Chapter 9: Reporting: The Basics and Beyond

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. Reporting on ongoing storm damage is an example of covering a ______.

A. breaking news event

B. speech

C. meeting

D. news conference

Learning Objective: 9-2: Define and differentiate among the main types of events you might cover.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Types of Events

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Reporting on a commencement address is an example of covering a ______.

A. breaking news event

B. speech

C. meeting

D. news conference

Learning Objective: 9-2: Define and differentiate among the main types of events you might cover.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Types of Events

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Reporting on a city council meeting is an example of covering a ______.

A. breaking news event

B. speech

C. meeting

D. news conference

Learning Objective: 9-2: Define and differentiate among the main types of events you might cover.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Types of Events

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Reporting on a new product introduction during an organized event for media at a corporate headquarters is an example of covering a ______.

A. breaking news event

B. speech

C. meeting

D. news conference

Learning Objective: 9-2: Define and differentiate among the main types of events you might cover.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Types of Events

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. If you can finish this sentence, “This matters because . . ,” then your story has ______.

A. a main assertion

B. a news peg

C. a personality

D. an engaged audience

Learning Objective: 9-6: Explain the value of a news peg and how it can make your story more valuable to your readership.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Identify the Main Assertion

Difficulty Level: Hard

6. ______ help(s) you determine what will happen at the event and who is involved.

A. Postevent interviews

B. Background research

C. Quotes

D. Secondary sources

Learning Objective: 9-4: Show how to gather information in advance of a story to create a story shell.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Seek Background

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. Breaking news events are among the most ______ stories for reporters to cover.

A. simple

B. easy

C. difficult

D. minimal

Learning Objective: 9-3: Explain why event coverage matters and how each type of event can affect your audience members.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Breaking News

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. ______ can be good events to cover, as you can help share a person’s expertise on a key topic with your readers.

A. Breaking news

B. News conferences

C. Meetings

D. Speeches

Learning Objective: 9-3: Explain why event coverage matters and how each type of event can affect your audience members.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Speeches

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. At ______, your job as a reporter is to sit in as a substitute for your readers and distill for them what happened.

A. meetings

B. speeches

C. breaking news

D. news conferences

Learning Objective: 9-3: Explain why event coverage matters and how each type of event can affect your audience members.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Meetings

Difficulty Level: Hard

10. ______ help a person or an organization disseminate a single message to multiple media outlets in a single moment.

A. Meetings

B. News conferences

C. Speeches

D. Breaking news

Learning Objective: 9-3: Explain why event coverage matters and how each type of event can affect your audience members.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: News Conferences

Difficulty Level: Hard

11. ______ can include some of the background you gathered, any quotes you got from sources before the event, and optional lead elements, based on the outcome of the event.

A. Background information

B. Post-event interviews

C. Shell information

D. Secondary sources

Learning Objective: 9-4: Show how to gather information in advance of a story to create a story shell.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Preparing for the Event

Difficulty Level: Hard

12. The purpose of any event story is to ______.

A. tell the story in chronological order

B. regurgitate the facts

C. tell the story in narrative form

D. find the most important aspects of what happened

Learning Objective: 9-3: Explain why event coverage matters and how each type of event can affect your audience members.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Find the Core

Difficulty Level: Easy

13. A lot of things that make for interesting content happen ______.

A. “outside the lines” of the event itself

B. only during the event itself

C. before the event occurs

D. only after deadline

Learning Objective: 9-3: Explain why event coverage matters and how each type of event can affect your audience members.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Look Outside the Lines

Difficulty Level: Easy

14. Once the event ends, ______.

A. your work is over

B. your work is just starting

C. you need to get something to drink

D. you should go home

Learning Objective: 9-3: Explain why event coverage matters and how each type of event can affect your audience members.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Post-Event Interviews

Difficulty Level: Easy

15. Which of the following would limit a speaker’s spontaneity?

A. the speaker’s thought process

B. asking them to elaborate

C. a predetermined script

D. the “why” elements of your story

Learning Objective: 9-3: Explain why event coverage matters and how each type of event can affect your audience members.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Post-Event Interviews

Difficulty Level: Easy

16. Which type of localization is a story about a big celebrity that you hear from someone who “knew her back in the day”?

