Q&A Hero

Q: Who are the chief sources in news? A. ordinary citizens B. celebrities C. government officials D. scientists and other experts

Q: Though early projections suggested the Internet would positively affect overall levels of political knowledge, we have seen a different and more nuanced effect. Explain.

Q: Who appears most in news stories? A. ordinary citizens B. familiar people such as entertainers, athletes, and prominent politicians C. criminals D. scientists and other experts

Q: What is like-minded information? What is counter-attitudinal information? Why are they relevant to consider in the current media environment?

Q: What topics appear most in news stories? A. disagreements among government officials B. impending or actual disasters C. crime, scandals, and investigations D. all of these

Q: What is partisan perceptual bias?

Q: Which of the following groups is most likely to prefer entertainment news? A. 1834 B. 3549 C. 50+ D. all of these

Q: How has the current media landscape facilitated the emergence of citizen journalism?

Q: Which of the following are effects of gatekeeping? A. novelty and excitement B. familiarity and similarity C. conflict and violence D. all of these

Q: Briefly, describe some of the various ways that campaign websites have developed over time?

Q: Gatekeeping is ______. A. the practice of barring news organizations from White House press briefings B. when reporters are partitioned away from main speakers at public events C. the process of selecting, editing, or rejecting stories D. all of these

Q: What is astroturfing?

Q: List the distinctive patterns of emergent campaign practices that have been facilitated by digital and social media.

Q: What is (are) major concerns from the expansion of media choice? A. news avoidance B. selective exposure C. knowledge gaps D. all of these

Q: The expansion of media choice has produced the ability for citizens to engage in partisan selective exposure. What is this behavior and why are some worried that it may contribute to societal levels of political polarization? Are there any reasons to think partisan selective exposure may not polarize?

Q: Mobile news consumption has which of the following limitations? A. People pay attention to news stories for shorter periods of time. B. People recall fewer facts from news stories. C. There is not as much choice available. D. both a and b

Q: The expansion of media choice has produced the ability for citizens to engage in the selection of news and political content that is in line with their partisanship. What else has the expansion of choice meant for citizens content selection? What are the implications for citizen learning?

Q: ______ is the term that describes a behavior that leads to opinion echo chambers. A. Information silos B. Agenda setting C. Framing D. Partisan selective exposure

Q: Discuss the various ways that changes to the modern media landscape have also dramatically altered the practice and profession of journalism.

Q: Studies show there is no ideological diversity in peoples Facebook networks.

Q: How are blogs different from news? How do these differences influence the relative credibility and perceived credibility of information encountered in blogs and online news? Is this important? Why?

Q: Digital media are more tightly controlled by the U.S. government than broadcast television.

Q: The most profound effect of the new media on the news media business springs from the multiplication of outlets that distribute news. Outline the financial and organizational consequences traditional outlets face as a result of new medias entry into the media marketplace.

Q: The arrival and proliferation of the Internet has unequivocally given more voice to groups and individuals in society who, historically, have been less heard.

Q: How successful have citizen lobby groups been in shaping media policy and content? Describe their efforts and record of success over time.

Q: Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning, and Edward Snowden share of the distinction of being viewed as heroic by some and villainous by others.

Q: The Supreme Court case of Miami Herald Publishing Company v. Tornillo (1974) dealt with which of the following? A. print press rights B. the constitutionality of a Florida statue C. the right to immediate reply when attacked by a newspaper D. all of these

Q: How to curb online hate speech is an emerging and complex challenge facing governments, nonprofits and corporations around the world.

Q: The doctrine of executive privilege refers to ______. A. chief executives ability to make and enforce restrictions on press access B. chief executives right to conceal information they consider sensitive C. chief executives power to take action against staff members who leak information D. all of these

Q: What are the three environments that are critical to press freedom?

Q: In what case did the Supreme Court find that defendants had not had a fair trial because of widespread media publicity? A. Shepherd v. Florida (1951) B. Sheppard v. Maxwell (1966) C. all of these D. none of these

Q: Compare and contrast controlled versus uncontrolled media.

Q: Only about a third of the worlds countries have full press freedom.

Q: The Supreme Court has denied that the press has a constitutional right of special access to nonpublic information. Discuss some examples of restrictions on media access.

Q: Nearly 70% of countries are only partly free or are not free at all, according to Freedom House.

