Instructor Resource
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
Chapter 1: Audience–Centric Journalism
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. The primary use for reporting skills, including good writing, good reporting, and good nosiness, is to
______.
A. promote your beliefs
B. gain personal fame
C. pursue your interests
D. serve other people
2. The main difference between modern news reporting and reporting in previous generations is ______.
A. there are now fewer media through which audiences can be reached
B. audiences are less fractured now
C. audiences are now the primary drivers of content
D. journalists have become more influential than they were
3. Which of the following no longer applies in today’s media environment?
A. the idea of a mass medium
B. the importance of accuracy
C. the need for immediacy in reporting
D. a dependence on official sources
4. What is the criterion most used by today’s news consumers to decide which publications to read?
A. which ones have the most experienced journalists
B. which ones best serve the reader’s interests
C. which one has the most celebrity endorsements
D. which one is published nearest to the reader
5. Which of the following is a consequence of journalism students being taught in “silos” based on the
field they want to pursue?
A. declining concern for accuracy in reporting
B. more rigorous standards for becoming a journalist
C. bias toward one method of delivering information
D. increased cooperation between reporters
6. Which of the following do most professional journalists view as a factor that defines themselves and
their work?
A. their choice of platform
B. their gender
C. their political beliefs
D. their age
7. A major conflict between the way journalists view themselves and what audiences expect is that
______.
A. journalists care less about accuracy than do readers
B. readers are not biased toward a certain platform while most journalists are
C. readers expect in-depth reporting while journalists primarily view themselves as entertainers
D. readers prefer physical media while journalists largely prefer digital outlets
8. Most Americans’ choices of media types can best be described as ______.
A. stratified based on age
B. a buffet approach
C. limited to one or two choices
D. inherited from their parents
9. Which is most likely to influence the type of media that a news consumer uses to get his or her news?
Instructor Resource
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
A. his or her age
B. his or her level of education
C. the content of the story
D. the person reporting the news
10. The best way for journalists to prevent their readers from going elsewhere for news is to ______.
A. stick to a single medium
B. report only stories that confirm readers’ biases
C. present information in the format that readers prefer
D. sacrifice depth for entertainment value
11. The biggest challenge in attempting to keep your readers engaged is ______.
A. knowing what will hold readers’ attention
B. producing stories that are both serious and engaging
C. finding stories that interest readers
D. tailoring facts to match readers’ opinions
12. Who is most susceptible to fake news stories?
A. anyone consuming news on multiple platforms
B. people who expect the news to confirm their worldview
C. anyone approaching news stories with an open mind
D. people who read only print journalism
13. How are computer “bots” most commonly related to the fake news phenomenon?
A. They automatically generate eye-catching fake news headlines.
B. They regularly “scoop” real news reporters, reducing the size of the reporter’s audience.
C. They amplify fake news stories by inflating the number of retweets and likes they get.
D. They disrupt quality news sites and broadcasts through viruses and malware.
14. How does the volume of choices available to news consumers affect their understanding of the world?
A. It makes it more difficult to make sense of what is happening.
B. It makes people less reliant on others to help them understand the news.
C. It makes it easier to form a coherent narrative about the world.
D. It makes people less interested in world events.
15. Which of the following is an effect of increasingly digital lifestyles on human behavior?
A. decreased awareness of world events
B. shorter attention spans
C. increased empathy
D. higher tendency to trust the opinions of experts
16. How can you know when a viral news story is worth covering?
A. when a topic “trends” on social media
B. when someone close to you shares a story with you
C. when audience interest aligns with traditional news values
D. when you have a personal interest in the topic
17. How often should publications conduct readership surveys?
A. every week
B. every month
C. every year
D. every other year
18. What does demographic information tell you about your audience?
A. which areas of the country are interested in your work
B. your readers’ political beliefs
Instructor Resource
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
C. the types of people who consume your content
D. how satisfied readers are with your work
19. Which type of information will tell you the most about your readers’ attitudes toward certain topics?
A. demographic
B. psychographic
C. geographic
D. telegraphic
20. Which type of information will help you focus on news stories happening nearest to your audience?
A. demographic
B. psychographic
C. geographic
D. telegraphic
21. Which dimension of website analytics is measured based on a specific timeframe?
A. unique visitors
B. pageviews
C. visits
D. source
22. The website analytics metric that counts the number of times a web page is loaded is called ______.
A. visits
B. unique visitors
C. pageviews
D. session duration
23. In the context of website analytics, what does the visits metric tell you?
A. the number of readers who have navigated to a site
B. the amount of time spent viewing a single page
C. which pages on a website have been viewed the most
D. the reader’s reaction to the content
24. Which website analytics metric is most useful in determining what caused a reader to visit your site?
A. pageviews
B. source
C. session duration
D. visits
25. Which website analytics metric will best reveal which pages held the reader’s attention?
A. visits
B. session duration
C. unique visitors
D. source
26. Which element of reporting is the most important?
A. accurate information
B. sensational headlines
C. eye-catching visuals
D. localization
27. How much time should you spend ensuring the information in your story is clear and accurate?
A. none
B. no more than two hours
C. a full day
D. as much time as necessary
Instructor Resource
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
28. What information in a story lead is most valuable to readers?
A. what happened
B. when it happened
C. why it matters
D. who was involved
29. Which of the following leads has the most value for readers?
A. Police responded to a robbery on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Birch Street on Friday night.
B. Armed robbers posing as janitors stole more than US$50,000 worth of antique jewelry from a store on
the corner of Fifth Avenue and Birch Street on Friday night.
