Croteau, Media/Society, 6e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
Chapter 5: Media Organizations and Professionals
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. ______ refers to the establishments where journalists visit regularly expecting news.
A. Beat
B. Round
C. Agency
D. Newswire
2. Which of the following is not an example of User-Generated Contents (UGC)?
A. citizen journalism
B. letters to the editor section in newspapers
C. Wikinews
D. editorial section in newspapers
3. Which of the following explanations about news “objectivity” is not true?
A. Objectivity is socially constructed.
B. Objectivity emerged as a scientific solution to the crisis of journalism.
C. Objectivity is always achieved in every news report.
D. Objectivity is a routine practice.
4. Which of the following is not a reason to use “stars” in media production?
A. Stars increase the chance of hits.
B. Stars are used to combat the uncertainty.
C. Stars nowadays are inexpensive to hire.
D. Stars increase the visibility of media products.
5. Trolling, spamming, morphing, and lurking are terms used in ______.
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SAGE Publishing, 2019
A. cyberspace
B. publishing houses
C. newsrooms
D. photography
6. Journalists’ schedule for visiting locations and talking to sources is called ______.
A. role
B. socialization
C. round
D. check-up
7. The “Q” score system used in media marketing and production refers to the ______.
A. indicator of the familiarity and appeal of Hollywood actors
B. total cost of potential media production
C. rating by the television viewers
D. dividend that will be paid to producers and actors after production
8. Practices or techniques that are widely used by media professionals are referred to
as ______.
A. conventions
B. skills
C. a creative vision
D. work rules
9. Which of the following is considered a chief norm of news photographer?
A. unobtrusiveness
B. technical mastery
C. aesthetics
D. obedience
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10. Rationalizing the news-gathering process means that news outlets ______.
A. need to anticipate where news will happen
B. cover only stories about the economy
C. pay all their journalists the same salary
D. eliminate all editorials and opinion pieces
11. The “news net” refers to the ______.
A. use of computers in the newsroom
B. standard practice news organizations use to gather news
C. editor–in-chief of a newspaper
D. lead story on the network news
12. The sociology of news work explains that the definition of “news” is shaped by the
______.
A. important events of the day
B. interests of the owners of news outlets
C. pronouncements of politicians
D. ways that reporters organize their work
13. Objectivity emerged as a norm in American journalism in the ______.
A. early 1800s
B. years following the U.S. Civil War
C. years following World War I
D. 1960s
14. When we say that objectivity is a “method,” we mean that it is a ______.
A. set of practices to which journalists adhere
B. commitment to facts
C. state of mind
D. search for the truth
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15. Which of the following is not the reason that mainstream news among major news
outlets is similar to each other?
A. News outlets constantly monitor and imitate others.
B. Reporters from different news outlets share the same news beats and sources.
C. News outlets depend heavily on official government sources.
D. News outlets often share reporters.
16. The process by which we learn the basic ground rules of a particular social role is
known as ______.
A. role-playing
B. socialization
C. observation
D. professionalization
17. At newspapers, who selects which photographs will appear in the paper?
A. the photo editor
B. the reporter
C. the photographer
D. the advertiser
18. In publishing houses, acquisitions editors are responsible for ______.
A. soliciting and evaluating book manuscripts
B. working with bookstores to distribute books
C. inducing prominent publications to review their books
D. preparing the index for a book
19. All of the following help booksellers select the titles to stock in their bookstores,
except ______.
A. publisher’s catalogue descriptions
B. past sales of the author’s previous books
C. the popularity of the book’s genre
Croteau, Media/Society, 6e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
D. the author’s formal request
20. When we talk about the “organizational premises” that shape the work of book
editors, we are referring to ______.
A. the location of editorial offices
B. the informal definition of appropriate books to publish
C. relationships between editors and authors
D. the editorial hierarchy at a publishing house
21. New members of Internet “newsgroups” can learn the norms of the group from all of
the following except ______.
A. a file of “frequently asked questions” (FAQs)
B. electronic “how–to” manuals for new members
C. electronic criticisms from other group members
D. face-to-face groups
22. Media producers seek “stars” for their productions because stars ______.
A. always make profitable productions
B. reduce the perception of risk
C. always produce high-quality products
D. are often close friends with producers
23. In media sociology, these are known as the bundles of expectations that are
associated with different social positions ______.
A. routines
B. norms
C. cultures
D. roles
24. Which of the following is not a strategy by media firms to deal with uncertainties in
media production?
A. using stars
B. copying past hits
C. producing sequels
D. discovering local talents
25. For the past 2 years, a majority of the scripts Kayley has written have been
considered to be commercially undesirable, leading to poor advertisement sales. Their
future as a television writer may be in jeopardy. What type of constraint is this?
