Exam Questions The Media Chapter 15 - Test Bank | Keeping the Republic 9e by Barbour by Christine Barbour. DOCX document preview.
Test Bank
Chapter 15: The Media
Multiple Choice
1. Narratives are based upon which of the following?
a. assumptions
b. stereotypes
c. information
d. official reports
e. rumors
Learning Objective: 15.1: Discuss changes over the past several decades in the ways in which Americans get their news and information.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Where Do We Get Our Information?
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
2. Which of the following is true regarding talk radio?
a. Its political impact is stronger than that of television.
b. It has provided an interactive political platform dominated by liberals.
c. Ninety-one percent of Americans claim to listen to talk radio.
d. The majority of talk radio consumers are conservative.
e. Political talk radio first became popular in the 1970s.
Learning Objective: 15.1: Discuss changes over the past several decades in the ways in which Americans get their news and information.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Where Do We Get Our Information?
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
3. ______ is an example of infotainment.
a. Reporting on a peace agreement in the Middle East
b. A segment on the politics behind Social Security reform
c. Showing a police chase
d. Reporting the week’s weather
e. Broadcasting the president’s State of the Union address
Learning Objective: 15.1: Discuss changes over the past several decades in the ways in which Americans get their news and information.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Where Do We Get Our Information?
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
4. Most politicians like radio and television because these media ______.
a. allow politicians to reach a broad audience without the adversarial questions of print reporters
b. do not give reporters the opportunity to filter their responses
c. always allow for interaction with audiences
d. are widely available and inexpensive
e. typically convey political narratives without bias
Learning Objective: 15.1: Discuss changes over the past several decades in the ways in which Americans get their news and information.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Where Do We Get Our Information?
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
5. Infotainment refers to ______.
a. a dramatic television series that presents a political message
b. educational shows for children, such as Sesame Street
c. the attempt to make the nightly news more objective
d. news shows dressed up with drama and entertainment to entice viewers to tune in
e. Internet sites that allow visitors to watch videos
Learning Objective: 15.1: Discuss changes over the past several decades in the ways in which Americans get their news and information.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Where Do We Get Our Information?
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
6. The advent of cable and satellite television providers has had all of the following effects EXCEPT ______.
a. increasing dramatically the number of channels available to viewers
b. increasing the quality of news available to viewers
c. creating fierce competition for viewers
d. encouraging broadcasters to focus on narrow audiences
e. blurring the lines between news and entertainment
Learning Objective: 15.1: Discuss changes over the past several decades in the ways in which Americans get their news and information.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Where Do We Get Our Information?
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
7. Although the Internet provides people with enormous amounts of information, ______.
a. most people do not know how to search for relevant information
b. it is difficult to sort and evaluate the available information
c. little of that information is devoted to politics
d. most of it tends to be liberal
e. the vast majority of the news and political information is not very accurate
Learning Objective: 15.1: Discuss changes over the past several decades in the ways in which Americans get their news and information.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Where Do We Get Our Information?
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
8. The most recent change we have seen in the way news is being disseminated and how candidates are creating networks of supporters is ______.
a. the use of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social networking sites for these purposes
b. that more Americans are reading newspapers on Kindle or other electronic readers
c. that such information is spread more and more by word of mouth nowadays
d. that computers have led to slower distribution of newsworthy information
e. none of the these
Learning Objective: 15.1: Discuss changes over the past several decades in the ways in which Americans get their news and information.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Where Do We Get Our Information?
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
9. Which of the following statements is NOT true concerning use of the media to gather information about the news?
a. Americans have moved rapidly to extensive use of television and the Internet.
b. Sorting through information is a costly exercise.
c. New forms of technology have expanded.
d. It takes great time and effort to critically analyze the information available through the media.
e. Americans have become well informed about their political world.
Learning Objective: 15.1: Discuss changes over the past several decades in the ways in which Americans get their news and information.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Where Do We Get Our Information?
