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Instructor Resource
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
Chapter 12: Law and the Media
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. The Founding Fathers believed that protecting the press from ______ is crucial to the healthy
functioning of the United States.
A. business groups
B. government interference
C. special interest groups
D. foreign interference
2. Reporters will most likely get into trouble if they use the First Amendment ______.
A. to support asking probing questions
B. to justify telling the truth
C. to defend an investigative report
D. to violate the rights of others
3. Journalists will most likely face difficulties if they use the First Amendment to justify ______.
A. writing a slanted editorial piece
B. taking on a controversial subject
C. publishing lies about someone
D. printing a satirical article
4. Lars writes an accurate but harshly critical article about a beloved sports figure. Considering the
parameters of the First Amendment, Lars will most likely receive ______.
A. severe criticism from many fans
B. a conviction of libel by a court of law
C. support from the owner of the sports figure's team
D. a compensatory award from the sports figure
5. Which of the following is an accurate statement concerning freedom of speech for the media?
A. Traditional print publications have less freedom of speech than television.
B. The Internet has less freedom of speech than print publications.
C. The Internet has more freedom of speech than television.
D. Broadcast television has more freedom of speech than cable television.
6. Juan is a journalist who wants to present a controversial story that includes profanity and explicit
sexual content. Under the current applications of the First Amendment, he would most likely be able to do
this ______.
A. in a newspaper
B. on a radio program
C. on broadcast television
D. on the Internet
7. A reporter refuses to provide the police with information about who identified a murder suspect
because doing so would disclose a confidential source. By doing this, the reporter is using ______.
A. qualified privilege
B. reporter's privilege
C. absolute privilege
D. client privilege
8. Which of the following is an accurate statement about the confidentiality of sources?
A. The courts are inconsistent on how they approach the reporter's right to protect the confidentiality of
sources and the law's desire to obtain information.
B. The courts usually favor the law's desire to obtain information over the reporter's right to protect the
confidentiality of sources.
C. The courts usually favor the reporter's right to protect the confidentiality of sources over the law's
desire to obtain information.
D. The courts usually try to create a balance between the reporter's right to protect the confidentiality of
sources and the law's desire to obtain information.
9. Min-jun immediately subpoenaed a reporter without asking her informally what source provided certain
information. As a result, the court will most likely ______.
A. revoke the reporter's privilege
B. uphold the reporter's privilege
C. order the arrest of the reporter
D. order the arrest of Min-jun
10. A reporter might have confidential information from a source vital to a civil case. Realizing this, the
defense attorney wants the court to force the reporter to reveal this information and the identity of the
source. In this case, the court will most likely ______.
A. order the reporter to give both the information and the name of the source
B. refuse to order the reporter to give either the information or the name of the source
C. order the reporter to give the information but not the name of the source
D. order the reporter to give the name of the source but not the information
11. In which of the following will the court most likely allow reporter's privilege?
A. a civil case with little public interest
B. a civil case with large public interest
C. a criminal case with little public interest
D. a criminal case with large public interest
12. Which of the following is an accurate statement about "shield laws?”
A. Shield laws deny reporter's privilege.
B. Shield laws have been passed by 45 states.
C. Shield laws vary from state to state.
D. Shield laws tend to be vague.
13. Open meetings and open records are based on which of the following rationales?
A. Limits should be placed on people concerning their access to government activities.
B. Government meetings and records should be open to all government officials.
C. People have the right to know what is going on in government.
D. The government does not have the right to hold private meetings.
14. Officials believed that the Sunshine Act of 1976 would ______.
A. make politicians more accountable to the people they served
B. make citizens more accountable to the government
C. reduce the inefficiency of government meetings
D. expose corrupt politicians throughout the government
15. A reporter wants to investigate how politicians on an environmental committee will debate a proposed
law about protecting wetlands. Considering this, the Sunshine Act of 1976 helps this reporter because it
mandates open ______.
A. public spaces
B. personal records
C. telephone conversations
D. meetings
16. Which of the following is an accurate statement concerning open meetings of public officials?
A. Public officials for each state must provide 72-hr notice for open meetings.
B. Each state allows public officials to close all or some of their meetings to the public.
C. In each state, the legislature is exempted from holding public meetings.
D. Meetings of public officials in each state are presumed to be closed unless otherwise stated.
17. Why do reporters often use open records in addition to verbal statements by sources?
A. Reporters are required to use both open records and verbal statements.
B. Sources often forget something or lie in verbal statements; records tend to be more truthful.
C. Reporters find it more convenient to obtain open records than verbal statements.
D. The law states that verbal statements must be supported by open records.
18. The Freedom of Information Act requires the government to ______.
A. provide any member of the public with the opportunity to request and examine the records of federal
agencies
B. make federal records open to the public, including records that are vital to national security
C. provide any member of the press with the opportunity to request and examine classified federal
records
D. make federal records open to the U.S. press as well as the foreign press
19. The goal of federal and state open record laws is to make the actions of the government as ______
as possible.
