Test Bank for Media of Mass Communication, 11/e
Chapter 17 Ethics
17.1 Multiple-Choice Questions
1) Why did investigative reporter Jim DeFede get fired?
A) He wrote a false story.
B) He fabricated facts from a story.
C) He illegally taped a telephone conversation.
D) He didn’t check sources.
2) The earliest mass media code of ethics was from the
A) National Association of Broadcasters.
B) American Society of Newspaper Editors.
C) Radio-Television News Directors Association.
D) Public Relations Society of America.
3) People who believe that if they follow the rules their decision will be the correct one are
A) pragmatists.
B) situational ethicists.
C) being self-delusional..
D) practicing prescriptive ethics.
4) What ethical dilemma arises when reporters place too high a priority on timeliness?
A) One news organization may get an exclusive scoop, leaving the competitors in the dust.
B) Stories may be delayed.
C) Special bulletins may have to be published.
D) Accuracy may be jeopardized.
5) All ethics are based on a perceived sense of duty, but media ethics are complicated because
communicators have multiple sets of duties that include all of the following EXCEPT a
A) duty to the audience.
B) duty to the profession.
C) duty to report.
D) duty to society.
6) Grappling with media ethics can be very challenging because communicators have multiple sets
of duties and obligations that include all of the following EXCEPT a
A) duty to the audience.
B) duty to dignity.
C) duty to employer.
D) duty to self.
7) A reporter who accepts an all-expense-paid cruise on a company’s latest ship and then writes a
story on the experience for the travel section, may have been motivated by a sense of
A) duty to self
B) duty to audience
C) duty to employer
D) duty to society
18) Television programs that reenact violence are very popular. In programs like this, the
producers are observing their duty to
A) self.
B) the supreme being.
C) their employer.
D) their audience.
9) How does Charles Gay argue that publishing the names of rape victims is “good, basic
journalism?”
A) Readers want to know.
B) Silence and secrecy perpetuate stigmas.
C) Names sell newspapers.
D) It’s not against the law.
10) Those who objected to the Shelton, Washington Journal’s decision to include the names of rape
victims in news stories about the rapes included all of the following EXCEPT
A) defense attorneys who fear it will prompt false reports from women who want media exposure .
B) other journalists who withhold names because of the social stigma attached to being raped.
C) prosecutors who claim other victims won’t report being raped for fear of being publicly named.
D) state legislators who tried to enact a law to shield rape victims from being named.
11) A reporter relying on press releases produced by public relations professionals needs to be
aware that
A) they are the most common sources of plagiarism.
B) they are rarely useful for anything more than filler.
C) it is difficult to attribute them to a specific source.
D) they are prepared to promote something in particular and are likely biased.
12) Aristotle believed that morally right decisions
A) avoid extremes and seek moderation.
B) promote democracy.
C) ensure the happiness of most people.
D) have universal application.
13) To whom can the Golden Mean be traced?
A) Aristotle
B) Immanuel Kant
C) John Milton
D) John Dewey
14) The “do-unto-others” principle is based on
A) Buddhism.
B) Judeo-Christian ethics.
C) Aristotle’s Golden Mean.
D) Socrates moral imperative.
15) Immanuel Kant believed that morally right decisions
A) are made with the idea of “do unto others” in mind.
B) embrace moderation.
C) make the most people possible happy.
D) should be made as if according to a universal law.
16) Who devised the categorical imperative?
A) Aristotle
B) Immanuel Kant
C) Karl Marx
D) Robert Hutchins
17) A radio station owner who bans all music whose lyrics include explicit sexual language is
A) applying the Golden Mean..
B) employing utilitarian ethics.
C) thinking situationally.
D) using a categorical imperative.
18) A radio station owner who invites listeners to call in and vote on which music should be kept
off the air and then bans the most-mentioned songs for her station is
A) applying the Golden Mean..
B) employing utilitarian ethics.
C) thinking situationally.
D) using a categorical imperative.
19) Media people can carry out the categorical imperative by
A) treating others as they would like to be treated.
B) applying moderation in all things.
C) following what they would want to be universal law.
D) seeking happiness for the greatest number.
20) The principle of utility most closely parallels the democratic principle of
A) life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
B) one person, one vote.