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
10. The new movement toward having everyday people act as journalists and report the news directly on social media or blogs is known as ______.
a. muckraking
b. citizen journalism
c. commercial journalism
d. front-loading
e. posting
Learning Objective: 15.5: Summarize the relationship between citizens and the media.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Citizens and the Media
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
11. Yellow journalism refers to ______.
a. the tendency to add spin to news reporting
b. the effort to lure audiences by reporting on sensational topics
c. accepting the “yellow” lie as a part of reporting
d. a move to more objective news reporting
e. a move toward more factual coverage of national news stories
Learning Objective: 15.2: Describe the ways in which media ownership and government regulation influence the news we get.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: How Does Media Ownership Affect Control of the Narrative?
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
12. The tendency of the media to make coverage and programming decisions based on what will attract a large audience and maximize profits is known as ______.
a. infotainment
b. a feeding frenzy
c. yellow journalism
d. narrowcasting
e. commercial bias
Learning Objective: 15.2: Describe the ways in which media ownership and government regulation influence the news we get.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: How Does Media Ownership Affect Control of the Narrative?
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
13. In the media today, there is __________.
a. commercial bias
b. partisan bias
c. objectivity
d. conservative bias
e. liberal bias
Learning Objective: 15.2: Describe the ways in which media ownership and government regulation influence the news we get.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: How Does Media Ownership Affect Control of the Narrative?
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
14. Covering which of the following would be an example of commercial bias?
a. John Edwards’s extramarital affair
b. a report on the effects of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
c. the contents of an agricultural bill
d. a discussion about the appropriate qualifications for a Supreme Court justice
e. a story on the deregulation of the energy industry
Learning Objective: 15.2: Describe the ways in which media ownership and government regulation influence the news we get.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: How Does Media Ownership Affect Control of the Narrative?
Difficulty Level: Hard
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
15. The corporate nature of the American media has caused ______.
a. most newspapers to increase coverage of business news
b. advertisers to dictate the content of the news
c. newspapers to become remarkably similar
d. newspapers to become more expensive
e. newspapers to become more serious in their coverage
Learning Objective: 15.2: Describe the ways in which media ownership and government regulation influence the news we get.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: How Does Media Ownership Affect Control of the Narrative?
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
16. The most basic consequence of concentrated corporate ownership of the news is ______.
a. a reduced emphasis on political news
b. commercial bias
c. the lightening up of the news
d. conflicts of interest for the news media
e. the dramatizing of the news
Learning Objective: 15.2: Describe the ways in which media ownership and government regulation influence the news we get.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: How Does Media Ownership Affect Control of the Narrative?
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
17. It is generally assumed in America that media owned or controlled by the government does which of the following?
a. It promotes only a liberal point of view.
b. It promotes only a conservative point of view.
c. It encourages the dissemination of multiple political narratives.
d. It serves only the interests of the government.
e. It promotes hyperpartisanship at the state and federal levels.
Learning Objective: 15.2: Describe the ways in which media ownership and government regulation influence the news we get.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: How Does Media Ownership Affect Control of the Narrative?
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
18. The Federal Communications Act was passed because ______.
a. government regulation was needed to manage competition for scarce airwaves
b. the partisan ownership of most stations required that more stations be established to serve the public interest
c. Congress felt a need to bring truth to the broadcast industry, given its propensity to run so many slanderous programs
d. initially the broadcast content of many radio stations was controversial
e. Congress wanted to ensure unbiased news coverage
Learning Objective: 15.2: Describe the ways in which media ownership and government regulation influence the news we get.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: How Does Media Ownership Affect Control of the Narrative?
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
19. The impact of the deregulation of broadcast journalism by the 1996 Telecommunications Act has been to ______.
a. increase competition in the news media
b. increase the quality of news coverage
c. free the Internet from unnecessary restrictions
d. increase newspaper circulation
e. increase the possibilities of media monopoly
Learning Objective: 15.2: Describe the ways in which media ownership and government regulation influence the news we get.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: How Does Media Ownership Affect Control of the Narrative?
