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Answer Key
1. B
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45. D
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91. Net neutrality
1. Most of the world’s population now lives in countries where the press is free.
A) True
B) False
2. The United States follows a libertarian model of free expression and free press.
A) True
B) False
3. The Sedition Act strengthened First Amendment protections for citizens.
A) True
B) False
4. Only after the Sedition Act expired in 1801 did Americans broadly support the idea of a
free press.
A) True
B) False
5. The Supreme Court has defined censorship as prior restraint of speech.
A) True
B) False
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6. If a soon-to–be-released article seems to violate libel or obscenity laws, most U.S. courts
would act to stop publication.
A) True
B) False
7. Appropriating a writer’s or artist’s words or music without consent or payment is a form
of expression that is not protected as speech.
A) True
B) False
8. Students who quote and cite a copyrighted source in a term paper for class are
technically violating the law.
A) True
B) False
9. Libel is a right guaranteed by the First Amendment.
A) True
B) False
10. Defamation that is broadcast is considered slander because it is spoken rather than
written.
A) True
B) False
11. Public speech that causes someone damage or actual injury is libelous, even if the speech
in question is true.
A) True
B) False
12. Reporters need to be careful about printing accusations made by attorneys in a court of
law in case a suspect is later found “not guilty.”
A) True
B) False
13. Parodies and insults of public figures are protected from libel suits unless the statements
cause undue emotional pain.
A) True
B) False
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14. The Miller v. California case established a national standard for obscenity that is the
same for all communities in the United States.
A) True
B) False
15. Ordinary citizens have more privacy protection under U.S. law than politicians or other
public figures.
A) True
B) False
16. There is no federal shield law for journalists in the United States.
A) True
B) False
17. In 1912, federal law outlawed the transportation of boxing movies across state
lines — not because they were violent but because there had been a black heavyweight boxing
champion since 1908.
A) True
B) False
18. For the first half of the twentieth century, local and state film review boards were
considered constitutional.
A) True
B) False
19. Motion pictures have been defined as free speech by the U.S. Supreme Court since 1915.
A) True
B) False
20. Movies released in the United States are required by federal law to be labeled with an
MPAA movie rating.
A) True
B) False
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21. When the movie rating system began in the late 1960s, the G, PG, PG-13, R, X, and
NC-17 ratings were all developed at that time and put immediately into place.
A) True
B) False
22. Since its debut in 1990, the NC-17 movie rating has been a commercially successful
rating for films with adult content.
A) True
B) False
23. Print and broadcast media are not treated equally under the First Amendment.
A) True
B) False
24. Currently, both print journalists and broadcasters need federal licenses to operate their
businesses.
A) True
B) False
25. In twentieth-century Supreme Court decisions, the print media and broadcast media
received the same First Amendment protections.
A) True
B) False
26. Newspapers are not required by law to give individuals an opportunity to reply to an
editorial attack.
A) True
B) False
27. The FCC can fine broadcast stations any amount it sees fit for indecent incidents.
A) True
B) False
28. According to the 1934 Communications Act, broadcast stations must provide equal
opportunities and response time for qualified political candidates.
A) True
B) False
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29. Broadcasters are no longer legally required to provide competing points of view when
airing programs about controversial issues.
A) True
B) False
30. Compared with most other nations, the United States has ______ freedom of speech,
religious tolerance, and press freedom.
A) a little less
B) a little more
C) a lot more
D) a lot less
E) about the same
31. Which model of the press is most often associated with today’s mainstream U.S. news
media?
A) Authoritarian
B) Communist
C) Libertarian
D) Social responsibility
E) Seditious
32. State leaders believe the press should serve the goals of the state in the ______ model.
A) authoritarian
B) communist
C) libertarian
D) social responsibility
E) seditious
33. The notion of the press working as the Fourth Estate, or as watchdog over the
government, is contained in which model of speech and expression?
A) Authoritarian
B) Communist (or state)
C) Libertarian
D) Social responsibility
E) Antiquarian
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34. Which of the following is not characteristic of the libertarian model for expression and
speech?
A) Tolerance for the expression of everything, from pornography to advocacy of
anarchy
B) Encouraging vigorous government criticism
C) A great deal of trust in citizens’ ability to distinguish truth from falsehood
D) Arguing that the mass media have grown too powerful and need to become more
socially responsible or face some sort of government regulation
E) All of the options are correct.
35. Which model of expression tolerates all forms of speech, including pornography?
A) Authoritarian
B) State model
C) Libertarian
D) Social responsibility
E) Communitarian
36. According to the text, one of the first widely circulated arguments for a free, unlicensed
press can be traced to ______.
A) the un-amended U.S. Constitution
B) the tradition of a free press that started in Great Britain and other European
countries in the 1600s
C) English poet John Milton’s essay Areopagitica
D) President John Adams
E) Welsh poet Dylan Thomas’s poem “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”
37. Prior restraint means that courts and governments ______.
A) can block the press from publishing any article they deem inflammatory or
controversial
B) cannot block any publication or speech before it occurs
C) have the right to review every article before it is published
D) can give the news media rules on what they can and cannot publish
E) None of the options are correct.
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38. Which of the following statements about the Sedition Act of 1798 is not true?
A) It aimed to silence opposition to a possible war with France.
