Instructor Resource
Trager, The Law of Journalism and Mass Communication 6e
CQ Press, 2018
Chapter 9: Electronic Media Regulation
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. What event prompted the U.S. Congress to regulate radio broadcasting?
a. World War I
b. the Titanic disaster
c. Marconi inventing wireless transmission
d. a U.S. Supreme Court decision
2. The legislation currently regulating broadcast radio and television stations in
the United States is the ______.
a. Wireless Ship Act of 1910
b. Radio Act of 1912
c. Federal Radio Act of 1927
d. Communications Act of 1934
3. The Federal Communications Commission regulates ______.
a. newspaper mergers
b. broadcast and print advertising
c. broadcast radio and television
d. all of these
4. FCC commissioners serve ______.
a. 5-year terms
b. 7-year terms
c. 10-year terms
d. as long as the president wants them to
5. Which of the following is the most important justification courts use to defend
broadcast regulation?
a. spectrum scarcity
b. pervasive presence
c. special impact
d. paramount character
6. Federal law says FCC decisions should be based on ______.
a. public benefit
b. public concern
c. public economy
d. public interest
7. The Federal Communications Commission’s funding comes from ______.
a. the U.S. president’s office
b. Congress
c. broadcast station owners
d. car washes
8. Section 315 (political broadcasting and cablecasting) is in effect ______.
a. beginning 3 months before an election
b. only during presidential elections
c. only when a candidate for federal office asks to buy advertising time
d. all the time
9. Section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934 ______.
Instructor Resource
Trager, The Law of Journalism and Mass Communication 6e
CQ Press, 2018
a. applies only 45 days before a general election and 60 days before a primary
election
b. requires broadcast stations and cable systems to make equal opportunities
available to legally qualified candidates for the same political office
c. applies only to candidates for federal offices
d. applies to print media
e. requires broadcast stations and cable systems to make equal opportunities
available to legally qualified candidates for the same political office and applies to
print media
10. Ramon is the Democratic candidate for governor. He purchases 60 seconds
of time on Channel 3 and runs a campaign ad two weeks before the general
election. Alycia is the Green Party candidate for governor. She asks Channel 3 to
sell her a minute of time. Channel 3’s general manager ______.
a. need not sell Alycia 60 seconds of time because the general manager decides
who buys commercial time on the station
b. need not sell Alycia 60 seconds of time because it is not 45 days before the
general election
c. need not sell Alycia 60 seconds of time because she does not have a real
chance of winning the election
d. must sell Alycia 60 seconds of time
11. A week before the general election, John, a legally qualified candidate for
mayor, is asked to make a free appearance on a radio station’s Saturday
morning children’s book program. John does so and reads from Charlotte’s Web.
Sara, a legally qualified candidate for mayor, demands time from the station. The
station manager ______.
a. must sell Sara the same amount of time John was given, on a Saturday
morning
b. must give Sara the same amount of time John was given, on a Saturday
morning
c. need not give Sara any time, because John did not purchase an advertisement
d. must not give Sara any time, because John appeared on a children’s show
12. During the general election campaign, Channel 3 decides to use four
consecutive Wednesday nights from 6:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. to interview candidates
for governor. On consecutive programs, Channel 3 invites on the program and
interviews Sarah, then Tim, then William, and then Marilyn. Don, who is running
for governor as a member of the Slippery Party, demands Channel 3 give him 30
minutes of time. Channel 3 ______.
a. need not give or sell Don any time at all because Don is not a candidate of a
major political party
b. need not give or sell Don any time at all because the programs were regularly
scheduled news interview programs
c. must sell Don 30 minutes of time
d. must give Don 30 minutes of free time
13. A group of citizens in the State of Zipzap gets enough valid signatures on a
petition to put a referendum on the ballot that would require the state legislature
to adopt a state holiday on Charles Dickens’s birthday. An all-news radio station
sells advertising time to those who favor the holiday but refuses to sell time for
advertisements against the holiday. The anti–Dickens group tells the station
manager that under Section 315, the manager must give the group equal
opportunity. Who is correct, and why?
a. the anti-Dickens group, because Section 315 requires equal opportunity
b. the anti-Dickens group, because Section 315 requires broadcasters to be
balanced in their presentations of ballot issues
c. the station, because the station does not have to give time to the anti-Dickens
group if the pro-Dickens group bought time
d. the station, because Section 315 does not apply to ballot issues, only to
political candidates
14. Because KOOL-TV’s programs are so popular, it is able to—and does—carry
15 minutes of advertising per hour, including on its Saturday morning children’s
program. Is this permissible?
a. Yes, because there are no legal restrictions on the amount of time a broadcast
television station may use for commercials.
b. Yes, because 15 minutes of commercials per hour complies with the legal
requirements for all programming on broadcast television stations.
c. Yes, because 15 minutes of commercials per hour complies with the legal
requirements for children’s programming on broadcast television stations.
