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Chapter 13: Media Law: Free Speech and Fairness
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. High school journalism students at Pittsburg, KS, put their student newspaper on the
map in 2017 when they ______.
A. ran a photo of a student holding up a sign at a football game that said “Bong Hits for
Jesus”
B. reported on a cheating scandal at their school
C. reported on budget problems in the school district
D. reported that a newly hired high school principal did not seem to have the credentials
she changed
2. The person most responsible for creating the fair use doctrine for American copyright
law is ______.
A. Larry Flynt
B. Samuel Roth
C. Barbara Ringer
D. Judith Miller
3. The belief that Americans should be allowed to freely express themselves originated
with which of the following?
A. Smith Act
B. Espionage Act of 1918
C. USA PATRIOT Act
D. First Amendment
4. The John Peter Zenger case established which of the following?
A. truth as an absolute defense against libel
B. that the Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional
C. the requirement to submit to government censorship was illegal
D. “the right of the people peaceably to assemble”
5. The law passed by Congress following the 9/11 attacks, which expanded the ability of
the FBI to look into people’s media use and tap their phones, is known as which of the
following?
A. Smith Act
B. Espionage Act
C. USA PATRIOT Act
D. First Amendment
6. The definition of libel is which of the following?
A. any published statement that unjustifiably exposes someone to ridicule or contempt
B. any published statement about someone that can be established to be untrue
C. any true but embarrassing statement or image of an individual
D. all of these
7. Truth is not always an effective defense against libel for which of the following
reasons?
A. Many people do not want to believe the truth.
B. Too many people are willing to lie in court.
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C. It is not always clear what the truth is.
D. It may be necessary to keep the truth private.
8. Which of the following cases established that the actual malice standard in libel law
applied to public figures as well as public officials?
A. Morse v. Frederick
B. Cohen v. Cowles Media
C. Gertz v. Roberts
D. Food Lion v. ABC
9. Which of the following did the Supreme Court suggest judges do after overturning the
Sam Sheppard conviction?
A. have the trial quickly, before the public forms an opinion
B. put a gag order on all participants in the trial
C. make rules about how frequently the media can report on the trial
D. all of these
10. Which of the following cases established that reporters have a legal obligation to
keep a verbal promise made to a source?
A. Morse v. Frederick
B. Cohen v. Cowles Media
C. Gertz v. Roberts
D. Food Lion v. ABC
11. Which of the following cases established that reporters have a right to publish
truthful information even if it was obtained using deception?
A. Morse v. Frederick
B. Cohen v. Cowles Media
C. Gertz v. Roberts
D. Food Lion v. ABC
12. Several newspapers were initially prevented from printing the Pentagon Papers
through the government’s use of which of the following?
A. libel law
B. invasion of privacy law
C. prior restraint
D. obscenity law
13. In the case of Roth v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down which of
the following rulings?
A. Obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment.
B. All sexually explicit material is obscene.
C. It is illegal to publish an article about how to build a nuclear bomb.
D. High school principals are allowed to censor a student newspaper for “any legitimate
educational purpose.”
14. The first U.S. copyright law permitted authors and artists to protect their work for
how long?
A. 10 years
B. 28 years
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C. 80 years
D. 90 years
15. The FCC’s Equal Time Provision requires that stations do which of the following?
A. provide free air time to candidates
B. prohibit libelous information in political ads
C. have “fair and balanced” newscasts
D. give all candidates equal access to non-news air time
16. Editorial cartoons are generally given a lot of protection from libel for which of the
following reasons?
A. Many attorneys and judges enjoy reading them.
B. They rarely express anything derogatory about a public figure.
C. Their writers are typically quite cautious about checking their facts.
D. They are considered a statement of opinion, neither true nor false.
17. The First Amendment does not protect people from being sued for statements that
are which of the following?
A. false
B. libelous
C. unpopular
D. politically incorrect
18. A newspaper ran an article that says a congressman has accepted a number of
payments from an oil company. The article claims that the payments were illegal and
that the congressman has committed a crime by receiving the payments. It turns out
that the reporter made a mistake in reading a financial report, and the payments were,
in fact, legal. The congressman sues the newspaper for libel. The newspaper
acknowledges that it made a mistake, apologizes, and then defends itself using the
legal principles established by which of the following cases?
