c. reporter bias and media accountability

d. media content and celebrity

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss changes in the regulation of media ownership and media content.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Media Ownership and Content Are Subject to Regulation

Difficulty Level: Medium

50. With technological revolutions in the 20th century, demands for regulation came from ______.

a. citizens and content providers

b. the federal government and elected representatives

c. foreign nations and broadcasters

d. elected representatives and citizens

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss changes in the regulation of media ownership and media content.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Regulation Affects Who Owns the Media and How We Consume It

Difficulty Level: Medium

51. From the point of view of publishers and broadcasters, regulations were necessary to prevent ______.

a. overlap

b. bias

c. overgrazing

d. consolidation

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss changes in the regulation of media ownership and media content.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Regulation Affects Who Owns the Media and How We Consume It

Difficulty Level: Medium

52. One of the other calls for regulation dealt with the ______ of content of materials that went directly into American’s homes.

a. bias

b. morality

c. reliability

d. accountability

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss changes in the regulation of media ownership and media content.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Regulation Affects Who Owns the Media and How We Consume It

Difficulty Level: Medium

53. The 21st century has witnessed a marked decline in consumption of ______ media.

a. radio

b. television

c. print

d. Internet

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss changes in the regulation of media ownership and media content.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Regulation Affects Media Technologies and Ownership

Difficulty Level: Medium

54. The ______ established the Federal Radio Commission and required broadcasters to obtain a license to broadcast on specific frequencies.

a. Communications Act of 1934

b. Federal Communications Commission Act of 1980

c. Federal Radio Act (1927)

d. Telecommunications Act of 1996

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss changes in the regulation of media ownership and media content.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Regulation Affects Media Technologies and Ownership

Difficulty Level: Medium

55. For the most part, media outlets are largely organized to attract ______.

a. viewers

b. advertisers

c. consumers

d. broadcasters

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss changes in the regulation of media ownership and media content.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Regulation Affects Media Technologies and Ownership

Difficulty Level: Medium

56. Nontraditional Internet news sources often get their stories from a process called ______.

a. aggregating

b. consolidation

c. primacy

d. conglomeration

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss changes in the regulation of media ownership and media content.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Regulation Affects Media Technologies and Ownership

Difficulty Level: Medium

57. What effect did deregulation have on the diversity of the nation’s major news outlets?

a. expansion of news outlets

b. expansion of broadcast stations

c. increasing consolidation

d. increasing diversity

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss changes in the regulation of media ownership and media content.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Regulation Affects Media Technologies and Ownership

Difficulty Level: Medium

58. A Federal Communications Commission rule that requires Internet service providers to treat all data equally, without discriminating based upon content or bandwidth demands, is called ______.

a. network implementation

b. network consolidation

c. net informality

d. net neutrality

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss changes in the regulation of media ownership and media content.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Regulation Affects Media Technologies and Ownership

Difficulty Level: Medium

59. Critics charge that allowing firms to charge for Internet service based on bandwidth use will lead to ______.

a. price discrimination

b. information bias

c. data hording

d. lower overall prices

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss changes in the regulation of media ownership and media content.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Regulation Affects Media Technologies and Ownership

Difficulty Level: Medium

60. Which of the following was not a consequence of the Telecommunications Act of 1996?

a. It let anyone easily enter the communication business.

b. It deregulated the media business.

c. It increased the diversity of news media outlets.

d. It led to the consolidation of media ownership.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss changes in the regulation of media ownership and media content.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Regulation Affects Media Technologies and Ownership

Difficulty Level: Medium

61. Citizen journalism is possible due to ______.

a. the development of new technology

b. the increase in educational levels of Americans

c. the support of political parties

d. the ability of news outlets to verify the accuracy of their reporting

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: New Media Have Reinvented the Media Landscape

Difficulty Level: Medium

62. The ______ requires licensees to guarantee political candidates equal time to present their views and opinions.

a. equal time rule

b. equal access rule

c. fairness doctrine

d. broadcast equity doctrine

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss changes in the regulation of media ownership and media content.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Regulation Also Affects Content