Instructor Resource
Trager, The Law of Journalism and Mass Communication 6e
CQ Press, 2018
d. No, because 15 minutes of commercials per hour does not comply with the
legal requirements for children’s programming on broadcast television stations.
15. Which provisions of MVPD law allow cable or satellite systems to provide
local TV station signals to the systems’ customers?
a. must carry and retransmission consent
b. must carry a copyright agreement
c. retransmission consent and copyright agreement
d. retransmission consent and cable access permission
16. Generally speaking, how does the FCC justify its regulations?
a. It is working in the public interest.
b. It is upholding the First Amendment.
c. It is protecting the commercial interests of broadcasters.
d. all of these
17. What is FirstNet?
a. another term for net neutrality
b. a broadband network dedicated exclusively to the public safety community
c. a limitation that arises because only a certain number of broadcast radio and
television stations in a geographical area may use the spectrum without causing
interference.
d. a new TV network
18. Which of the following is an example of a multichannel video programming
distributor?
a. DirecTV
b. HBO
c. CBS
d. PBS
Instructor Resource
Trager, The Law of Journalism and Mass Communication 6e
CQ Press, 2018
19. At the heart of the FCC’s most recent net neutrality ruling is ______.
a. the change in classification of an ISP to a telecommunications service
b. the change in classification of an ISP to an information service
c. a rejection of the concept of net neutrality
d. the idea that it is not appropriate for the FCC to regulate ISPs
20. Which of the following does the 2105 FCC Open Internet Order ban?
a. throttling
b. paid prioritization
c. blocking
d. all of these
21. The FCC has regulatory jurisdiction over which of the following?
a. broadcast only
b. broadcast and internet
c. broadcast, MVPD, OVD, and broadband
d. internet, MVPD, and cable
1. An FCC license is not required to operate a radio station that has a signal
reaching only two or three miles from its transmitter in the United States.
2. Cable television began in the late 1940s because mountains and other barriers
prevented local television station signals from reaching some people’s homes.
Instructor Resource
Trager, The Law of Journalism and Mass Communication 6e
CQ Press, 2018
3. Cable television regulation is in the hands of city governments exclusively; the
U.S. Congress has adopted no cable television laws.
4. Cable and MVPD laws allow franchising authorities to require local cable
systems to provide access channels for public, educational, and government use.
5. Cable and MVPD laws forbid television stations from requiring a local cable
system to delete certain programs.
6. The U.S. Supreme Court held that the internet has full First Amendment
protection, similar to print media.
7. Before, after, and during children’s television programs, stations may run no
more than 10 1/2 minutes of commercials during weekends, and 12 minutes of
commercials during weekdays.
8. On-the-spot coverage of bona fide news events is an exception to the use rule
under Section 315.
9. Programs like The Howard Stern Show or The Jerry Springer Show are
exceptions to the use rule because they often discuss current events.
10. FCC regulations require any commercial on a broadcast station to identify
who paid for a political or candidate ad.
11. The Supreme Court has ruled that must-carry rules for MVPDs are content-
neutral because they do not dictate specific programming.
12. In overturning a congressional attempt to limit online sexual expression, the
Supreme Court held in Reno v. American Civil Liberties Association (ACLU) that
the internet has complete First Amendment protection.
13. The FCC has classified direct broadcast satellite service as broadcasting.
14. The reason the FCC can regulate cable is because it uses the spectrum to
broadcast its signals, just as broadcasting does.
1. May a broadcast station or cable system refuse to sell advertising time to the
first legally qualified candidate for a statewide or local elective office who asks to
buy time? Why or why not?
2. May a broadcast station or cable system refuse to sell advertising time to the
first legally qualified candidate for the U.S. Senate who asks to buy time? Why or
why not?
3. During the general election period you interview Tom Tillson, a Democratic
candidate for governor, on Questions and Responses. You have been running
Questions and Responses” as a one-hour news interview program every Sunday
morning for the last seven years. The next day, Michelle Fuller, who is running as
a Republican for governor, calls you and says, “Since you put my opponent on
the air for free, you must do the same for me.” Is she correct? Why or why not?
4. A group of citizens in the State of Rdsx gets enough valid signatures on a
petition to put a referendum on the ballot that would require the state legislature
to adopt a state holiday on Ted Williams’s birthday. An all-sports radio station
sells advertising time to those who favor the holiday but refuses to sell time for
advertisements against the holiday. The anti–Williams group tells the station
manager that under Section 315, the manager must give the group “equal
opportunity.” Who is correct, and why?
Instructor Resource
Trager, The Law of Journalism and Mass Communication 6e
CQ Press, 2018
5. What are the two primary justifications for regulating broadcast media?
6. What is net neutrality?
7. Explain the arguments for and against net neutrality.
8. What practices does the FCC’s 2015 Open Internet Order ban?
9. What is an MVPD and how does its regulation relate to the regulation of
cable?
10. Explain the must-carry and retransmission consent rules.