C. The jewelry store on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Birch Street was robbed by two armed individuals
posing as janitors on Friday night.
D. Armed robbers evaded police and made off with handfuls of antique jewelry from the store on the
corner of Fifth Avenue and Birch Street on Friday night.
30. A fair journalist will ______.
A. avoid challenging sources even when they are incorrect
B. repeat whatever his or her source says without comment
C. allow stakeholders to express their position on a topic
D. attempt to find evidence to support his or her source’s talking points
31. In order to remain objective, a reporter must have ______ when going into an interview.
A. an open mind
B. expertise in a topic
C. strong opinions about the source
D. a prewritten story with room for quotes
32. You have written a personality profile on a beloved local sports star who recently retired. Which
interest element are you using to attract readers?
A. fame
B. oddity
C. conflict
D. immediacy
33. The interest element fame can be divided into ______ main categories.
A. two
B. three
C. four
D. five
34. Which of the following news stories would attract interest through oddity?
A. City council fiercely debates new zoning law.
B. Corporate mergers affect the local job market.
C. A farmer grows a 300-pound pumpkin.
D. A celebrity chef opens a local restaurant.
35. To maintain reader interest in a story based on a conflict, what is most important to explain?
A. the history of the debate
B. your personal opinion on who is right
C. how each outcome could be good or bad for readers
D. how similar conflicts have been resolved in the past
36. What time frame is used to measure immediacy in today’s media environment?
A. minutes and seconds
B. hours
Instructor Resource
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
C. days and weeks
D. months and years
37. The impact of a story answers the question “______?”
A. What happened
B. Who was involved
C. When did it occur
D. Why should I care
38. A quantitative description of an impact shows ______.
A. the duration of the impact
B. the range of the impact
C. the severity of the impact
D. the cause of the impact
39. A description of the depth or severity of an impact is known as a ______ measurement.
A. quantitative
B. operative
C. qualitative
D. authoritative
1. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Why is it important to understand your audience in today’s media
environment?
A. to avoid contradicting readers’ beliefs
B. to give readers the types of stories they want
C. to determine if accuracy is more important than entertainment
D. to know which platforms to use
2. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Which of the following are true about fake news stories today compared
to generations prior?
A. There are more of them.
B. People are more susceptible to them.
C. They did not exist prior to the Internet.
D. They are circulated more quickly.
3. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. To hold a reader’s attention, the stimulus of a story should be ______.
A. strong
B. predictable
C. steady
D. sporadic
4. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Which aspects of reporting are affected by audience participation?
A. the structure of the story
B. the amount of coverage given to a topic
C. the focus of the story
D. the presentation of the story
5. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Readership surveys help journalists understand ______.
A. how reader expectations have changed
B. how loyal the reader is to the publication
C. who is paying attention
D. what appeals to readers
6. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Which of the following attributes are considered demographic
information?
A. location
B. age
C. gender
D. values
7. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. What types of insight are provided by website analytics?
A. which stories were viewed the most
B. the average amount of time spent on a page
C. the attitudes and beliefs of site visitors
D. which stories generated the most comments
8. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. What types of information are included in website analytics source data?
A. whether the reader has your site bookmarked
B. if the reader used a search engine to find your site
C. URL of the previous site viewed by the visitor
D. how long the reader remained on your site
9. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. What are a journalist’s duties to his or her audience regarding objectivity?
A. to be as informed as possible
B. to inject personal opinions into the story
C. to tell readers what they should believe
D. to push back against falsehoods
1. The motto “all the news that’s fit to print” is more applicable to today’s journalism industry than ever
before.
Instructor Resource
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
2. Any story that readers disagree with can accurately be called “fake news.”
3. Audiences are overwhelmed by the number of news outlets that are available to them and often
depend upon other people to tell them which content to consume.
4. Geographic information includes both the locations where physical copies of a publication are delivered
and the locations of readers accessing news content online.
5. A person who visits a webpage 3 times in a day would count as three “daily unique visitors.”
6. Modern survey and web analytics techniques make physically interacting with readers unnecessary.
7. Above all else, readers expect to be entertained by news stories.
8. Telling two sides of a story ensures fairness.
9. It is possible to give audiences what they want and maintain journalistic best practices.
10. The person doing a deed is often more important to readers than what was done.
11. A news oddity can have either positive or negative outcomes.
12. Being accurate with your reporting is more important than being the first to report on a story.
1. Explain the concepts of fairness and objectivity in the context of reporting and what they require of
reporters.
2. How do journalists provide value for their audiences?
3. What does the mnemonic FOCII stand for, and how does each element apply to news reporting?
4. What is “shiny object syndrome,” and how does it affect today’s news environment?
5. With the help of examples, explain the two ways to demonstrate the impact of a news story.
Instructor Resource
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
Essay
1. Discuss the concept of audience centricity and its effect on how journalists relay news to consumers.
2. The term “fake news” is used frequently in today’s media environment. Define the term and discuss
some of the factors that led to it becoming a major issue.
3. What is the difference between valuable news and infotainment? How does the concept of audience
centricity help determine which is which?
Instructor Resource
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
4. Discuss why today’s journalists need to spend time interacting with real people and identify methods of
doing so both in person and in the digital realm.
5. How have audiences crossed over to become not just readers, but producers of news content?