Page 1
1.
What did the story of Vin Diesel and The Fast and the Furious franchise reveal?
A)
Stars must have PR professionals to communicate.
B)
The success of The Fast and the Furious franchise was solely due to the popularity
of one big star.
C)
Public relations continues to grow and change with the media industries it depends
on.
D)
Twitter has no advantages for celebrities.
2.
On what part of society does public relations have the most significant impact?
A)
Entertainment
B)
Business
C)
Politics
D)
Religion
3.
Buffalo Bill’s publicity agent, John Burke, used _____ to promote Bill’s Wild West
show.
A)
newspaper stories
B)
dime novels
C)
movies
D)
All options are correct.
4.
In the 1800s, America’s largest railroads used press agents to _____.
A)
drum up passenger business
B)
sell shares of stock
C)
obtain federal funds
D)
obtain the right to ship coal
5.
Which of the following statements about public relations is not correct?
A)
Public relations focuses on image, whereas advertising focuses on sales.
B)
Public relations never use propaganda techniques.
C)
Special events are a type of public relations.
D)
Public relations is a strategy to persuade the public to a certain point of view.
6.
Communication that is strategically placed, either as advertising or as publicity, to gain
support for a special issue, program, or policy is known as _____.
A)
a pseudo-event
B)
propaganda
C)
improper-ganda
D)
a public service announcement
Page 2
7.
Video news releases (VNRs) are _____.
A)
public service announcements (PSAs)
B)
aired by TV stations as part of their requirement to serve the public interest
C)
produced by PR agencies and companies for use in TV newscasts
D)
eagerly accepted by TV news departments, especially in large markets
8.
A media-relations specialist _____.
A)
recommends advertising
B)
directs reporters to experts
C)
speaks for their clients
D)
All options are correct.
9.
Which of the following refers to the process of attempting to influence the voting of
lawmakers to support a client’s or an organization’s best interests?
A)
Lobbying
B)
Deadheading
C)
Outsourcing
D)
Cultivation
10.
PR firms often raid news staff for talent because _____.
A)
reporters are more ethical than PR practitioners
B)
reporters work cheap
C)
most press releases are written in the style of news reports
D)
many reporters started out working in PR firms
11.
The claim that public relations encourages reporter laziness is based on PR firms that
_____.
A)
strictly control access to news sources
B)
seduce reporters with bribes, liquor, free tickets, and other freebies
C)
play on reporters‘ egos by praising them for superficial work
D)
supply information that reporters can easily turn into stories
12.
The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) _____.
A)
accredits PR practitioners and firms
B)
avoids involvement in ethical issues
C)
was formed by the federal government
D)
is a consumer group that monitors public relations
Page 3
13.
The first public relations practitioners were primarily press agents who staged stunts to
get newspaper coverage for their clients.
A)
True
B)
False
14.
P. T. Barnum used gross exaggeration, fraudulent stories, and staged events to secure
newspaper coverage for his clients, his American Museum, and his circus.
A)
True
B)
False
15.
Deadheading was the practice of giving reporters free rail passes with the tacit
understanding that they would write glowing reports about rail travel.
A)
True
B)
False
16.
Ivy Lee, one of the founders of public relations and often dubbed “Poison Ivy,” believed
that deception was better than honesty in public relations.
A)
True
B)
False
17.
Ivy Lee used PR techniques to defuse public anger over the Ludlow coal strike of 1914.
A)
True
B)
False
18.
Edward Bernays preferred to call himself a “publicity agent.”
A)
True
B)
False
19.
Edward Bernays worked on propaganda to help the U.S. government during World War
I.
A)
True
B)
False
20.
Public relations is largely a male profession, with relatively few female practitioners.
A)
True
B)
False
Page 4
21.
There are about 200 public relations agencies in the United States.
A)
True
B)
False
22.
Independent PR firms are usually huge organizations with a national clientele.
A)
True
B)
False
23.
In-house PR departments usually just create newsletters.
A)
True
B)
False
24.
PR practitioners find focus groups and surveys less helpful than instinct in planning
campaigns.
A)
True
B)
False
25.
Unlike the wide use of press releases in print journalism, network television journalists
rarely use video news releases (VNRs).
A)
True
B)
False
26.
BP’s response to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico is
an excellent example of a company using thoughtful crisis management to help its
public relations.
A)
True
B)
False
27.
When someone put poison in a few bottles of Tylenol, company executives decided to
withhold comment for a few days while they assessed the damage.
A)
True
B)
False
28.
Companies often hold plant tours and open houses to convince their local communities
that they are good citizens.
A)
True
B)
False
Page 5
29.
It is illegal for most companies and organizations to engage in lobbying.
A)
True
B)
False
30.
Journalists have traditionally held PR practitioners in low esteem.
A)
True
B)
False
31.
Press releases are created using a specific PR style of writing.
A)
True
B)
False
32.
Reporters would have a harder time doing their job without the help of PR practitioners.
A)
True
B)
False
33.
Reporters object when PR professionals limit access to clients.
A)
True
B)
False
34.
The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) tends to downplay ethical issues in
public relations.
A)
True
B)
False
35.
Individuals and organizations with extensive PR resources usually receive more
coverage in the media than those without such PR resources.
A)
True
B)
False
36.
The earliest PR practitioner was the _____, who sought to advance a client’s image often
by staging stunts that reporters described in newspapers.
37.
_____ was the practice of giving journalists free rail passes with the tacit understanding
that they would write glowing reports about rail travel.
Page 6
38.
Edward Bernays described the shaping of public opinion through PR as the “_____ of
consent.”
39.
A _____ is PR written in the style of a news report.
40.
The print media often create news stories from press releases. The visual counterpart of
the press release for television news is the _____.
41.
A _____ is when celebrities or officials create situations that attract press attention and
publicity without anything really happening.
42.
The phony grassroots public affairs campaigns engineered by PR firms are known as
_____ lobbying.
43.
Explain the major difference between advertising and public relations.
44.
How did the railroads and utility companies give the early forms of corporate public
relations a bad name?
45.
What contributions did Ivy Lee and Edward Bernays make to the development of
modern public relations?
46.
How has converged media affected the PR efforts of the U.S. military?
47.
Why have research and lobbying become increasingly important to the practice of
public relations?
48.
What are the sources of the antagonism between the journalism and public relations
professions?
Page 7
Answer Key
1.
C
2.
C
3.
D
4.
C
5.
B
6.
B
7.
C
8.
D
9.
A
10.
C
11.
D
12.
A
13.
A
14.
A
15.
A
16.
B
17.
A
18.
B
19.
A
20.
B
21.
B
22.
B
23.
B
24.
B
25.
A
26.
B
27.
B
28.
A
29.
B
30.
A
31.
B
32.
A
33.
A
34.
B
35.
A
36.
press agent
37.
Deadheading
38.
engineering
39.
press release
40.
video news release or VNR
41.
pseudo-event
42.
astroturf
43.
44.
Page 8
45.
46.
47.
48.