One key paradox of the Information Age is that for economic discussions to be
meaningful and democratic, they must be carried out in ______.
A) educational settings
B) the popular media as well as in educational settings
C) community-action groups
D) American homes
E) presidential debates
Punk rock emerged in the 1970s partly to protest the commercialism of the recording
industry.
A) True
B) False
The way we consume media today, like watching a TV show on our own schedule
rather than when it airs, favors shared experiences over individual interests.
A) True
B) False
The fact that PR professionals often move into journalism contributes to ongoing
tensions between journalism and PR.
A) True
B) False
Media effects research first emerged because of concerns about television violence.
A) True
B) False
For each number under General Questions, fill in a letter.
A. Advertising measure
B. Prior restraint
C. Film as free expression
D. Newspaper ownership
E. Libel standard
VALS
The term ______ refers to the economic situation in which a few firms dominate an
industry.
A) monopoly
B) corporate scaling economies
C) oligarchy
D) limited competition
E) oligopoly
The sound bite in a TV news report is the equivalent of a ______ in a newspaper story.
A) source
B) byline
C) lead paragraph
D) quote
E) footnote
Emile Berliner’s invention of ______ was significant because it allowed for mass
reproduction of sound recordings and for labeling, which enabled the development of a
star system.
A) wax cylinders
B) lamp black
C) flat disks
D) audiotape
E) 331/3 rpm records
The author of the first dime novel was ______.
A) Ann Stephens
B) Samuel Richardson
C) Benjamin Franklin
D) Irwin Beadle
E) Chaucer
According to the textbook, which of the following is not a big question about the future
of the Internet?
A) Who will have access to the Internet?
B) Does copyright law apply on the Internet?
C) Will there be more video games online?
D) Should there be limits on personal data gathering?
E) Should we be allowed to share anything on the Internet?
Which of the following statements regarding the U.S. government’s action against
monopolies in the late 1800s to early 1900s is false?
A) The government passed the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890, outlawing monopoly
practices.
B) The American Tobacco Company was one of the monopolies that broke up due to
government action.
C) The Clayton Antitrust Act was passed in 1914, prohibiting manufacturers to sell to
dealers who agreed to reject the products of their rivals.
D) Despite the Sherman Antitrust Act, Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company remained a
monopoly.
E) All of the statements are true.
Georges Mlis made the first western, The Great Train Robbery.
A) True
B) False
Network radio helped modernize America by deemphasizing local in favor of national
programs.
A) True
B) False
The billion-dollar mergers and takeovers that swept the mass media in the 1990s were
possible because of ______.
A) speculation on Wall Street
B) deregulation
C) the collapse of communism
D) the rise of the World Wide Web
E) tighter legal controls on corporate spending
Celebrating populism in postmodern culture can result in _______.
A) political leaders talking about their love of expensive wine, fancy French cheese,
country club memberships, and an Ivy League education
B) political leaders telling stories that are meant to resonate with the middle-class
C) political leaders talking about well-respected and peer-reviewed scientific studies
D) political leaders openly supporting big corporations
E) None of the above options is correct.
Which of the following is not an example of the Web sites that are increasingly popular
places for fans to sample and discover new music?
A) Google
B) Pandora
C) Facebook
D) YouTube
E) Rhapsody
Selecting from the following list of terms, match the description with the associated
research method. Some terms may be used more than once or not at all.
A. Agenda-setting
B. Cultivation effect
C. Content analysis
D. Experiment
E. Survey
In this method, researchers systematically code and measure media content.
Select the correct historical order among the following major eras in journalism history.
A) Partisan journalism, penny press, yellow journalism, objective news
B) Penny press, partisan journalism, objective news, yellow press
C) Partisan journalism, objective news, penny press, yellow press
D) Yellow press, penny press, partisan journalism, objective news
E) Objective news, penny press, partisan journalism, yellow press
The trend of downsizing ______.
A) was spurred by deregulation and a decline in worker protections
B) is supposed to make companies more profitable, competitive, and flexible
C) has forced many employees to scramble for jobs
D) has increased the wage gap between the corporate CEO and the average worker
E) All of the options are correct.
Why have local TV newscasts developed a similar look since the 1970s?
A) TV news directors copied each other.
B) Local news programs became syndicated.
C) Stations hired news consultants, who advised them to buy national prepackaged
formats.
D) Technology dictated that news programs look alike.
E) Studies showed that there was only way the news could logically be delivered to
viewers.
Which of the following is not a potential obstacle to print journalism’s vital role in
sustaining democracy?
A) The risk of a reporter’s being injured or killed while covering important stories like
wars
B) Newsroom cutbacks
C) The closing of foreign bureaus
D) The addition of online newspapers
E) Newspaper chain executives being afraid to offend investors or advertisers
According to the text, one of the first widely circulated arguments for a free, unlicensed
press can be traced to ______.
A) the un-amended U.S. Constitution
B) the tradition of a free press that started in Great Britain and other European countries
in the 1600s
C) English poet John Milton’s essay Areopagitica
D) President John Adams
E) Welsh poet Dylan Thomas’s poem “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”
Critics who view culture as a map _______.
A) see the map as rigidly structured
B) acknowledge that the familiar and unknown often coexist in the same song, movie,
or other cultural artifact
C) feel that culture was more meaningful in the “good old days” of the mid-twentieth
century
D) see popular culture as more innovative than high culture
E) None of the above options is correct.
The magazine industry continues to shun the Internet because of its threat to printed
journals.
A) True
B) False
Recording artists receive about one-third of the retail price of a CD in royalties.
A) True
B) False
A company that wants to get consumers to buy a more expensive version of an item,
such as fancy bottled water, might try which persuasive technique?
A) Famous-person testimonial
B) Plain-folks pitch
C) Snob-appeal approach
D) Bandwagon effect
E) Irritation advertising
Which statement about the relationship between public relations and social media sites
is true?
A) Corporate executives can cast themselves in a friendly role by sharing professional
and personal observations.
B) Politicians strictly avoid using services like Twitter because of the chance of saying
something damaging.
C) Facebook doesn’t allow companies or politicians to have their own pages.
D) Wikipedia encourages PR firms to modify entries for their clients’ benefit.
E) None of the above options is correct.
What service was launched in 2011 to compete against Facebook?
A) Google+
B) Yahoo!
C) Tumblr
D) MySpace
E) Twitter
Which invention brought the Internet to mass audiences?
A) Web browsers
B) Search engines
C) 56K modems
D) E-mail
E) Computer bulletin boards