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
20. The 1996 Telecommunications Act ______.
a. prohibited broadcast networks from owning cable stations
b. created the equal time rule
c. allowed ownership of multiple broadcast stations as long as those stations did not reach more than 35 percent of the market
d. exempted cable stations from the same standards of fairness and decency required of broadcast stations
e. required both radio and television stations to adhere to the fairness doctrine
Learning Objective: 15.2: Describe the ways in which media ownership and government regulation influence the news we get.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: How Does Media Ownership Affect Control of the Narrative?
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
21. What was the purpose of the equal time provision?
a. to provide all candidates the opportunity to speak over the airwaves
b. to require that stations ensure all viewpoints are presented
c. to enable the candidates of major parties to get their views across
d. to foster the growth of independent third parties
e. to close the airwaves to viewpoints that contradict those of station ownership
Learning Objective: 15.2: Describe the ways in which media ownership and government regulation influence the news we get.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: How Does Media Ownership Affect Control of the Narrative?
Difficulty Level: Hard
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
22. Gatekeepers ______.
a. decide the details about what news gets covered
b. confine their role to getting the facts of the story straight
c. interpret complex problems
d. report only via the Internet
e. filter political narratives to fit a station’s political agenda
Learning Objective: 15.3: Explain the roles and responsibilities of journalists and the tools they use to shape and perpetuate political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Where Do We Get Our Information?
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
23. Rachel accidentally films her mayor accepting a bribe in a public park and, eventually realizing what she has on her smartphone, uploads it to her blog with some appropriate commentary. According to Barbour and Wright, she has ______.
a. used news management techniques correctly
b. violated the mayor’s privacy
c. violated the principle of political accountability
d. engaged in citizen journalism
e. forgotten the first rule of media convergence
Learning Objective: 15.5: Summarize the relationship between citizens and the media.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: The Citizens and the Media
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
24. The idea that the journalist’s job is to get news to the public quickly, avoid stories with unverified content, and reach as wide an audience as possible is known as the ______ role.
a. disseminator
b. mobilizer
c. gatekeeper
d. investigator
e. trustee
Learning Objective: 15.3: Explain the roles and responsibilities of journalists and the tools they use to shape and perpetuate political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Review
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
25. A genuine problem with citizen journalism is that ______.
a. bloggers usually have more resources than traditional media outlets
b. its quality is highly variable
c. the credentialing agency for citizen journalists is overly bureaucratic
d. the technology required to engage in it is very expensive
e. the government cannot, by law, regulate its operation
Learning Objective: 15.5: Summarize the relationship between citizens and the media.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Citizens and the Media
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
26. Traditionally, citizen access to the media has been ______.
a. direct
b. individualized
c. immediate
d. remote
e. sporadic
Learning Objective: 15.5: Summarize the relationship between citizens and the media.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Citizens and the Media
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
27. Political accountability is designed to ensure that politicians ______.
a. make constituents feel better about themselves and their community
b. earn a reasonable salary for the work that they do
c. accomplish the goals that their constituents want them to achieve
d. face inflexible term limits in office
e. are accountable only to each other
Learning Objective: 15.4: Identify the strategies politicians use to counter the influence of the media and shape and perpetuate their own political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Politics as Public Relations
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
28. Barbour and Wright maintain that American democracy is ______.
a. improved by decreased regulation of media ownership
b. unaffected by feeding frenzies because the public has grown wary of their impacts
c. enhanced by the work of bloggers, spin doctors, and pundits
d. weakened by the media if they make political accountability more difficult
e. typically unaffected by lapses in political accountability
Learning Objective: 15.4: Identify the strategies politicians use to counter the influence of the media and shape and perpetuate their own political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Politics as Public Relations
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
29. For most of American history, control of the media has been in the hands of ______.
a. faceless bureaucrats in Washington
b. ordinary citizens
c. an elite segment of the population
d. technology firms and large corporations
e. the entertainment industry
Learning Objective: 15.5: Summarize the relationship between citizens and the media.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Citizens and the Media
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
30. A presidential speechwriter who then took a job as a syndicated columnist and later returned as a domestic-policy advisor to a member of Congress would illustrate ______.