Difficulty Level: Medium

63. The federal rule that expanded regulations of American political news coverage beyond just the provision of time for candidates to the content of political news coverage itself is called the ______.

a. equal time rule

b. equal access rule

c. fairness doctrine

d. broadcast equity doctrine

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss changes in the regulation of media ownership and media content.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Regulation Also Affects Content

Difficulty Level: Medium

64. Which of the following statements is true about Americans’ perceptions of the media?

a. Most people think the news media respect norms of objectivity.

b. The number of people who believe that the media is biased has declined.

c. The perception of media bias depends on a person’s own political viewpoints.

d. People believe that the media try to remain as neutral as possible.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.3: Understand the issue of bias in American media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Bias and the Perception of Bias Is a Problem in Media Coverage

Difficulty Level: Hard

65. Which of the following news outlets had the least knowledgeable consumers according to a 2007 study published by the Pew Research Center?

a. The Daily Show

b. The PBS NewsHour

c. Rush Limbaugh’s radio show

d. Fox News Channel

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Practicing Political Science: Do the Media Make Us Smart (or Not Smart)? Or Do We Make Them Look Good (or Not So Good?)

Difficulty Level: Medium

66. The frenzy of media consolidation following the Telecommunications Act of 1996 placed many news organizations and their employees under ______.

a. federal oversight

b. public scrutiny

c. regulatory review

d. new ownership

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss changes in the regulation of media ownership and media content.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Regulation Affects Media Technologies and Ownership

Difficulty Level: Medium

67. One of the most important developments in the Internet age has been the rise of ______ media like Facebook.

a. broadband

b. social

c. self-published

d. citizen-created

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: New Media Have Reinvented the Media Landscape

Difficulty Level: Easy

68. The blurring of the lines between providing information and entertaining audiences when covering events is known as ______.

a. soft news

b. edutainment

c. infotainment

d. hard news

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.3: Understand the issue of bias in American media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The News Can Function as Entertainment

Difficulty Level: Easy

69. Stories that focus on celebrity and personality rather than underlying issues are known as ______.

a. soft news

b. edutainment

c. infotainment

d. hard news

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.3: Understand the issue of bias in American media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The News Can Function as Entertainment

Difficulty Level: Easy

70. A perennial critique of the American news media is that it demonstrates a ______ partisan bias.

a. negative

b. conservative

c. neutral

d. liberal

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.3: Understand the issue of bias in American media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Bias and the Perception of Bias is a Problem in Media Coverage

Difficulty Level: Easy

71. Soft news can act to engage individuals with ______ issues.

a. domestic

b. foreign policy

c. defense

d. social welfare

Objective: 8.3: Understand the issue of bias in American media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The News Can Function as Entertainment

Difficulty Level: Medium

72. Watching political comedy shows such as The Daily Show may decrease individuals’ support for and engagement with ______.

a. foreign policy

b. domestic policy

c. political institutions

d. bureaucratic agencies

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.3: Understand the issue of bias in American media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The News Can Function as Entertainment

Difficulty Level: Medium

73. Coverage of political campaigns that focuses more on the drama of the campaign than on policy issues is known as the ______.

a. horse race phenomenon

b. reporter bias

c. “feeding frenzy”

d. commercial bias

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.3: Understand the issue of bias in American media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Contemporary Pressures Affect How the Media Covers Campaigns and Elections

Difficulty Level: Medium

74. The shaping of content and focus of news based on the desire to capture the market of news consumers is called ______.

a. partisan bias

b. horse race phenomenon

c. commercial bias

d. reporter bias

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.3: Understand the issue of bias in American media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Bias and the Perception of Bias Is a Problem in Media Coverage

Difficulty Level: Medium

75. Whether true or not, scandals often crowd out discussions of policy. This is a pattern that political scientist Larry Sabato has called a ______.

a. horse race phenomenon

b. reporter bias

c. “feeding frenzy”

d. commercial bias

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.3: Understand the issue of bias in American media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Contemporary Pressures Affect How the Media Covers Campaigns and Elections

Difficulty Level: Medium

76. The political goal of a politician who wishes to control the media is to ______.

a. get out as much information as possible about the campaign on a daily basis

b. control the message by focusing on one message per news cycle day

c. allow the public to set the media agenda for the campaign

d. allow the candidate to create a media storm that distracts from negative messages

