9
The Media and U.S.
Politics
Multiple–Choice Questions
1. The Internet began as a(n) __________.
a. bet between two math professors
b. outgrowth of IBM’s interest in computers
c. military project in the 1960s
d. project by Google
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 271
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy
2. In the last half century, ___________ have become a more important source of
information about candidates and issues.
a. newspapers
b. television news stories
c. television commercials
d. political mailings
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
273
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 268
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy
3. The average American watches approximately__________ hour(s) of television a
day.
a. one
b. three
c. five
d. six
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 268
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy
4. New York Tribune editor Whitelaw Reid saw __________ as the watchword of a
new breed of objective journalist in the early twentieth century.
a. independent journalism
b. yellow journalism
c. accurate writing
d. new journalism
Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 273
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy
5. As the print press media became less tied to political parties, candidates in the
1930s relied more on __________ to communicate personally with voters.
a. campaign flyers
b. radio
c. public speeches
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d. door-to-door campaigning
Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 274
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Easy
6. The role media played in revealing the National Security Administration’s secret
surveillance operation is an example of __________ journalism.
a. new
b. investigatory
c. television
d. gonzo
Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 275
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
7. The __________ is an independent regulatory agency charged with licensing
television and radio stations.
a. EPA
b. FDA
c. FCC
d. FED
Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 277
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy
8. Fragmentation of the media audience has tended to __________.
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a. counteract the impact of media conglomeration
b. increase the probability of media becoming more concentrated
c. create situations in which the media dictate what is right and wrong
d. make the audience less concerned with whether the information is true
Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
Learning Objective: LO 9.3: Evaluate the media’s influence on public opinion
and attention.
Page Reference: 282
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
9. How has television coverage of politics changed over time?
a. Television stations now devote more time to reporting on Congress.
b. Television stations now devote less time to reporting on elections.
c. Television coverage of politics has become increasingly liberal.
d. Television coverage of politics now focuses more on policymaking.
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 268
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
10. Small groups of people who are asked questions about candidates and issues in a
discussion setting are known as __________.
a. task-oriented groups
b. buzz groups
c. issue groups
d. focus groups
Topic: The Media and Elections
Learning Objective: LO 9.4: Describe the media’s role in elections and the
associated problems and benefits.
Page Reference: 268
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
276
Difficulty Level: Easy
11. In which type of election is news coverage likely to be most influential?
a. a city council election
b. a House race
c. a Senate race
d. a presidential election
Topic: The Media and Elections
Learning Objective: LO 9.4: Describe the media’s role in elections and the
associated problems and benefits.
Page Reference: 283
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Difficulty Level: Difficult
12. The network news is reporting that a prominent U.S. Senate race is very close,
with the polls showing that the incumbent leads the challenger by just two
percentage points. This is an example of what type of news coverage?
a. horse race coverage
b. yellow journalism
c. non-substantive
d. partisan-based
Topic: The Media and Elections
Learning Objective: LO 9.4: Describe the media’s role in elections and the
associated problems and benefits.
Page Reference: 287
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Difficulty Level: Difficult
13. The media’s power to set the agenda is limited by __________.
a. the audience and the nature of any particular issue
b. the fact that people rarely pay attention to media
c. rules set by the FCC
d. the 24/7 news cycle
Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
277
Learning Objective: LO 9.3: Evaluate the media’s influence on public opinion
and attention.
Page Reference: 279
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult
14. Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) has as its mission to inform the public
of _________.
a. their role as media consumers
b. talk radio’s deleterious influence
c. bias in the media at large
d. high journalistic standards and where to find them
Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
Learning Objective: LO 9.3: Evaluate the media’s influence on public opinion
and attention.
Page Reference: 281
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Difficult
15. Which of the following depends least on the press for political support?
a. the Supreme Court
b. the executive branch
c. the Senate
d. the House of Representatives
Topic: The Media and Governance
Learning Objective: LO 9.5: Assess the media’s relationship to governance in
the United States.
Page Reference: 289 – 290
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
16. Internet piracy legislation has been proposed as a way to prevent __________
theft.
a. personal property
b. intellectual property
c. identity
d. patent
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Topic: The Media and Elections
Learning Objective: LO 9.4: Describe the media’s role in elections and the
associated problems and benefits.
Page Reference: 283
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
17. The majority of Americans sees the press as __________.
a. biased toward a particular political party
b. more conservative than liberal
c. a watchdog over the government
d. unlikely to mold public opinion
Topic: The Media and Governance
Learning Objective: LO 9.5: Assess the media’s relationship to governance in
the United States.
Page Reference: 290
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
18. What do most campaign consultants believe about negative campaigning?
a. that it is less effective than positive advertising
b. that it galvanizes the opposition
c. that it suppresses voter turnout
d. that it is effective
Topic: The Media and Elections
Learning Objective: LO 9.4: Describe the media’s role in elections and the
associated problems and benefits.
Page Reference: 287
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
19. More than any other invention, __________ has changed U.S. politics.
a. the printing press
b. Facebook
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c. television
d. radio
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 267
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
20. The decline in newspaper readership is especially pronounced among
__________.
a. young people
b. nonvoters
c. the elderly
d. Independent voters
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 270
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Easy
21. In the modern history of investigatory journalism, the code name that is
associated with Mark Felt is which of the following?
a. Tricky Dick
b. Carl Bernstein
c. Space Ghost
d. Deep Throat
Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 275
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy
280
22. During the period between 1820 and 1830, newspapers began to shift their appeal
away from an upper-class, English-speaking readership to which demographic
group?
a. the carriage trade
b. the merchant class
c. common men and women
d. Abolitionists
Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 273
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy
23. The __________ enabled newspapers to be more financially independent, moving
away from the financial support of political parties to profit from an expanded
circulation and advertising.
a. reliance on home delivery
b. yearly subscription fees
c. penny press
d. quarterly subscription fees
Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 273
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
24. When a gun owner does not agree with an editorial writer’s call for a ban on
assault rifles, it can be attributed, in part, to her __________.
a. regionalism
b. selective exposure
c. lack of education
d. selective perception
281
Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
Learning Objective: LO 9.3: Evaluate the media’s influence on public opinion
and attention.
Page Reference: 281
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Difficulty Level: Difficult
25. President Barrack Obama __________ because his campaign understood that
younger voters get most of their information and news this way.
a. participated in television debates
b. appeared on as many magazine covers as possible
c. reached out to voters via the Internet
d. wrote two memoirs
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 272
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
26. What was the original motivation for the creation of the Internet?
a. to create a communications network that could survive a nuclear attack
b. to create new revenue sources for media conglomerates
c. to facilitate communication between government and citizens
d. to enable large scale social networking
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 271
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
27. What is the top circulating U.S. newspaper?
a. USA Today
b. the Wall Street Journal
c. the New York Times
d. the Washington Post
282