a. a feeding frenzy
b. a trial balloon
c. cyclical journalism
d. the revolving door
e. press–politics integration
Learning Objective: 15.3: Explain the roles and responsibilities of journalists and the tools they use to shape and perpetuate political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Spinning Political Narratives
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
31. One significant impact of the rise of the political pundit is that ______.
a. there is no check on the pundits
b. it has increased the viewership of news broadcasts
c. political analysis has improved remarkably since the 1960s
d. it has made the public less cynical about politics
e. it has lessened the revolving-door problem
Learning Objective: 15.3: Explain the roles and responsibilities of journalists and the tools they use to shape and perpetuate political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Spinning Political Narratives
Difficulty Level Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
32. Which of the following statements is NOT true concerning pundits?
a. Many of them come through the revolving door from government.
b. Their numbers have risen dramatically with the need to fill expanding airtime.
c. They usually have high levels of expertise and professionalism.
d. They have considerable unchecked power.
e. They have become media celebrities.
Learning Objective: 15.3: Explain the roles and responsibilities of journalists and the tools they use to shape and perpetuate political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Spinning Political Narratives
Difficulty Level: Hard
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
33. The tendency of public officials, journalists, and lobbyists to move between public- and private-sector jobs is known as ______.
a. the feeding frenzy
b. the trial balloon
c. press patronage
d. bicameral journalism
e. the revolving door
Learning Objective: 15.3: Explain the roles and responsibilities of journalists and the tools they use to shape and perpetuate political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Spinning Political Narratives
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
34. In engaging in agenda setting, priming, and framing, the news media are ______.
a. telling the public what to think
b. holding politicians accountable
c. providing a neutral source of information
d. demonstrating liberal bias
e. telling the public what to think about
Learning Objective: 15.3: Explain the roles and responsibilities of journalists and the tools they use to shape and perpetuate political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Spinning Political Narratives
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
35. The agenda-setting functions of the news media have the greatest effect on ______.
a. Democrats
b. third-party supporters
c. Republicans
d. partisans of all parties
e. independents
Learning Objective: 15.3: Explain the roles and responsibilities of journalists and the tools they use to shape and perpetuate political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Spinning Political Narratives
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
36. If the news media constantly emphasize crime, and then politicians are evaluated on how they deal with crime, this would be an example of ______.
a. media manipulation
b. news management
c. agenda setting
d. priming
e. framing
Learning Objective: 15.3: Explain the roles and responsibilities of journalists and the tools they use to shape and perpetuate political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Spinning Political Narratives
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
37. When a news organization decides to report a story on a tornado by focusing on how many are dead versus how many survive, it engages in ______.
a. framing
b. focusing
c. priming
d. news management
e. agenda setting
Learning Objective: 15.3: Explain the roles and responsibilities of journalists and the tools they use to shape and perpetuate political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Spinning Political Narratives
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
38. Because television is an entertainment medium, its coverage of political events focuses on ______.
a. image
b. controversial topics
c. only important issues
d. rhetoric
e. popular topics
Learning Objective: 15.3: Explain the roles and responsibilities of journalists and the tools they use to shape and perpetuate political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Spinning Political Narratives
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
39. Selective perception shows us that ______.
a. a media bias exists
b. viewers do more than passively receive news and values presented by the media
c. media coverage of politics focuses on nothing more than conflict and image
d. priming is the overriding impact on what news people receive
e. people become more informed when they have selective perception
Learning Objective: 15.3: Explain the roles and responsibilities of journalists and the tools they use to shape and perpetuate political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Spinning Political Narratives
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
40. A 2003 study looking at misperceptions about the Iraq war concluded that the frequency with which those beliefs were held varied dramatically depending on ______.
a. a person’s political party
b. which interest groups the person belonged to
c. the person’s age
d. the primary source of the person’s news
e. the person’s gender
Learning Objective: 15.3: Explain the roles and responsibilities of journalists and the tools they use to shape and perpetuate political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Spinning Political Narratives
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
41. The effects of horse-race journalism include all of the following EXCEPT this:
a. The media show politics as if politicians cared only about scoring victories off one another.
b. The media report on politics as if it were a game of strategy and wit with no substance.
c. The media help citizens to understand the issues.
d. The media trivialize politics.
e. The media ignore citizens’ concerns about politics.