C) innocent until proven guilty.
D) majority rule.
21) John Stuart Mill believed that morally right decisions
A) were those that promoted democracy.
B) resulted in happiness for as many people as possible.
C) conformed to religious doctrine.
D) avoid extremes.
22) A problem with pragmatic ethics is
A) racial bias inevitably gets in the way.
B) people don’t know if their moral actions will have good results.
C) possible harm done to the silent majority.
D) well-meaning people may disagree on what’s best.
23) The veil of ignorance
A) allows reporters to get away with plagiarism.
B) protects journalists that accept gifts.
C) allows one to judge a decision by its results.
D) is a key part of egalitarian moral decision-making.
24) Believing that the killing of a small child in a poor urban area deserves the same journalistic
attention as the killing of a small child in a rich suburban area is an example of
A) a pragmatic ethic.
B) a utilitarian ethic.
C) an egalitarian ethic.
D) the Golden Mean.
25) The Hutchins Commission recommended that journalists and other media people use
A) an Aristotelian system of ethics.
B) a deontological system of ethics.
C) a pragmatic system of ethics.
D) a social responsibility system of ethics.
26) Arguing that people act morally when they follow good rules is
A) pragmatic theory.
B) utilitarian theory.
C) social-responsibility theory.
D) deontological ethics.
27) Which of the following is deontological?
A) Situational ethics
B) Social responsibility theory
C) Utilitarian theory
D) Categorical imperative theory
28) When decisions are based on the expectation of having good consequences or positive results,
the decision-maker is using
A) teleological ethics.
B) the divine right of kings.
C) the theory of secular command.
D) libertarian theory.
29) What flaw do teleologists observe in deontological thinking?
A) People have imperfect foresight.
B) Great harm can flow from blind allegiance to rules.
C) Deontologists operate without guiding principles.
D) Deontologists rely too heavily on the facts of a situation.
30) The major approaches to ethics described in your book are deontological, teleological and
A) prudential.
B) codian.
C) effervescent.
D) situational.
31) A major criticism of situational ethics is that
A) they do not offer flexibility in morally ambiguous situations.
B) they essentially require people to predict the future.
C) they remove the power of decision-making from the individual.
D) they leave one prone to flip-flopping on moral issues.
32) A useful four-quadrant model that can be used for sorting through ethical problems is
A) Four-square ethics.
B) Situational ethics.
C) a Potter’s Box.
D) a SWOT analysis.
33) Which of the following is NOT a quadrant of Potter’s Box?
A) Loyalties
B) Values
C) Outcomes
D) Principles
34) In using Potter’s Box, dealing with the quadrant for “situation” involves
A) imposing values.
B) agreeing upon principles.
C) applying the loyalties.
D) selecting the facts.
35) Which of the following is NOT a function of sorting through the “values” quadrant in Potter’s
Box?
A) identifying underling values
B) matching values to available choices
C) identifying moral principles associated with the values
D) listing the positive and negative values
36) Where does Potter’s Box link codes of ethics to readers, society, employer and self?
A) Loyalties
B) Definition
C) Situation
D) Principles
37) Potter’s Box
A) provides clear-cut answers.
B) provides no answers, just a process to guide a decision.
C) offers practical solutions.
D) has been disproven as an effective tool.
38) Failing to examine and reexamine accepted practices leads to
A) situational ethics.
B) reliance on habits rather than principles.
C) utilitarianism.
D) ignoring the needs of individuals.
39) What is prudence?
A) extreme caution
B) reliance on principles
C) applying wisdom to a situation
D) upholding a categorical imperative
40) What is plagiarism?
A) drawing on work in the public domain
B) quotations from a book in a book review
C) using dialogue clips to promote a film
D) using someone else’s creative work without permission or credit
41) Which journalistic practice comes close to crossing the line into plagiarism?
A) quoting liberally from a speech delivered by a politician
B) quoting extensively in a review
C) showing a clip in a movie review on television
D) institutionalized exchange of stories
42) Which of the following is most likely considered an accidental source of plagiarism?