A. emotional constraint
B. political constraint
C. economic constraint
D. all of these
26. What is the easiest strategy for media organizations to avoid conflict with regulators,
thereby enabling them to shape the actions of media organizations?
A. compliance
B. preemption
C. interpretation
D. ignore
27. The voluntary adoption of age-appropriate content ratings and warning labels for
motion picture, television, music, and video gaming industry products to stave off more
direct government regulation. What political constraint response is this?
A. challenge
B. ignore
C. preemption
D. compliance
28. The FCC historically has been reluctant to be a firm enforcer, in large part because
of the complexities of its relationship to the U.S. Congress and to the media industries it
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is supposed to regulate. This has enabled many forms of media industries to do what
political constraint response?
A. compliance
B. ignore
C. preemption
D. interpretation
29. The 1990 Children’s Television Act required stations to include educational
television in their Saturday morning lineups but lacked a definition of what “educational”
programming is by law. As a result, broadcasters were willing to define almost anything
as educational, including old cartoons such as The Flintstones and The Jetsons. What
type of political constraint response is this?
A. preemption
B. interpretation
C. challenge
D. compliance
30. Media organizations adopting legal strategies to question the constitutionality of
specific regulations or lobbying potentially supportive politicians that are for favorable
media regulations and threatening opponents that are against those favorable
regulations are examples of what political constraint response?
A. challenge
B. interpretation
C. preemption
D. compliance
31. The creation and promotion of media products comes with two problems ______.
A. it is expensive and time-consuming
B. it is time-consuming and audience preference greatly differs
C. it is expensive and audience preference greatly differs
D. it is time-consuming and sponsors are hard to come by
32. The most common strategy mainstream commercial media companies use to
increase the odds of success is ______.
A. to put a lot of money into the efforts of making the media product
B. use someone who is famous
C. there is no one formula for success in the media industry
D. to imitate products that have already been successful
33. The pattern commercial success of New Edition and New Kids on the Block in the
1980s; the Backstreet Boys, Boyz II Men, and ‘N Sync in the 1990s; and then One
Direction in the 2000s is an example of what?
A. the organization of media work and it’s many conventions
B. instant Internet success
C. using stars to combat uncertainty
D. media companies imitating products that have already been successful
34. A(n) ______ is a practice or technique that is widely used in a field.
A. convention
B. routine
C. consequence
D. objectivity
35. ______ help clarify the relationship between society and individuals, and the
relationship between the forces of structure and agency.
A. Editorial decision-making
B. Socialization
C. Journalism
D. Roles
36. We rarely think about the specific content of roles because ______.
A. we have largely internalized them
B. we often breach the roles we create for ourselves and others
C. we don’t become aware of roles when we create new ones
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D. all of these
37. Students are expected to show up to class on time and show interest; however, a
student lays down on to the floor to fall asleep in the middle of class. This is not only a
violation of role norms of being a student but also ______.
A. is incredibly rude
B. reaffirms what we should and should not be doing in our role relationships
C. are the basic ground rules of a role called socialization
D. highlights the significance of external social controls
1. “Conventions” in media organizations are arbitrary.
2. The “Q” score in media marketing quantifies stars’ appeal to the public.
3. Journalistic objectivity is socially constructed.
5. Book editors prefer unsolicited manuscripts to minimize selection bias.
6. In scholarly publishing, choices about new books are NOT shaped by the types of
books that a publisher has previously published.
7. “Structure” in media sociology refers to media professionals and their will.
8. “Beats” are places where TV starts frequent.
9. Studies have shown that reviewers that have found books, songs, art, and so on to
be good right after the release date have gone on to become increasingly popular on
every sight it was posted on and rated to be good early on.
1. What is the concept of a role? What do roles help clarify?
Ans: Varies
Answer Location: Role
2. What is objectivity and where did the term originate?
Ans: Varies
Answer Location: Objectivity
3. The faith in facts held by American journalists was thrown into doubt in the 1920s.
Why did this happen?
Ans: Varies
Answer Location: The Origins of Objectivity
4. Flip the channels during the evening news and you will find the networks covering
many of the same stories, often in a very similar way. Pick up a couple of daily
newspapers, and you will probably notice many of the same stories prominently
featured. Why is news from different outlets so much alike? Explain.
Ans: Varies.
Answer Location: News Routines and Their Consequences
5. Media sociologists often say that the journalistic norm of “objectivity” is a set of
socially constructed “routine practices.” What does “objectivity” mean? Explain.
Ans: Varies.
Answer Location: Objectivity
6. Why are “stars” so sought after by media producers? What do these stars bring to a
media production?
Croteau, Media/Society, 6e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
Ans: Varies.
Answer Location: Decision Making for Profit: Imitation, Hits, and Stars
7. What are “conventions” in media organizations? Why do you think conventions are
used in media organizations?
Ans: Varies.
Answer Location: Conventions