Chapter 3: Press Freedom and the Law

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. The Supreme Court case of Miami Herald Publishing Company v. Tornillo (1974) dealt with which of the following?

A. print press rights

B. the constitutionality of a Florida statue

C. the right to immediate reply when attacked by a newspaper

D. all of these

2. The doctrine of executive privilege refers to ______.

A. chief executives’ ability to make and enforce restrictions on press access

B. chief executives’ right to conceal information they consider sensitive

C. chief executives’ power to take action against staff members who leak information

D. all of these

3. In what case did the Supreme Court find that defendants had not had a fair trial because of widespread media publicity?

A. Shepherd v. Florida (1951)

B. Sheppard v. Maxwell (1966)

C. all of these

D. none of these

True/False

1. Only about a third of the world’s countries have full press freedom.

2. Nearly 70% of countries are only partly free or are not free at all, according to Freedom House.

3. The United States is generally considered to have press freedom, but its rating is far from perfect.

4. Press freedom ratings are based only on legal, regulatory, and political controls on media content.

5. Columbia and Mexico have high rates of press freedom.

6. An important constraint on press freedom is the extent to which journalists are under threats of violence.

7. Danger for journalists around the world is on the decline.

8. The only way government in the United States can limit press is through prior restraint.

9. Journalists' reliance on officials as sources is one effective manner of information control.

10. The American public is highly cognizant of First Amendment rights and enthusiastically defend them.

11. Digital media are more tightly controlled by the U.S. government than broadcast television.

12. The arrival and proliferation of the Internet has unequivocally given more voice to groups and individuals in society who, historically, have been less heard.

13. Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning, and Edward Snowden share of the distinction of being viewed as heroic by some and villainous by others.

14. How to curb online hate speech is an emerging and complex challenge facing governments, nonprofits and corporations around the world.

Short Answer

1. What are the three environments that are critical to press freedom?

2. Compare and contrast controlled versus uncontrolled media.

3. The Supreme Court has denied that the press has a constitutional right of special access to nonpublic information. Discuss some examples of restrictions on media access.

4. Name three hurdles limiting the usefulness of the Freedom of Information Act for news personnel.

5. What are shield laws and why are they important for journalists?

6. What makes the Sullivan rule challenging for public officials?

Essay

1. What are the national security challenges of a free press? What challenges does the post–9/11 national security environment present for journalists? What are the tradeoffs between transparency and security?