A) swapping stories
B) PR-generated material
C) monitoring the competition
D) subliminal memory
43) Janet Cooke, a reporter at the Washington Post, fabricated a story about an
A) 82-year-old Alzheimer’s patient.
B) 8-year-old drug addict.
C) 18-year-old prostitute.
D) 18-year-old drug dealer.
44) Why is staged news a less significant ethics question for publicists than for journalists?
A) By definition, publicists are amoral.
B) Staged news is always free from bias.
C) Staged news is creative, and ethics never enters into creative works.
D) Publicists generally are up-front about what they are doing.
45) Which of the following is NOT an example of misrepresentation?
A) junkets
B) staging news
C) selective editing
D) re-creations
46) Media professionals justify re-creations as
A) more costly than on-scene reporting.
B) helping people quickly understand the situation.
C) an exciting diversion from their daily drudgery.
D) time-savers that free them to cover more important stories.
47) Selective editing is
A) making editorial choices with the moral outcome of the decisions in mind.
B) using omission and/or juxtaposition with the goal of distorting.
C) the use of PR events in place of real news.
D) carefully weeding out the falsehoods and misleading facts while editing a story.
48) Upton Sinclair’s book, The Brass Check, examined
A) corruption in the banking industry.
B) difficulties in getting financial assistance in the early 1900s.
C) dangerous flaws in large factories’ safety procedures.
D) newsroom corruption, such as bribes.
49) A free trip abroad for a journalist is known as
A) a perk of the profession.
B) promotional consideration.
C) an appearance of propriety.
D) a junket.
50) What is a typical journalistic justification for taking freebies?
A) Perks offset slave wages.
B) Journalists deserve freebies for writing what people want.
C) Journalists deserve freebies for favors to people they write about.
D) Access to some subjects is too expensive for a newsroom budget.
51) What is a counterargument to the journalistic practice of accepting freebies?
A) Freebies are unfair because the general public has to pay to do the same thing.
B) A news organization shouldn’t be in business if it can’t afford to pay its own way.
C) Giving and accepting freebies is like prostitution.
D) The salary of anyone accepting freebies should be taxed.
17.2 True/False Questions
1) Despite firing reporter Jim DeFede for collecting information by illegally recording a source, the
Miami Herald still used the information to generate a story.
2) The American Society of Newspaper Editors created the first mass media ethics code.
3) Mass-media ethics codes anticipate all moral questions.
4) Mass media organizations use codes of ethics to determine how practitioners should go about
their work.
5) Mass media professionals draw on consistent moral principles and discard those that are
inconsistent.
6) Following rules to make morally right decisions is prescriptive ethics.
7) Prescriptive ethics assumes that a code of ethics can offer all the answers.
8) Respect for privacy is common in ethics codes.
9) Timeliness is a NOT a virtue in most news ethics codes.
10) Media ethics can be confusing because communicators have sometimes conflicting duties to
their audiences, their employers, their profession, their society, and themselves.
11) NOT producing a story that puts your newspaper’s parent company in bad light would seem to
be primarily based on a sense of duty to self.
12) Newspaper editor Charlie Gay refuses to name victims of all crimes, not just sexual–assaults,
because he says naming people without permission is an invasion of privacy.
13) Some critics of the Shelton, Washington Journal’s decision to include the names of victims in
news stories about rapes included journalists who withhold the names of rape victims because of
the social stigma attached to being raped.
14) Objections to the Journal’s decision to name the victims in news stories about rapes came from
defense attorneys who fear the chance to some publicity will inspire “crazies who like getting their
name in the paper” to falsely report being raped.
15) Ethically, the media should feel an obligation to live up to whatever public image they have
tried to present of themselves.
16) The audience has ethical expectations of mass media, which complicates attempts to craft a
one-size-fits-all ethics code.
17) Immanuel Kant devised the Golden Mean for moral decision-making.
18) The broadcasting Equal Time Rule gives an advantage to concise candidates but not necessarily
more qualified candidates.
19) The Judeo-Christian principle of “Do unto others” is a problem-free prescription for mass media
professionals.
20) The categorical imperative is associated mostly with Aristotle.
21) Immanuel Kant believed in hard thinking, not ethical codes.
22) The principle of utility most closely parallels the democratic principle of majority rule.