A. New York Times Co. v. Sullivan
B. Near v. Minnesota
C. Gertz v. Welch
D. Miller v. California
19. A clothing company starts selling a line of dresses called the “Going Gaga”
collection that they say is based on the style sense of singer Lady Gaga. The company
does not get Ms. Gaga’s permission and does not pay her a licensing fee. Lady Gaga
sues the company to make it stop selling the clothing. The grounds for Ms. Gaga’s
lawsuit would be based on which of the following?
A. invasion of privacy—misappropriation
B. invasion of privacy—intrusion
C. invasion of privacy—false light
D. You can’t fool me, she would have no grounds for an invasion of privacy suit.
20. A photographer goes onto private property and takes a picture of a woman
sunbathing topless in her backyard. The woman could sue for which of the following?
A. invasion of privacy—misappropriation
B. invasion of privacy—intrusion
C. invasion of privacy—false light
D. You can’t fool me, she would have no grounds for an invasion of privacy suit.
21. The central argument for allowing cameras in the courtroom is which of the
following?
A. Court trials make for exciting media.
B. Young people should be exposed to trials as an educational experience.
C. A trial belongs to the public, not the participants in the trial.
D. Advertising revenue for televised trials can help pay the cost of running the courts.
22. The Progressive case demonstrated which of the following?
A. It is difficult for the government to suppress information that people want to make
public.
B. High school students can be punished for speech promoting drug use.
C. Journalists can be sent to jail for refusing to testify before a grand jury.
D. Bloggers are considered journalists by the courts.
23. In the Hazelwood case, the Supreme Court made which of the following rulings
about high school newspapers?
A. They could be censored only when they invade the privacy of “a teacher, student, or
other employee of the district.”
B. They are entitled to “the full protection of the First Amendment.”
C. They could be censored at any time because the newspaper was part of a class and
not a “public forum.”
D. They are a valuable resource and should be given “as much freedom as possible
without compromising discipline at the school.”
24. The case of Morse v. Frederick demonstrated which of the following?
A. It is difficult for the government to suppress information that people want to make
public.
B. High school students can be punished for speech promoting drug use.
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C. Journalists can be sent to jail for refusing to testify before a grand jury.
D. Bloggers are considered journalists by the courts.
25. The Judith Miller case demonstrated which of the following?
A. It is difficult for the government to suppress information that people want to make
public.
B. High school students can be punished for speech promoting drug use.
C. Journalists can be sent to jail for refusing to testify before a grand jury.
D. Bloggers are considered journalists by the courts.
26. Why did former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan sue the gossip website Gawker for
invasion of privacy?
A. Gawker ran old photos of Hogan injecting himself with steroids during his days as a
professional wrestler.
B. Gawker had posted a sex tape of Hogan and the wife of radio shock jock Bubba the
Love Sponge.
C. Gawker ran a story saying that Hogan was broke and living on the street.
D. Gawker ran a photo of Hogan drinking with his shirt off in a nightclub called “The
Cornerman.”
27. Net neutrality means ______.
A. Internet providers cannot censor transmitted material on the basis of content
B. message packets sent over the Internet must carry a neutral electric charge
C. Websites have to be balanced in their coverage of political news
D. Internet providers can’t favor the transmission of content from one site over that of
another
28. The greatest impact on broadcasting of the Telecommunications Act of 1996
was which of the following?
A. a relaxation of ownership rules
B. the introduction of the V-chip
C. attempts to regulate the Internet
29. The Communications Decency Act was struck down in 1997 because it did which of
the following?
A. limited the First Amendment rights of minors
B. limited the First Amendment rights of adults
C. violated the standards set in Morse v. Frederick
D. violated the standards set in United States v. Noriega
30. The National Security Agency (NSA) used Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act to
justify ______.
A. placing video monitors in dressing rooms in shopping malls
B. collecting “metadata” phone information on millions of Americans who were not
suspected of any crime
C. suppressing stories in newspapers that were critical of the NSA
D. all of these
31. The USA FREEDOM Act of 2015 took away the right of the National Security
Agency (NSA) to ______.
A. place video monitors in dressing rooms in shopping malls
B. collect “metadata” phone information on millions of Americans who were not
suspected of any crime
C. suppress stories in newspapers that were critical of the NSA
D. You can’t fool me, the USA FREEDOM Act expanded what the NSA could do, not
limit it.