A. big topic, weak reactor

B. a direct local tie

C. a microcosm of a broader topic

D. an indirect local tie

Learning Objective: 9-5: Discuss the reasons why certain story types, such as profiles, localizations and obituaries, matter to your readers.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: An Indirect Local Tie

Difficulty Level: Easy

17. Stories about the world ending or a zombie attack are which type of localization?

A. bad topic, no impact

B. big topic, no impact

C. big topic, weak reactors

D. bad topic, weak reactors

Learning Objective: 9-5: Discuss the reasons why certain story types, such as profiles, localizations and obituaries, matter to your readers.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Bad Topic, No Impact

Difficulty Level: Medium

18. Many meetings use formal rules such as ______.

A. Ryan’s Rules of Order

B. Robert’s Rules of Order

C. Rose’s Rules of Order

D. democratic process

Learning Objective: 9-3: Explain why event coverage matters and how each type of event can affect your audience members.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Check Your Facts

Difficulty Level: Hard

19. A beat approach allows the reporter to ______.

A. handle all kinds of different assignments

B. cover a variety of fields

C. become a contact point for people in that area who want to see certain things covered

D. work on nonspecific areas of coverage

Learning Objective: 9-1: List several places from which you can gather story ideas that will engage your readers and interest your audience.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Beats

Difficulty Level: Hard

20. Police news, court coverage, higher education reporting, and religious information are examples of ______.

A. focus groups

B. conceptual beats

C. geographic beats

D. thematic beats

Learning Objective: 9-1: List several places from which you can gather story ideas that will engage your readers and interest your audience.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Types of Beats

Difficulty Level: Hard

21. With ______, coverage efforts are more about the specific place and what is happening there than any particular aspect of one thematic area.

A. geographic beats

B. focus groups

C. thematic beats

D. conceptual beats

Learning Objective: 9-1: List several places from which you can gather story ideas that will engage your readers and interest your audience.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Types of Beats

Difficulty Level: Hard

22. ______ focus on things that lack a concrete definition or a central junction point for coverage.

A. Geographic beats

B. Conceptual beats

C. Thematic beats

D. Focus groups

Learning Objective: 9-1: List several places from which you can gather story ideas that will engage your readers and interest your audience.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Types of Beats

Difficulty Level: Easy

23. To give you a head start on the topics you will cover on your beat, you can _____.

A. interview your predecessor

B. read past publications

C. seek secondary sources

D. talk to your boss

Learning Objective: 9-1: List several places from which you can gather story ideas that will engage your readers and interest your audience.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Before You Start

Difficulty Level: Easy

24. When starting a new beat, one of the biggest mistakes new reporters make is ______.

A. getting out of the office

B. building sources

C. gathering documents

D. cold calling sources

Learning Objective: 9-1: List several places from which you can gather story ideas that will engage your readers and interest your audience.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Before You Start

Difficulty Level: Medium

25. What type of story helps you explore the life of an interesting person?

A. profile writing

B. obituary

C. localization

D. feature

Learning Objective: 9-5: Discuss the reasons why certain story types, such as profiles, localizations and obituaries, matter to your readers.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Profile Writing

Difficulty Level: Medium

26. ______ stories can emerge from trends you notice on your beat, interesting people you meet, or generally intriguing concepts you encounter in your daily life.

A. Breaking news

B. Feature

C. Meeting

D. News conference

Learning Objective: 9-6: Explain the value of a news peg and how it can make your story more valuable to your readership.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Features

Difficulty Level: Medium

True/False

1. Not every meeting, speech, or news conference merits news coverage.

Learning Objective: 9-1: List several places from which you can gather story ideas that will engage your readers and interest your audience.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Event Coverage

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. It is not necessary to assess the news value of an event.

Learning Objective: 9-1: List several places from which you can gather story ideas that will engage your readers and interest your audience.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Event Coverage

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. Breaking news comes from crimes and disasters that happen at random times in odd locations.

