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Chapter 06: News
Chapter 06: News
Multiple Choice Single Select
1) Conceptually, the fundamental notion underlying any definition of news is
a) accuracy.
b) balance.
c) change.
d) importance.
2) When there are more potential news stories than there is time or space to report them,
decisions about which ones will get reported are usually based on their
a) accuracy.
b) depth of coverage.
c) first sentence.
d) newsworthiness.
3) Newsworthiness is usually determined by all of the following EXCEPT
a) guidelines in the Associated Press Stylebook.
b) subjective journalistic values.
c) a feel for what the audience thinks is important.
d) the prominence of the people involved in the story and its timeliness.
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4) What factor is NOT used in determining newsworthiness of a story?
a) proximity to audience
b) cost to collect information
c) prominence of people involved
d) impact on society
5) James Gordon Bennett, an early penny press publisher, helped establish the view of news as
we still know it by his emphasis on
a) allowing his reporters to express their own views on the stories they reported.
b) catchy headlines to attract readers’ attention and pull them into the stories.
c) emphasizing the people and personalities behind the news.
d) stressing speed and timeliness in gathering and reporting the news.
6) James Gordon Bennett
a) started the first penny press.
b) used newspapers to fight social ills that accompanied industrialization.
c) organized the first newsroom and reporting staff.
d) pioneered editorials.
7) The first newsroom was organized by
a) Edward Murrow.
b) John Peter Zenger.
c) James Gordon Bennett.
d) Horace Greeley.
8) Bennett’s paper was one of the first to use the practice of “news beats,” which were a
a) “black mark” against a reporter who failed to beat the competition in reporting a story.
b) regular or recurring theme or topic that would periodically show up in news coverage.
c) subject or part of the city a reporter was assigned to cover for the sake of gathering news.
d) token reward and recognition to a reporter who got a story before competing papers did.
9) As it evolved, the Bennett model of news became all of the following EXCEPT
a) deadline-driven.
b) event-based and reactive.
c) objective and neutral in tone.
d) bylined to feature highly visible reporters.
10) Which of the following helped develop the concept of journalistic objectivity in news?
a) the Spanish-American War
b) creation of the Associated Press
c) increase in advertising revenue
d) government regulation
11) The problems that the text highlights with the Bennett model of news include all of the
following EXCEPT
a) deadline haste often undermined high-quality and in-depth reporting.
b) ego-driven reporters aggrandized themselves and got front-page coverage with
sensationalism.
c) too often reporters simply accepted “the official version of stories” instead of
investigating.
d) trends that weren’t tied to big, recognizable events were often overlooked and went
unreported.
12) The communist scare fueled by Senator Joseph McCarthy was characterized by all of the
following EXCEPT
a) an assassination attempt on McCarthy by Soviet KGB operatives.
b) reports of a spy ring operating within the U.S. State Department.
c) reporters accurately quoting and paraphrasing exactly what the Senator said.
d) reporters failing to examine discrepancies in McCarthy’s allegations.
13) Senator McCarthy’s inconsistencies, questionable behavior, and unsubstantiated accusations
were finally revealed by
a) Bob Woodward while working as a reporter for the Washington Post.
b) Edward R. Murrow while working as a television reporter for CBS News.
c) Richard Nixon while heading a U.S. House investigative sub-committee.
d) Walter Cronkite while he was the anchorman for CBS Evening News.
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14) The Pulitzer-Hearst circulation war can be traced to a
a) battle for the affections of Nellie Bly.
b) desire to use newspapers as a stepping stone to political office.
c) quest to sell more copies.
d) desire to gain access to the wealthiest circles in New York City.
15) The Hutchins Commission called on the news media to become more socially responsible by
a) offering a more balanced analysis of politically sensitive issues.
b) presenting the news in a context that gives it meaning.
c) reducing the number of celebrity-focused stories and concentrating more on ideas.
d) reducing the ability of advertisers to influence what news gets reported.
16) Although welcomed by some, especially academicians, the Hutchins Commission Report
was criticized by all of the following EXCEPT
a) Henry Luce, the publisher of Time and Life, who had funded the commission’s work.
b) journalists who thought it encouraged inappropriate “editorializing.”
c) Richard Nixon, who wanted to place more government control on the media.
d) Robert McCormick of the Chicago Tribune, who commissioned a book to rebut the
report.
17) The Hutchins Commission wanted the media to provide a context for the news as well as an
account of the day’s events that was all of the following EXCEPT
a) comprehensive.
b) equally balanced.
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c) intelligent.
d) truthful.
18) Since neither the Bennett model of news nor the Hutchins model is totally suited to today’s
news environment, a new hybrid model has been introduced by
a) the Associated Press.
b) CNN.
c) John Vivian, author of The Media of Mass Communication.
d) the New York Times.
19) The Hutchins Commission’s call for increased social responsibility in reporting the news
was partly fueled by its concerns about
a) the extremely high level of profits that were turning newspaper owners into Republicans.
b) the increase in one-newspaper towns where there was no news-reporting competition.
c) the increasing arrogance of rich newspaper publishers and their lavish lifestyles.
d) the superficial, deadline-driven reporter tactics.
20) Today, the Hutchins Commission’s concerns about the declining number of news sources
a) has become a moot point due to the proliferation of Internet and cable news sources.
b) has been effectively counteracted by the demassification of media audiences.
c) is more valid than ever due to the impact of the Internet on traditional news sources.
d) remains critical with daily papers going out of business and radio abandoning news
programs.