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.3: Understand the issue of bias in American media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Contemporary Pressures Affect How the Media Covers Campaigns and Elections

Difficulty Level: Medium

77. The study of the power of the news media in shaping individuals’ political knowledge, preferences, and political behavior is called the ______.

a. horse race phenomenon

b. “feeding frenzy”

c. partisan bias

d. media effect

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.5: Explain the different perspectives on the power of the media to shape political understanding and behaviors.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Scholars Have Differed on the Media’s Effects

Difficulty Level: Medium

78. The current view of most scholars of media and American politics lies ______.

a. more toward the limited effects model

b. more toward the direct effects model

c. somewhere in between the direct and limited effects models

d. in an institutional effects model

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.5: Explain the different perspectives on the power of the media to shape political understanding and behaviors.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Scholars Have Differed on the Media’s Effects

Difficulty Level: Medium

79. According to the work of political scientist Markus Prior, the new technologies and media avenues of today may be dividing Americans, making them more partisan. We call this phenomenon a ______.

a. digital divide

b. electronic break

c. Internet gateway

d. voter chasm

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.5: Explain the different perspectives on the power of the media to shape political understanding and behaviors.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Americans May Be Separated by a Digital Divide

Difficulty Level: Medium

True/False

1. The American news media is currently experiencing a period of unprecedented stability.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.1: Describe both who the news media are and the major questions of truth, power, and trust at stake in the media today.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Both candidates in the 2016 presidential election received negative media attention.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.1: Describe both who the news media are and the major questions of truth, power, and trust at stake in the media today.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Can a Foreign Government Change a Presidential Election? How Powerful Are the Media?

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Most intelligence sources, including the CIA and FBI directors, felt that the 2016 election would be the only time that a foreign government would try to influence a U.S. election.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.1: Describe both who the news media are and the major questions of truth, power, and trust at stake in the media today.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Can a Foreign Government Change a Presidential Election? How Powerful Are the Media?

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. The news media only has been highly partisan in the United States since approximately the year 2000.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Media Go “Mass” with the Penny Presses in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. Economics accounts for both the rise and the fall of the 19th-century partisan press.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: The Media Go “Mass” with the Penny Presses in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

Difficulty Level: Hard

6. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, daily and weekly newspapers reached a relatively large portion of the population.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Media Go “Mass” with the Penny Presses in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. The use of yellow journalism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries resulted in a decrease in newspaper and magazine sales.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Media Go “Mass” with the Penny Presses in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. As cable news channels became more prevalent, television news became more partisan in its presentation.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Twentieth Century Brought Radio and TV News Directly into Americans’ Homes

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. Media outlets that cater to specialized audiences are said to practice partisan journalism.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: New Media Have Reinvented the Media Landscape

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. The deregulation of media outlets has led to an increase in their diversity.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss changes in the regulation of media ownership and media content.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Regulation Affects Media Technologies and Ownership

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. One of the consequences of media deregulation has been the need to shape media coverage to attract as wide an audience as possible.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss changes in the regulation of media ownership and media content.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Regulation Affects Media Technologies and Ownership

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. Supporters of net neutrality believe companies that provide the “highways” of the Internet and broadband age should be able to charge more to content providers whose “livestock” chew up more bandwidth.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss changes in the regulation of media ownership and media content.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Regulation Affects Media Technologies and Ownership

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. According to research presented in a 2013 Pew Research Center poll, Internet news consumption has overtaken that of television news media.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss changes in the regulation of media ownership and media content.