Learning Objective: 9-2: Define and differentiate among the main types of events you might cover.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Types of Events

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Speeches often contain multiple points of view.

Learning Objective: 9-2: Define and differentiate among the main types of events you might cover.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Types of Events

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. A meeting is an event where a governing body of representatives comes together to deal with the business pertaining to that group or the people that the group represents.

Learning Objective: 9-2: Define and differentiate among the main types of events you might cover.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Types of Events

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. News conferences are not helpful for an organization to disseminate a single message to multiple media outlets in a single moment.

Learning Objective: 9-2: Define and differentiate among the main types of events you might cover.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Types of Events

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. If you have never attended a speech or meeting before as a journalist, you should spend some time getting acclimated to what will likely happen.

Learning Objective: 9-4: Show how to gather information in advance of a story to create a story shell.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Learn What to Expect

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. Background research does not help you determine what will happen at the event and who is involved.

Learning Objective: 9-4: Show how to gather information in advance of a story to create a story shell.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Seek Background

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. The purpose of any event story is to find the most important aspects of what happened and report them to people who need to know about them.

Learning Objective: 9-4: Show how to gather information in advance of a story to create a story shell.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Find the Core

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. Just because you hadn’t planned for something, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t matter to your readers.

Learning Objective: 9-4: Show how to gather information in advance of a story to create a story shell.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Look Outside the Lines

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. Postmeeting interviews are not helpful.

Learning Objective: 9-4: Show how to gather information in advance of a story to create a story shell.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Post-Event Interviews

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. It’s often not necessary to seek secondary sources at an event.

Learning Objective: 9-4: Show how to gather information in advance of a story to create a story shell.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Seek Secondary Sources

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. The first time people are in the paper may be their obituary.

Learning Objective: 9-5: Discuss the reasons why certain story types, such as profiles, localizations and obituaries, matter to your readers.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Obituaries

Difficulty Level: Medium

14. Getting contact information is a waste of time.

Learning Objective: 9-4: Show how to gather information in advance of a story to create a story shell.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Get Contact Information

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. A news peg provides a clear answer to the question “Why are you telling this story now?”

Learning Objective: 9-6: Explain the value of a news peg and how it can make your story more valuable to your readership.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Features

Difficulty Level: Easy

Short Answer

1. What types of beats are there?

Learning Objective: 9-1: List several places from which you can gather story ideas that will engage your readers and interest your audience.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Types of Beats

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. What are some basic ideas to consider when building feature stories?

Learning Objective: 9-6: Explain the value of a news peg and how it can make your story more valuable to your readership.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Features

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. What are some of the things you should look for in terms of observation?

Learning Objective: 9-5: Discuss the reasons why certain story types, such as profiles, localizations and obituaries matter to your readers.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Observation

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. What makes for good localizations?

Learning Objective: 9-5: Discuss the reasons why certain story types, such as profiles, localizations and obituaries matter to your readers.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Localizations

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. Why are obituaries important?

Learning Objective: 9-5: Discuss the reasons why certain story types, such as profiles, localizations and obituaries matter to your readers.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Obituaries

Difficulty Level: Medium

Essay

1. What are some major types of events and how are they covered?

Learning Objective: 9-2: Define and differentiate among the main types of events you might cover.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Types of Events

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. How can you prepare to cover an event?

Learning Objective: 9-4: Show how to gather information in advance of a story to create a story shell.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Preparing for the Event

Difficulty Level: Hard

3. What is the best way to cover an event?

Learning Objective: 9-3: Explain why event coverage matters and how each type of event can affect your audience members.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: How to Cover the Event

Difficulty Level: Hard

4. List and describe the different types of reporting beats.

Learning Objective: 9-3: Explain why event coverage matters and how each type of event can affect your audience members.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Types of Beats

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. Why do profiles, localizations, and obituaries matter to readers?

Learning Objective: 9-5: Discuss the reasons why certain story types, such as profiles, localizations and obituaries matter to your readers.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Profile Writing, Localizations, and Obituaries

Difficulty Level: Medium