23) Pragmatic ethics emphasize that moral decisions must be made without consideration of the
result.
24) The veil of ignorance means making decisions with no regard to extraneous factors that could
affect the decision.
25) The Hutchins Commission studied television news in the 1970s.
26) The Hutchins Commission recommended journalists make decisions that serve the society
responsibly.
27) Deontological ethics believe that if one identifies moral rules, they provide all the answers for
right living.
28) The theory of the divine right of kings is an example of teleological ethics.
29) Pragmatic ethics are a teleological approach.
30) In reporting that a model citizen had served time for multiple murders many years earlier,
editors at the Rocky Mountain News employed situational ethics.
31) Situational ethics means that all situations can be placed into categories for which strict rules
can provide the answer.
32) There seems to be no ethical mechanism in place to encourage accuracy among reckless
bloggers and quasi-mainstream radio-talk show hosts.
33) Former Presidential candidate Michele Bachman acquired an unfortunate reputation for
looseness with facts because she quoted as authoritative things she picked up from blogs or
chitchat with supporters.
34) Potter’s Box is a useful framework for sorting through difficult ethical questions.
35) The four quadrants of Potter’s Box are situation, values, principles, decisions.
36) Potter’s Box provides answers for the ethical dilemmas faced by journalists.
37) Ethics is an individual matter that relates closely to conscience.
38) Ethics and laws are related but separate.
39) The law is much more limiting than the ethical decisions of a mass media practitioner.
40 The terms ethics, prudence, and law are synonymous.
41) Accepted practices do not require examination and reevaluation.
42) Prudence is the application of wisdom in a practical situation.
43) Passing off someone else’s creative work as your own is plagiarism.
44) The cut-and-paste mentality of the Internet generation has complicated the issue of plagiarism.
45) A journalistic tolerance for plagiarism once allowed many radio stations to get by pirating the
local newspaper for newscasts.
46) In trying to justify accidentally appearing as if he had plagiarized, book author Chris Anderson
said, “the conventions of identifying sources are impossible to maintain in the digital age, whatever
their virtue may be.”
47) After being accused of committing plagiarism in his latest book, author Chris Anderson said, “So
what? Everybody does it, and nobody cares these days.”
48) Washington Post reporter Janet Cooke was forced to produce the sensational fiction that made
up Jimmy’s World.
49) Serious journalists rarely cover staged news events.
50) The reenactments of such things as crimes are universally accepted as ethical practices.
51) One of the techniques of new journalism practiced in the 1960s was using fiction-writing
methods in news stories.
52) Nothing is inherently wrong in taking gifts and favors if they do not influence coverage and the
benefactor understands that.
53) The Associated Press Managing Editors ethics code calls on journalists to reciprocate for all
favors they receive.
54) The appearance of impropriety is just as serious a concern in many ethical codes as actual
impropriety.
55) All journalistic organizations refuse free movie, drama, concert and other tickets in order to
maintain critical integrity.
56) Some media organizations try to address the freebies issue by acknowledging favors.
57) Ethics are based on universal and eternal standards, so there’s no need to change them just
because of new technologies. It’s how we use the technology that needs to change.
58) The issue of plagiarism is becoming more critical with the broadening acceptance of the
rampant copying that has been facilitated by digital media.
59) Although professional media associations periodically tweak their ethics codes to keep them
current, when complex issues with conflicting duties arise these codes have only limited value in
defining the right course of action.
17.3 Short Answer Questions
1) Law and __________ don’t always coincide; the fact that something is illegal does NOT always mean
it is also unethical.
2) The code of ethics for journalists developed by the American Society of Newspaper Editors is
called the __________ of Journalism.
3) Following rules to make morally right decisions is called __________ ethics.
4) A statement that defines acceptable and unacceptable behavior is called a(n) __________.
5) In terms of ethics, being concerned about your own personal safety and well being is a reflection
of your duty to __________.
6) In terms of ethics, when you think about the impact your reporting can have on the readers or
viewers who get their news from your mass medium, it is a reflection of your duty to __________.
7) Media ethics is complicated by the need to not only take into account the media’s commitment to
adhere to particular performance standards but also whatever expectations the __________ has.