Learning Objective: 15.3: Explain the roles and responsibilities of journalists and the tools they use to shape and perpetuate political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Spinning Political Narratives
Difficulty Level: Hard
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
42. The major consequence of the press’s increased emphasis on conflict and image is ______.
a. increased appreciation among the public for the importance of the political process
b. increased cynicism among the public toward both the media and politics
c. increased cynicism among the public toward the media and increased sympathy for politicians
d. a public sense of urgency that the people participate in politics
e. an increased dependence on the media as the only source of truth about the political world
Learning Objective: 15.3: Explain the roles and responsibilities of journalists and the tools they use to shape and perpetuate political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Spinning Political Narratives
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
43. Excessive press coverage of an embarrassing or scandalous subject is called ______.
a. spin
b. framing
c. a feeding frenzy
d. priming
e. narrowcasting
Learning Objective: 15.3: Explain the roles and responsibilities of journalists and the tools they use to shape and perpetuate political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Spinning Political Narratives
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
44. ______ is an interpretation of a politician’s words or actions designed to present a favorable image.
a. A sound bite
b. Framing
c. Priming
d. Spin
e. News management
Learning Objective: 15.4: Identify the strategies politicians use to counter the influence of the media and shape and perpetuate their own political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Politics as Public Relations
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
45. A(n) ______ is an official leak of a proposal to determine public reaction without risk.
a. trial balloon
b. issue rehearsal
c. primer
d. sneak preview
e. test issue
Learning Objective: 15.4: Identify the strategies politicians use to counter the influence of the media and shape and perpetuate their own political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Politics as Public Relations
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
46. One significance of news management is that it ______.
a. has increased the media’s ability to set the agenda
b. limits the ability of reporters to put their own interpretations on events
c. leads to more negative campaigning
d. has led to more trust in the media
e. has made people less cynical about politics
Learning Objective: 15.4: Identify the strategies politicians use to counter the influence of the media and shape and perpetuate their own political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Politics as Public Relations
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
47. Which of the following is NOT an example of new media?
a. blogs
b. social networks
c. ideological magazines
d. cable news stations
e. Internet news
Learning Objective: 15.5: Summarize the relationship between citizens and the media.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Citizens and the Media
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
48. The administration of George W. Bush faced criticism because his public relations staff ______.
a. set up monthly press conferences for him
b. ensured that he rarely faced questions from skeptical audiences or reporters
c. deflected difficult questions and interviews to his vice president
d. allowed him to appear on comedy news shows
e. did not shield him from citizen journalists
Learning Objective: 15.4: Identify the strategies politicians use to counter the influence of the media and shape and perpetuate their own political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Politics as Public Relations
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
49. A major reason why the president’s media staffers try to orchestrate a daily theme for presidential press coverage is that ______.
a. journalists might otherwise try to report on objectionable stories
b. reporters will refuse to cover the president entirely
c. most journalists are too lazy to engage in investigative reporting
d. public broadcasters need an official line to report
e. solid organizational structure is key to receiving balanced press coverage
Learning Objective: 15.4: Identify the strategies politicians use to counter the influence of the media and shape and perpetuate their own political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Politics as Public Relations
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
50. The existence of the permanent campaign in American politics means that the ______.
a. president can afford to ignore his power to persuade other actors in the political system
b. administration’s spin doctors frequently find themselves out of work in the midst of a scandal
c. president is raising money for his next presidential campaign the day after he is reelected
d. imperatives of short-term politics often outweigh the importance of long-term policy priorities
e. the need for new management is greatly reduced during nonelection years
Learning Objective: 15.4: Identify the strategies politicians use to counter the influence of the media and shape and perpetuate their own political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Politics as Public Relations
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
51. When a campaign limits the media’s access to a candidate to a short time and the candidate makes only brief statements to the press, the campaign’s spin doctors are trying to ______.