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21) Which of the following reflect the values that sociologist Herbert Gans discovered in his
study?
a) Journalists have mainstream values.
b) Journalists are liberals.
c) Journalists are conservative.
d) Journalists are way out of the mainstream.
22) The fact that American journalists favor U.S.-style democracies and capitalism is evident in
all of the following observations made by Herbert Gans EXCEPT
a) business corruption and misbehavior are treated as understandable common practices.
b) coverage of other forms of government emphasizes corruption, conflict, and abuses of
power.
c) their clear expectation that governments should serve the public interest.
d) their expectation that businesses will eschew unreasonable profits and exploitation of
workers.
23) According to Herbert Gans, whether American journalists are reporting on physical or social
disorders, their primary interest is in
a) contributing in some way to helping correct the problem and restore order.
b) emphasizing the unusual and tragic aspects of the situation.
c) finding a unique and interesting angle to set their story apart from other coverage.
d) making the impact of the disorder real and tangible to the audience so they identify with
it.
24) Seeing things based on personal experience and values is known as
a) federalism.
b) sensationalism.
c) objectivity.
d) ethnocentrism.
25) One common trait Herbert Gans found among American journalists is that they
a) romanticize large cities.
b) celebrate rural life.
c) prefer stories on corporate individuals who live out the American dream.
d) love stories about rugged individualists who overcome adversity.
26) The news media role to monitor the performance of government and other institutions is
called the
a) explorative function.
b) big brother function.
c) watchdog function.
d) journalistic oversight.
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27) Who was given a talk show on MSNBC in 2008?
a) Rachel Maddow
b) Nancy Grace
c) Katie Couric
d) Ann Coulter
28) The amount of available time or space, also known as the __________, tends to be much
more consistent in broadcasting than in newspapers or magazines.
a) audience size
b) advertising budget
c) news staff
d) news hole
29) A story that may make the evening news one day but not another could be the victim of
a) an inverted pyramid.
b) seditious libation.
c) tug-of-war.
d) news flow.
30) How can similar news coverage between competitors be explained?
a) news flow
b) altruistic democracy
c) herd journalism
d) proximity
31) What academicians call “the consensible nature of news” can more colloquially be called all
of the following EXCEPT
a) getting a confirming source.
b) a herd mentality.
c) pack journalism.
d) playing catch-up with the news.
32) The consensible nature of news means that different news agencies
a) will not offend one another’s advertisers.
b) are likely to offer the same type of news coverage.
c) compete to find different images or sounds to accompany their news.
d) rarely offer coverage similar to their competitors’.
33) Those who decide what news to carry, when to carry it, and how to present it are called
a) publishers.
b) news hounds.
c) gatekeepers.
d) reporters.
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34) The 24/7 nature of news and the need to put news on the Internet has resulted in
a) more comprehensive coverage of events.
b) more enterprise stories.
c) less independent reporting by traditional news organizations.
d) more news beats.
35) Many news organizations have eliminated or reduced staffing at bureaus in outlying areas
because
a) other news organizations can collect and distribute news in those areas.
b) blogs meet the public’s right to know.
c) finances have forced drastic budget cutbacks.
d) there is little news produced from them.
36) Which news organization was the first to provide nonstop coverage?
a) New York Times
b) CNN
c) Associated Press
d) Fox News
37) The ability to provide up-to-the-minute news updates has resulted in
a) more accurate and reliable information being reported.
b) authoritative sources speaking for themselves instead of being quoted by reporters.
c) more mistakes.
d) less emphasis on trivial items.
38) Which of the following is NOT a disadvantage of live news coverage?
a) Nobody is exercising judgment in deciding how to present material.
b) There is no gatekeeper.
c) It is raw.
d) It takes less time for viewers to absorb information.
39) Enterprise reporting that reveals new, often startling, information that official sources would
often rather not have revealed is called
a) investigative journalism.
b) blogging.
c) independent reporting.
d) beat reporting.
40) Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein are best known for their reporting on a presidential
scandal that became known as
a) the Pentagon Papers.
b) Watergate.
c) Whitewater.
d) the Iran-Contra Affair.
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41) Investigative reporting during the early 1900s was called
a) investigative reporting.
b) bulldogging.
c) muckraking.
d) in-depth journalism.
42) Which of the following is an example of soft news?
a) a television reporter appearing live from the White House as the president signs a bill
into law
b) a radio reporter interviewing an agricultural lobbyist about a new farm subsidy bill in
Congress
c) a newspaper publishing a list of tips on how to save on wintertime heating costs
d) a television story covering a plane crash
43) Soft news includes all the following EXCEPT
a) consumer self-help stories.
b) entertainment and celebrity news.
c) local traffic reports and accident coverage.
d) stories on lifestyle trends and tips.
44) Blogging has broken which tenet of Bennett’s Model?
a) objectivity
b) timeliness
c) deadlines
d) compelling events
45) The increase of television channels and Internet sites has led to increased audience
a) fragmentation.
b) diversity.
c) unity.
d) skepticism.
46) According to Chet Huntley, which is pivotal in determining what is news?
a) reporters’ judgment
b) human interest
c) social impact
d) current events
47) Why did the Nigerian terror attacks receive such little attention from American media?
a) a lack of journalist staffing
b) a lack of political interest
c) a lack of casualties
d) a lack of government support
48) According to Chuck Todd, the pressure to increase the quantity of stories led to a decrease in
a) fresh reporting.
b) reporter staffing.
c) story coverage.
d) live news.