8) Aristotle devised the __________ Mean for moral decision-making.
9) Immanuel Kant advocated the __________ imperative.
11) __________ suggests that everyone be treated the same.
12) Making decisions with a blind eye to extraneous facts that could affect decisions is applying the
veil of __________.
13) The __________ Commission was a learned group that studied the U.S. mass media in the 1940s
and recommended journalists make decisions that serve the society responsibly.
14) __________ ethics are based on the belief that people act morally when they follow good rules.
15) __________ ethics are concerned with the consequences of actions rather than blindly following
rules.
16) Making ethics decisions on the basis of current circumstances is called __________ ethics.
17) Potter’s Box helps sort through __________ problems.
18) There are __________ quadrants in Potter’s Box
19) __________ is an individual matter that relates closely to conscience.
20) Prudence is the application of __________ in a practical situation.
21) Passing off someone else’s creative work as your own is __________.
22) A reporter who uses deception in gathering or telling information is engaging in __________.
23) __________ news occurs when public relations professionals organize media events, such as
rallies and demonstrations on topical issues.
24) Misrepresentation through omission and juxtaposition is known as __________ editing.
25) Travel writers are sometimes offered free trips abroad, known as __________.
26) Gifts for which the giver may expect favors in return are known as __________.
27) __________ is becoming a more critical issue due to the broadening acceptance of the widespread
copying and message-forwarding that has been facilitated by digital media.
Chapter 17 Ethics
17.4 Matching Questions
Match each ethical concept with its best description from the right column.
1) Prudence
A) Your decisions should be suitable if used as universal laws
2) Prescriptive ethics
B) Presenting fiction, recreations, or staged events as news
3) Golden Mean
C) Depend on a sense of duty and having good rules to follow
4) Categorical imperative
D) Carefully following the rules ensures ethical behavior
5) Veil of ignorance
E) Ethical decisions are those that produce good consequences
6) Deontological ethics
F) Passing off someone else’s work as your own
7) Teleological ethics
G) Avoid extremes and always act in moderation
8) Potter’s Box
H) Stresses egalitarianism and ignoring social position
9) Plagiarism
I) Uses detailed analysis to sift through ethics problems
10) Misrepresentation
J) Applying wisdom as a leveling factor in a practical situations
17.5 Essay Questions
1) Discuss the ethics and legalities of the situation that led to the Miami Herald’s firing of reporter
Jim DeFede. Since the state’s attorney cleared him, his actions were obviously not illegal. Explain
whether you think they were ethical or unethical and whether you think he should have been fired
or not.
2) Explain why is it important for media organizations to have a code of ethics and describe some of
the key components that should be included in such a code of ethics.
3) In light of the fact that the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the Society of
Professional Journalists already have long-standing codes of ethics, discuss why you think
individual news media organizations should or should NOT have their own individual codes of
ethics. Include at least three reasons to support your position and, if you support individual codes
for each organization, include two examples of ways they might differ from the national codes.
4) Describe the five sets of conflicting duties that the textbook said should be addressed by the
5) The textbook described five conflicting sets of duties the mass media need to balance. Discuss
why you do or do NOT agree that these five are the only, or the most important, duties of the mass
media and the people who work for them. Can you identify other important duties the textbook
didn’t mention? Perhaps a duty to The Almighty, or a duty to family, or … ?
6) Describe the differences between deontological and teleological ethics by describing what your
first step would be if you used each of these approaches to arrive at an ethical decision about how
to handle a particular situation. What is the primary focus of each approach?
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7) If you accept the textbook’s assertion that reckless bloggers and quasi-mainstream talk show
hosts don’t bother to do any fact-checking but accept and pass on unconfirmed allegations as facts
as long as they fit their partisan narrative, discuss which of the three main approaches to ethics –
deontological, teleological, and situational — these people seem to be following.
8) Describe the four quadrants in Potter’s Box and explain why it is presented as a tool to sort
through ethical problems rather than an answer to ethical questions.
9) Discuss the ethical issues involved in journalists accepting gifts, favors, free travel, free tickets to
sporting events, and other special treatment from businesses and other organizations. If you
consider some or all of these practices to be unethical, explain why you think they should or should
NOT also be made illegal.