a. prevent the candidate’s overexposure
b. build momentum for a special announcement
c. engage in news management
d. be sure the candidate is well rested for the remainder of the campaign
e. engage in political accountability
Learning Objective: 15.4: Identify the strategies politicians use to counter the influence of the media and shape and perpetuate their own political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Politics as Public Relations
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
52. The phenomenon of selective perception demonstrates that viewers ______.
a. cannot rationally decide on which media outlets they want to consume
b. wish to be entertained with “bread and circuses” rather than informed
c. are more engaged with the media they consume than some critics would argue
d. are paralyzed by the enormous number of information sources that are available to them
e. personal bias plays only a small role in determining which media most citizens choose to consume
Learning Objective: 15.4: Identify the strategies politicians use to counter the influence of the media and shape and perpetuate their own political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Spinning Political Narratives
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
53. When an individual filters incoming information through personal biases and interests and then decides what to pay attention to, this person has engaged in ______.
a. priming
b. selective perception
c. framing
d. information staging
e. political accountability
Ans. B
KEY: Learning Objective: 15.4: Identify the strategies politicians use to counter the influence of the media and shape and perpetuate their own political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Spinning Political Narratives
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
54. Politicians’ focus on optics and the media’s tendency toward horse-race journalism combine, in Barbour and Wright’s view, to create ______.
a. heightened political accountability
b. greater voter turnout in presidential elections
c. increased public awareness and knowledge of politics
d. superficial media coverage of politics
e. a stronger reliance on narrowcasting
Learning Objective: 15.4: Identify the strategies politicians use to counter the influence of the media and shape and perpetuate their own political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Spinning Political Narratives
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
55. The phenomenon of horse-race journalism can clearly be spotted in the media’s ______.
a. frequent investigative reporting devoted to policy issues
b. obsession with election-related polling results
c. disinclination to give any politician the benefit of the doubt
d. inability to influence the political agenda
e. reluctance to embrace the views perpetuated via civic journalism
Learning Objective: 15.4: Identify the strategies politicians use to counter the influence of the media and shape and perpetuate their own political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Spinning Political Narratives
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
56. Barbour and Wright believe that the public’s use of media personalities as opinion leaders is an example of ______.
a. agenda setting
b. persuasion by professional communicators
c. priming and framing
d. reducing politics to sound and fury
e. political accountability
Learning Objective: 15.4: Identify the strategies politicians use to counter the influence of the media and shape and perpetuate their own political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Spinning Political Narratives
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
57. The sudden increase in American foreign aid to counteract the 1984-1985 Ethiopian famine once the American media started to report on it is a classic example of the effect of ______.
a. attack-dog journalism
b. agenda setting
c. media malaise
d. the perception gap
e. selective perception
Learning Objective: 15.4: Identify the strategies politicians use to counter the influence of the media and shape and perpetuate their own political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Spinning Political Narratives
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
58. Barbour and Wright argue that the media are a major agent of political socialization, the process by which ______.
a. news stories are given context for mass audiences
b. the views of the majority are exaggerated into apparent unanimity of public opinion
c. important values are transmitted from one generation to the next
d. members of the public are encouraged to think about particular issues when certain terms are used
e. citizens learn to consume political news based upon a media-inspired ideological framework
Learning Objective: 15.4: Identify the strategies politicians use to counter the influence of the media and shape and perpetuate their own political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Spinning Political Narratives
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
59. The net neutrality principle ______.
a. guarantees that all Internet traffic is treated the same way
b. compels Internet news sites to give equal time to multiple sides of controversial issues
c. allows individuals whose reputations were attacked on Internet sites the ability to respond
d. prevents the federal government from censoring the Internet
e. dictates guidelines for the practice of citizen journalism
Learning Objective: 15.2: Describe the ways in which media ownership and government regulation influence the news we get.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: How Does Media Ownership Affect Control of the Narrative?