B) It led to a public backlash that ultimately supported greater protection of a free
press.
C) It was passed by a political party in power to undermine efforts by an opposing
political party.
D) It was supported and reinforced by President Thomas Jefferson when he later took
office.
E) It was originally passed by Congress and signed into law by President John Adams.
39. Which statement about the Sedition Act of 1798 is true?
A) It was passed to silence editorials encouraging the country to take part in a pending
war.
B) It was used to prosecute anti-Federalist newspapers.
C) It was renewed over and over again by several presidents after Adams.
D) It expired under President John Adams.
E) Its excesses actually helped bolster public support for taking rights away from a free
press.
40. In 1971, President Richard Nixon’s administration tried to block publication of ______.
A) reports on weapons of mass destruction
B) reports of government overspending
C) instructions on how to make an H-bomb
D) the Progressive magazine
E) a study of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam war
41. The Pentagon Papers case involved which of the following legal concerns?
A) Reporters were infringing on the copyrights of the Pentagon.
B) Reporters were making unfair use of Pentagon documents.
C) Newspapers were libeling the president and his administration by exposing their
lies.
D) The president should have the absolute privilege to block newspapers from
publishing unflattering material.
E) Whether or not the government has the right to censor a newspaper and prevent
publication in the interest of national security.
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42. In the Progressive magazine case, a federal district court took a course of action based
on the concern that the magazine would publish ______.
A) information on how an H-bomb works
B) a story that defamed the president
C) obscene material
D) a story that endorsed drug use
E) copyrighted material
43. Which of the following constituted a “clear and present danger” to national security
according to the federal courts?
A) Publishing a design for the H-bomb in Progressive magazine
B) Prosecuting the president for potentially criminal acts
C) Stealing the Pentagon Papers and publishing them
D) Distributing antiwar pamphlets during peace time
E) None of the options are correct.
44. Which laws, passed in 1917 and 1918, made it a federal crime to disrupt the nation’s war
effort?
A) Privacy Act
B) First Amendment
C) Espionage Acts
D) Sedition Acts
E) Bill of Rights
45. Some members of the U.S. Government wanted to charge the founder of WikiLeaks,
Julian Assange, with ______.
A) computer fraud for hacking into the cell phones of crime victims
B) computer fraud for running a scam posing as a deposed Nigerian prince
C) espionage for publishing the Pentagon Papers
D) espionage for releasing thousands of confidential U.S. embassy documents online
E) None of the options are correct.
46. The creators of works such as books, music, lyrics, movies, and TV programs are
protected if someone tries to make money off their work because of ______.
A) copyright law
B) libel
C) prior restraint
D) limited privilege
E) public domain
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47. At the end of the copyright period, a creative work such as a book or song becomes
______.
A) more valuable to the person or company that owns the copyright
B) protected from use by anyone other than the author or creator
C) available for public use with the payment of a royalty fee
D) available for public use free of charge
E) a target for online piracy
48. Which statement about copyright law is true?
A) Copyright covers a creative work for only seven years after it is produced.
B) Companies like Disney are huge supporters of getting their material into the public
domain.
C) Corporate owners spend lots of money getting Congress to shorten the length of
copyright protections.
D) The original idea behind American copyright law was that authors would have a
financial incentive to create original works, and after fourteen years others would be able
to safely use it to create derivative works.
E) Copyright laws have remained virtually unchanged since they were written in the
eighteenth century, being adapted without debate to new media.
49. In 1976, Congress extended the copyright period to ______.
A) fifteen years
B) fifty years, or seventy-five years for a corporate copyright owner
C) the life of the author plus twenty-five years
D) the life of the author plus fifty years, or seventy-five years for a corporate copyright
owner
E) None of the options are correct.
50. A written or broadcast expression that defames someone’s character is ______.
A) absolute privilege
B) copyright
C) censorship
D) fair use
E) libel
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51. Private individuals must prove falsehood, damages, and negligence to win which kind of
case?
A) Copyright
B) Fair use
C) Libel
D) Sedition
E) Censorship
52. For public figures to successfully sue for libel, they must prove “actual malice,” which
means the news medium ______.
A) knew the statement was false but published it anyway
B) published a true statement with the intention of hurting the public figure
C) was reckless with the public figure’s privacy rights
D) had long harbored ill will toward and dislike for the public figure
E) has a reputation for being mean-spirited
53. Reporters who print or broadcast statements made in court are protected against libel by
______.
A) absolute privilege
B) qualified privilege
C) opinion and fair comment
D) malpractice
E) right to privacy law
54. The idea of absolute privilege refers to the ______.
A) ability of reporters to print or broadcast anything they want
B) ability of the very rich to hire lawyers to sue anybody who libels them
C) ability of prosecutors to accuse defendants of crimes in court without risking libel
D) the federal shield laws that allow a reporter to keep a source confidential
E) way in which college students and professors can use small portions of a written
work, as long as they use the proper citation
55. The Supreme Court sided with Larry Flynt in his case against Jerry Falwell because
______.
A) Hustler magazine was never sold outside the court’s jurisdiction
B) parody falls under the opinion and fair comment rule
C) privileged speech is protected under the First Amendment
D) Hustler was not the only national porn magazine
E) it approved of the magazine’s message