A. consistent
B. reliable
C. secure
D. transparent
20. In most cases, the laws of each state prohibit a person from recording a call in which ______.
A. the other person involved gives only a verbal consent
B. the other person involved does not give his or her consent
C. he or she is not taking part in the conversation
D. he or she does not disclose how the talk will be recorded
21. The publication of false, defamatory statements that can harm a person's reputation is called ______.
A. slander
B. libel
C. wrongful testimony
D. muckraking evidence
22. Which of the following would most likely help a plaintiff win a libel suit?
A. Amanda claimed that the plaintiff, a professor, once skipped class in high school.
B. Minato claimed that in his opinion the plaintiff, a rock star, stole a song from another musician.
C. Steve claimed the plaintiff, a movie star, took drugs, even though Steve knows the story is false.
Instructor Resource
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
D. Hinata claimed truthfully that the plaintiff, a CEO, stole money from his company.
23. Which of the following would most likely be defined as a publication in a libel suit?
A. a person confiding to a priest that a friend had an extramarital affair
B. a person sending the statement that a politician blackmailed someone to a friend
C. a person telling a friend that her boss probably cheated on his tax return
D. a person writing in her diary about how a coworker abused her
24. Which of the following is an accurate definition of the term "twibel?”
A. a potentially libelous statement made on Twitter
B. a potentially libelous statement made twice
C. a potentially libelous statement made to two people
D. a potentially libelous statement made two or more years ago
25. You are a reporter being threatened with a libel suit. Which of the following is a correct way to
respond?
A. become agitated toward the person making the threat
B. check whether the person giving the threat has grounds for legal action
C. make any promise necessary to satisfy the person making the threat
D. avoid taking down any contact information for the person making the threat
26. When threatened with a libel suit, a reporter should ______.
A. apologize profusely to the person threatening the suit
B. assure the person threatening the suit that everything will be fixed immediately
C. promise the person threatening the suit that the matter will be dealt with effectively
D. argue with the person threatening the suit
27. In which of the following examples would the reporter have the best defense against a libel suit?
A. A reporter quoted a store clerk about police corruption but did not cite the source.
B. A reporter quoted a police captain about corruption on the force and cited the source.
C. A reporter quoted a politician about voting fraud but did not cite the source.
D. A reporter quoted a person on the street about voting fraud and cited the source.
28. A reporter has the best defense against a libel suit if he or she ______.
A. included accurate facts in an article and assumed these facts are common knowledge
B. included accurate facts in an article and supported most of these facts with evidence
C. told what is probably true in an article and provided strong evidence to back most claims
D. told the truth in an article and provided strong evidence to back any claims
29. A plaintiff will most likely win a libel suit against a journalist if the plaintiff ______.
A. showed that the reporter made spelling errors in the offending statements
B. showed that the reporter's offending statement could be interpreted various ways
C. proved that the reporter included opinion in the offending statements
D. proved that the reporter's offending statements have no basis in fact
30. To defend against a possible libel suit, a journalist should ______.
A. spell-check his or her writings before publication
B. get his or her facts straight in materials to be published
C. ask his or her boss to confirm that the articles are accurate
D. make sure that his or her work is still pertinent before publication
31. Which of the following statements would most likely make a journalist vulnerable to a libel suit?
A. Jimmy's irresponsible attitude has caused the business to lose 50 clients and to go bankrupt.
B. Jimmy is a lazy person.
C. Jimmy is so lazy that the boss needs to light a fire under him to get him to work hard.
D. Jimmy approaches work as if he is bored to death by his job.
32. Which of the following is an example of negligence in a libel suit?
A. A reporter wrote an article criticizing a popular athlete, knowing many fans would dislike it.
B. A reporter included many critical sources about a movie star and cited each one.
C. Because a reporter did poor research, his article falsely criticized a rock star.
D. Because a reporter had a grudge against a politician, she published an accurately negative article
about him.
33. Which of the following is an example of actual malice in a libel suit?
A. Because a journalist hated the Yankees, she wrote an article that falsely accused the team's top player
of taking drugs.
B. Because of a reporter's faulty research, his article on an athlete cast the person in a negative light.
C. Because a reporter forgot to get his source’s contact information, he was unable to call the source with
follow-up questions about a controversial subject.
D. Because a reporter forgot to use spell-check, his article about a convicted criminal had misspellings
that made the writer's intent confusing.
34. Which of the following is an example of punitive damages?
A. The court awards a CEO $500,000 because of the mental distress he suffered from a defamatory
statement.
B. The court orders a famous actress to pay $300,000 to a politician for a defamatory statement she
published about him on her blog.
C. The court gives a restaurant $250,000 because of the loss of business it suffered from a defamatory
statement.
D. The court grants a woman $100,000 because she lost her job after being falsely accused of stealing
money from the company she worked for.
35. Ignoring "do not trespass" signs, a reporter enters the estate of a reclusive millionaire. The reporter
has invaded privacy through ______.