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
60. One argument for disposing of the media content and ownership restrictions enforced by the FCC in an earlier era is that ______.
a. cable and satellite television outlets must be protected from competition
b. broadcast spectrum and time are no longer scarce resources
c. these regulations are too expensive to enforce
d. media monopolies are healthy for a democracy
e. media outlets are too varied for these restrictions to be effective
Learning Objective: 15.2: Describe the ways in which media ownership and government regulation influence the news we get.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: How Does Media Ownership Affect Control of the Narrative?
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
True/False
1. Commercial bias in the media is a result of the growing concentration of corporate ownership of the media.
Learning Objective: 15.2: Describe the ways in which media ownership and government regulation influence the news we get.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: How Does Media Ownership Affect Control of the Narrative?
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
2. Fifty percent of Americans still list the newspapers as one of their primary sources of news.
Learning Objective: 15.1: Discuss changes over the past several decades in the ways in which Americans get their news and information.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Where Do We Get Our Information?
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
3. Members of the Baby Boomer generation typically rely upon the television to get their news.
Learning Objective: 15.1: Discuss changes over the past several decades in the ways in which Americans get their news and information.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Where Do We Get Our Information?
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
4. According to Nielson, the average American now spends only two hours a day watching live television.
Learning Objective: 15.1: Discuss changes over the past several decades in the ways in which Americans get their news and information.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Where Do We Get Our Information?
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
5. In the 1890s William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer waged a tabloid war that ultimately gave rise to yellow journalism.
Learning Objective: 15.2: Describe the ways in which media ownership and government regulation influence the news we get.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: How Does Media Ownership Affect Control of the Narrative?
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
6. Most news shared through online publishing is driven by a corporate agenda.
Learning Objective: 15.2: Describe the ways in which media ownership and government regulation influence the news we get.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: How Does Media Ownership Affect Control of the Narrative?
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
7. The Federal Communications Commission was created in response to demands from broadcasters that the government impose some sort of order on the chaotic radio industry.
Learning Objective: 15.2: Describe the ways in which media ownership and government regulation influence the news we get.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: How Does Media Ownership Affect Control of the Narrative?
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
8. A sound bit is an example of a leak.
Learning Objective: 15.4: Identify the strategies politicians use to counter the influence of the media and shape and perpetuate their own political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Politics as Public Relations
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
9. The primary power wielded by citizens in their relationship with the media is the power to switch their sources of information.
Learning Objective: 15.5: Summarize the relationship between citizens and the media.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Citizens and the Media
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
10. Because they are indebted to corporate interests, citizen journalists are unable to hold mainstream media accountable.
Learning Objective: 15.5: Summarize the relationship between citizens and the media.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Citizens and the Media
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
Short Answer
1. Name three regulations the Federal Communications Commission has enacted to ensure that a variety of viewpoints are made available through the broadcast media.
Learning Objective: 15.2: Describe the ways in which media ownership and government regulation influence the news we get.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: How Does Media Ownership Affect Control of the Narrative?
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
2. What are the four roles played by journalists?
Learning Objective: 15.3: Explain the roles and responsibilities of journalists and the tools they use to shape and perpetuate political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Review
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
3. Define selective perception and explain its significance.
Learning Objective: 15.3: Explain the roles and responsibilities of journalists and the tools they use to shape and perpetuate political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Spinning Political Narratives
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
4. What is a feeding frenzy, and what are its effects?
Learning Objective: 15.3: Explain the roles and responsibilities of journalists and the tools they use to shape and perpetuate political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Spinning Political Narratives
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
5. What are three example of information technology that have developed over the past two hundred years?
Learning Objective: 15.1: Discuss changes over the past several decades in the ways in which Americans get their news and information.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Where Do We Get Our Information?