32. The Oklahoma City bombing case trial demonstrated the importance and usefulness
of ______.
A. having a judge who keeps tight control of the trail
B. punishing journalists who reveal confidential trial information
C. closing the trial so that the public cannot see or hear the testimony
D. having the full trial broadcast on network and cable television nationwide
True/False
1. Several states, including Kansas, have passed laws restoring the rights of student
journalists that were taken away by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Hazelwood School
District v. Kuhlmeier decision.
2. Apple CEO Tim Cook argues that the company did the right thing to protect privacy
on their smartphones when they made the encryption on them strong enough that
neither the company nor the police could break into it without the owner’s permission.
3. The First Amendment to the Constitution states that Congress or the president may
limit free speech when it is in “the best national interest” to do so.
4. Under the Alien and Sedition Laws of 1798, writers could be sent to jail or deported
for criticizing the government.
5. The USA PATRIOT Act allows the FBI to examine individual’s health-care records,
Internet use, and library records.
6. To be libelous, a statement must be published or broadcast and seen by someone
other than the author and the person who was defamed.
7. Privilege is the legal notion that public figures and government officials have the right
(or privilege) to sue journalists for reporting on their private lives.
8. The press has the right to use embarrassing photographs of ordinary people, even if
they are not newsworthy.
9. French law requires people suing for invasion of privacy to prove they have been
harmed by the revelation.
10. Police arrested Washington Post reporter Wes Lowery when he tried to record video
of police forcing journalists to leave a McDonald’s in Ferguson, MO.
11. The Supreme Court ruled in 2011 that the Phelps family (aka the Westboro Baptist
Church) had the right to picket funerals as long as they followed local regulations.
12. Journalists have an unconditional right to bring still and video cameras into all trials
in the United States.
13. The case of Near v. Minnesota established that the government could ban the
publication of material that was “annoying and offensive to the public at large.”
14. Shield laws are designed to keep journalists from having to testify about their work
in court under certain circumstances.
15. According to the Roth and Miller cases, the decision about whether a particular book
or movie is obscene should be made using national standards that are consistent
across the entire country.
16. According to Roth v. the United States, not all sexually explicit material is
considered obscene.
17. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act makes it illegal to break the copy protection on
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18. The V-chip blocks a TV from showing a program with a particular content rating.
19. The laws applying libel law to writers on social media are mostly the same as those
20. Members of the Westboro Baptist Church picketed the funeral of Supreme Court
Justice Antonin Scalia because the justice had voted against their right to protest.
21. European Union “right to be forgotten” laws force search companies such as Google
to omit information from search results that people say are “irrelevant” or “out of date.”
22. European Union “right to be forgotten” laws force U.S. newspapers and other news
sites to take down stories that EU citizens consider “irrelevant” or “out of date.”
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Essay
1. In addition to freedom of speech and the press, what three rights are protected by the
First Amendment?
2. What did President Thomas Jefferson do to all the people charged under the Alien
and Sedition Acts?
4. What are the three elements that have to be present in order for libel to have taken
place?
5. What does the concept of journalistic privilege protect?
6. What are the four forms of invasion of privacy in the United States?
7. In media law, what is prior restraint?
8. Name two ways in which high school students have limited free speech rights.
9. What do shield laws do?
10. In the case of Miller v. California, what is the LAPS test?
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11. What is the major challenge faced by United States obscenity law in the 21st
century?
12. In a brief essay, explain the major changes that took place to copyright law in 1976.
13. In a brief essay, explain what New York Times Co. v. Sullivan was about and what
the long-term impact of the case has been.
14. There is a continual tension between the constitutional protection of a fair trial and
the constitutional protection of freedom of the press. In a brief essay, discuss how the
courts have said this balance should be maintained.
15. In a brief essay, explain what prior restraint is, provide an example of how it has
been used in the United States, and explain why it is difficult to enforce in the 21st
century.
16. In a brief essay, explain what net neutrality is and why consumers might be helped
by it. What is a reason why online companies might prefer that net neutrality not exist.
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17. In a brief essay, explain why Apple resisted FBI efforts to hack the smartphone of
the married couple who killed 14 people in an attack in San Bernardino in 2016. Do you
support or oppose what Apple did? Explain why.