REF: Cognitive Domain:

Answer Location: Regulation Affects Media Technologies and Ownership

Difficulty Level: Medium

14. The fairness doctrine has ceased to be rigorously enforced, partly because of the growth in cable television channels and shows.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss changes in the regulation of media ownership and media content.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Regulation Also Affects Content

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. The blurring of the lines between news and entertainment and the demands placed on the news to attract a commercial audience have also pressured reporters to be more objective.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.3: Understand the issue of bias in American media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The News Can Function as Entertainment

Difficulty Level: Medium

16. Political candidates dread soft news, which they view as having no value for them politically, and decline, for example, to be interviewed on talk shows.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.3: Understand the issue of bias in the American media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The News Can Function as Entertainment

Difficulty Level: Medium

17. Net neutrality is under threat with the Trump administration.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss changes in the regulation of media ownership and media content.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Regulation Affects Media Technologies and Ownership

Difficulty Level: Easy

Short Answer

1. One of the most important developments in the Internet age has been the rise of ______ like Facebook and Twitter.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: New Media Have Reinvented the Media Landscape

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. Popular comedy shows such as The Daily Show with Trevor Noah are good examples of the blurring of lines between information and entertainment known as ______.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.3: Understand the issue of bias in American media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The News Can Function as Entertainment

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. Stories that focus on celebrities, personalities, and entertaining events rather than events of political or economic importance would be classified as ______ stories.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.3: Understand the issue of bias in American media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The News Can Function as Entertainment

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. Many critics of the American news media argue that the nation’s largest newspapers and mainstream news outlets demonstrate a ______ bias.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.3: Understand the issue of bias in American media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Bias and the Perception of Bias Is a Problem in Media Coverage

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. When a news agency shapes its coverage so as to attract the highest possible audience in order to generate maximum revenue, this is often referred to as a ______ bias.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.3: Understand the issue of bias in American media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Bias and the Perception of Bias Is a Problem in Media Coverage

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. When a news agency focuses on the drama of the race rather than on the policy differences of the candidates, this is called the ______ phenomenon.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.3: Understand the issue of bias in American media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Contemporary Pressures Affect How the Media Covers Campaigns and Elections

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. An organization that gathers the news and offers it for sale to other media outlets is known as a(n) ______.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Journalists Became Investigators and Activists in the Nineteenth Century

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. Contrary to earlier models, the view of some scholars of media and American politics sees a model of ______ effects, which finds that the media were found to be only one factor in an individual’s ultimate choice about which candidates to vote for in a given election.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.5: Explain the different perspectives on the power of the media to shape political understanding and behaviors.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Scholars Have Differed on the Media’s Effects

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. By covering a candidate or issue in such a way as to shape individuals’ interpretations of news or events by highlighting certain details or contexts, the media serves to ______ the public.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.5: Explain the different perspectives on the power of the media to shape political understanding and behaviors.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Scholars Have Differed on the Media’s Effects

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. Through its ability to select which stories are covered, the media may exert an ______ role by highlighting which issues are worthy of coverage and, as a consequence, worthy of the public’s attention.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.5: Explain the different perspectives on the power of the media to shape political understanding and behaviors.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Scholars Have Differed on the Media’s Effects

Difficulty Level: Easy

11. Today, most political radio broadcasts lean ______.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Twentieth Century Brought Radio and TV News Directly into Americans’ Homes

Difficulty Level: Medium

Essay

1. Describe how the sources of Americans’ political news have changed during the 21st century. Use examples to explain or describe what these changes mean in today’s political and social environment.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: New Media Have Reinvented the Media Landscape

Difficulty Level: Hard

2. How have changes in social media consumption and production impacted the ability of Americans to get their voices heard?

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.2: Trace the historical development of the American news media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: New Media Have Reinvented the Media Landscape

Difficulty Level: Hard

3. What challenges do new media communications technologies pose to the ability of the federal government to regulate traditional and nontraditional media?

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss changes in the regulation of media ownership and media content.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Regulation Affects Media Technologies and Ownership

Difficulty Level: Hard

4. What role does the public’s desire for entertainment play in the media’s decisions to focus its stories on sensational and entertaining topics?

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.3: Understand the issue of bias in American media.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: The News Can Function as Entertainment; Bias and the Perception of Bias Is a Problem in Media Coverage

Difficulty Level: Hard

5. Explain and analyze the phenomenon of the “digital divide” as discussed in your textbook.

TOP: Learning Outcome: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.

KEY: Learning Objective: 8.5: Explain the different perspectives on the power of the media to shape political understanding and behaviors.

REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Americans May Be Separated by a Digital Divide

Difficulty Level: Medium