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
6. In what specific ways do those who use the Internet to interact with others concerning the news do so?
Learning Objective: 15.1: Discuss changes over the past several decades in the ways in which Americans get their news and information.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Where Do We Get Our Information?
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
7. In today’s world what do all of the major magazines, newspapers, and radio and television news networks have in common?
Learning Objective: 15.1: Discuss changes over the past several decades in the ways in which Americans get their news and information.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Where Do We Get Our Information?
Difficulty Level: Hard
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
8. How does advertising contribute to the success or failure of various media outlets?
Learning Objective: 15.2: Describe the ways in which media ownership and government regulation influence the news we get.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: How Does Media Ownership Affect Control of the Narrative?
Difficulty Level: Hard
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
9. Why do many politicians favor the enforcement of government regulations such as the Federal Communications Act?
Learning Objective: 15.2: Describe the ways in which media ownership and government regulation influence the news we get.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: How Does Media Ownership Affect Control of the Narrative?
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
10. Why are some media owners critical of government regulations?
Learning Objective: 15.2: Describe the ways in which media ownership and government regulation influence the news we get.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: How Does Media Ownership Affect Control of the Narrative?
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
Essay
1. Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and a host of other news and social media sites have allowed average citizens to become newsmakers. Is this a good or bad thing? Is the increase in citizen journalism leading to inaccuracies in reporting? Or can we trust that Americans will “consider the source” and verify any questionable information they read on a blog?
Learning Objective: 15.5: Summarize the relationship between citizens and the media.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: The Citizens and the Media
Difficulty Level: Hard
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
2. What is media convergence and how does it impact the ways in which people get their news?
Learning Objective: 15.1: Discuss changes over the past several decades in the ways in which Americans get their news and information.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Where Do We Get Our Information?
Difficulty Level: Hard
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
3. Discussions about the media almost inevitably come back to whether a media bias exists. Why do those on the left believe such a bias exists? How about those on the right? Does the public believe the media are biased? If the media are biased one way or the other, what might be the effects?
Learning Objective: 15.3: Explain the roles and responsibilities of journalists and the tools they use to shape and perpetuate political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Various pages
Difficulty Level: Hard
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
4. Politicians want to be presented by the media in the best possible light. Discuss news management and the different techniques that politicians and their staffs use to control news coverage. What possible problems exist with news management?
Learning Objective: 15.4: Identify the strategies politicians use to counter the influence of the media and shape and perpetuate their own political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Politics as Public Relations
Difficulty Level: Hard
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
5. Since its entry into the American mainstream how has television impacted the delivery of news?
Learning Objective: 15.1: Discuss changes over the past several decades in the ways in which Americans get their news and information.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Where Do We Get Our Information?
Difficulty Level: Hard
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
6. In what ways has the Internet impacted the delivery and consumption of the news?
Learning Objective: 15.1: Discuss changes over the past several decades in the ways in which Americans get their news and information.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Where Do We Get Our Information?
Difficulty Level: Hard
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
7. What alternatives exist to corporate media and what obstacles do they face in a media world dominated by corporate interests?
Learning Objective: 15.2: Describe the ways in which media ownership and government regulation influence the news we get.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: How Does Media Ownership Affect Control of the Narrative?
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
8. At what times and for what reasons has the federal government attempted to regulate the media?
Learning Objective: 15.2: Describe the ways in which media ownership and government regulation influence the news we get.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: How Does Media Ownership Affect Control of the Narrative?
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
9. Explain how the agenda setting, framing, persuasion, and superficiality employed by the media impacts our thinking?
Learning Objective: 15.3: Explain the roles and responsibilities of journalists and the tools they use to shape and perpetuate political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Spinning Political Narratives
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
10. What is political accountability and what factors have contributed to its decline in recent years?
Learning Objective: 15.4: Identify the strategies politicians use to counter the influence of the media and shape and perpetuate their own political narratives.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Politics as Public Relations
Difficulty Level: Hard
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Describe the roles and relative importance of major entities and influences in American political life.
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Test Bank | Keeping the Republic 9e by Barbour
By Christine Barbour