A. exposure
B. public embarrassment
C. intrusion
D. false light
36. A reporter writes a critical article about a politician that includes a photograph of the smiling politician
standing next to a smiling gangster. The reporter has invaded privacy through ______.
A. coercion
B. false light
C. intrusion
D. public solicitation
37. A journalist prints information about college students frequently going to a nightclub associated with
illegal drugs to imply that these students use drugs. The article includes photographs of actual students.
The journalist has invaded privacy through ______.
A. coercion
B. false exposure
C. intrusion
D. public embarrassment
38. Which of the following is an accurate statement about intrusion?
A. It involves entering public and private areas.
B. It involves using true information in a defamatory way.
C. It involves casting private figures in a negative way.
D. It involves depicting public figures in a way they don't like.
39. Which of the following is an accurate statement about false light?
A. It involves asking questions in private areas.
B. It involves disregarding private property signs.
C. It involves using information to embarrass private figures.
D. It involves giving the wrong impression of a public figure.
40. Which of the following could happen because a reporter fails to realize that a store in a mall is a
quasi-public environment?
A. false light
Instructor Resource
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
B. intrusion
C. coercion
D. false exposure
41. A school invites a police chief to give a talk about crime to a class. Which of the following people in
this scenario is a public figure?
A. the teacher of the class
B. the police chief giving the talk
C. the students in the class
D. the reporter attending the talk
42. An accountant who leads a petition to save an endangered species is a ______.
A. private figure
B. limited-purpose private figure
C. public figure
D. limited-purpose public figure
43. An area open to the public that has privately owned entities is called a ______ environment.
A. quasi-private
B. limited-public
C. quasi-public
D. limited-private
44. Which of the following is a public place?
A. a protest march on a street
B. a person's hotel room
C. a person's hospital room
D. a store in a mall
Instructor Resource
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Intrusion
Difficulty Level: Easy
Multiple Response
1. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. The First Amendment to the Constitution supports five freedoms including
the freedom of ______.
A. religion
B. speech
C. taxation
D. assembly
2. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Which of the following are accurate statements concerning the First
Amendment?
A. The First Amendment allows journalists to use classified information.
B. The First Amendment is open to interpretation.
C. The First Amendment can fail to protect a journalist from a libel lawsuit.
D. The First Amendment is clear and absolute.
3. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Which of the following are key elements that plaintiffs must demonstrate
to win a libel suit?
A. The statement is vague.
B. The statement is defamatory.
C. The statement is false.
D. The statement is published.
4. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Which of the following statements might make a journalist vulnerable to a
libel suit?
A. Jane stole $3,000 from the store's cash register.
B. Jane cheated on her tax returns by failing to report earnings of $30,000.
C. Jane is so dishonest she should have a police escort wherever she goes.
D. Jane used the company's money to finance a vacation to Bermuda.
5. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Constanza suffered calculable damages when she ______.
A. developed high blood pressure because of a defamatory Internet article
B. lost about $50,000 because of a defamatory Internet article
C. became unemployed and thus lost benefits because of a defamatory Internet article
D. became anxious because of a defamatory Internet article
6. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Gunnar suffered incalculable damages when ______.
A. he developed insomnia because of a defamatory TV program
B. his business lost a large amount of money because of a defamatory TV program
C. he accrued high attorney fees because of a defamatory TV program
D. his wife left him because of a defamatory TV program about him
1. Because of the First Amendment, journalists enjoy stronger protections than other people.
2. The First Amendment gives a journalist carte blanche to investigate a story any way he or she wants.
3. "Shield laws" give a reporter a specific level of reporter's privilege.
4. The Sunshine Act in 1976 dictated that, with rare and specific exceptions, federal meetings should be
open to the public for observation.
5. In a libel suit, as long as the material is sent to a third party, a court may determine the material meets
the publication standard.
6. To win a libel suit, the plaintiff must prove that the defamatory statement is an opinion-based assertion.
7. If a reporter uses hyperbole, he or she uses language so over the top that no one takes it seriously.
8. False light often happens when property laws are ignored.
9. The limited-purpose public figure includes private people who have placed themselves into a public
situation for a specific purpose.
10. Public places provide the highest level of protection against intrusion.
Instructor Resource
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
Answer Location: Intrusion
Difficulty Level: Easy
Short Answer
1. Explain how the First Amendment protects and does not protect journalists. Give an example for each.
2. Summarize the 1972 Branzburg v. Hayes decision.
3. Identify the seven key elements needed for a plaintiff to win a libel suit.
Ans: 1. The statement is defamatory.
4. Define compensatory awards. Give an example.
5. Define the difference between a public area and a private area. Give an example for each.
1. Write a scenario in which you describe a plaintiff winning a libel suit against a reporter because the
seven key elements have been met.
2. Compare and contrast absolute privilege and qualified privilege. Give an example for each.
3. Summarize intrusion and give an example.
4. Write a scenario in which a reporter violates privacy through intrusion and false light.
5. Give real-life examples of a private figure, a public figure and a limited-purpose public figure. Explain
how a reporter should approach each one differently.