Q: Name three hurdles limiting the usefulness of the Freedom of Information Act for news personnel.

Q: The United States is generally considered to have press freedom, but its rating is far from perfect.

Q: What are shield laws and why are they important for journalists?

Q: Press freedom ratings are based only on legal, regulatory, and political controls on media content.

Q: What makes the Sullivan rule challenging for public officials?

Q: Columbia and Mexico have high rates of press freedom.

Q: What are the national security challenges of a free press? What challenges does the post9/11 national security environment present for journalists? What are the tradeoffs between transparency and security?

Q: An important constraint on press freedom is the extent to which journalists are under threats of violence.

Q: Concerns over Slacktivism deal with ______. A. whether political activism is declining among youths B. whether working remotely from home erodes professionalization C. whether the digitally enabled ease of clicking to join, volunteer, or sign up for something diminishes its meaning D. all of these

Q: Danger for journalists around the world is on the decline.

Q: The only way government in the United States can limit press is through prior restraint.

Q: Journalists' reliance on officials as sources is one effective manner of information control.

Q: The American public is highly cognizant of First Amendment rights and enthusiastically defend them.

Q: What are the two key factors that influence media performance? A. the FEC and regulation B. investigative reporting and the availability of information C. regulatory policy and market forces D. the lack of government funding and donations E. none of these

Q: What are the advantages and disadvantages of big business control over substantial portions of the publics news supply?

Q: Where does most public broadcasting revenue come from in the United States? A. federal government B. business C. subscribers D. other

Q: Which of the following audience age groups is most prized for news organizations? A. 2535 B. 3649 C. 50+ D. 1824

Q: To what types of demographic characteristics do advertisers pay most attention to as indicators of programming preferences? A. gender B. age C. education and income D. primarily a and b E. all of these

Q: Usual ratings giant _____ was beaten by debates during the 2016 primary elections. A. NFL Sunday Night Football B. Greys Anatomy C. Homeland D. Big Bang Theory

Q: Civic journalism refers to the fact that this kind of journalism is best for teaching civic facts.

Q: Which of the following platform is seeing the most growth for news use? A. online news B. TV C. newspapers D. social media

Q: The Chinese government has developed sophisticated methods for monitoring information on the Internet.

Q: Normally, private sector ownership means that entertainment beats public affairs.

Q: Government influence is the primary determinant of what and how things get covered in the U.S. media system.

Q: As cable channel providers and the number of television channels per household has increased, audience shares for the three major broadcast networks have decreased.

Q: It is said that media images are especially potent when they involve aspects of life that people experience only through the media. Why?

Q: More than 60% of the public now get their news on social networking sites such as Facebook.

Q: Name three of the four major societal functions performed by the mass media.

Q: Name and briefly describe at least two business configurations of private media ownership.

Q: Why is there a discrepancy between common perceptions of media influence and social science appraisals of media influence?

Q: Why do some critics have concerns about conglomerates owning media enterprises?

Q: Compare and contrast media roles under authoritarian regimes and democratic regimes.

Q: What are the three additional factors (beyond ownership) that need to be considered when evaluating media influence?

Q: Compare and contrast social responsibility journalism and totalitarian journalism.

Q: What are the four forms of FCC control?

Q: List at least four of the five models of news making. Essay

Q: What are the major issues of debate regarding media ownership and regulation? Lay out the arguments for both sides (including the information trends media critics and scholars are concerned about) and discuss the implications for democracy.

Q: Explain the evolution of social science appraisals of media effects from the era of minimal effects to current appraisals of media effects.

Q: What is the role of the media in democracies? What should it be? How well do the media in the United States fulfill that role? Is our media all that it should be in democratic terms? Why or why not?

Q: What are the five models of news making? Describe and define each. Discuss how or whether these models reflect reality.

Q: Outline the various important consequences of a commercially oriented media system such as ours. In doing so, explain how commercial pressures often shape political news content and how or why it matters.

Q: What does it mean to muckrake? Muckraking refers to ______. A. politicians engaging in reform efforts B. news organizations scooping of other news organizations on a story C. journalists investigation of corruption D. All of these

Q: ________ is when journalists expose misconduct in government and produce reforms A. Feeding frenzy B. Muckraking C. Agenda setting D. All of these

Q: Even though it is on the decline, television news is still the platform most people rely on primarily for news.

Q: Socialization refers to the process where one learns the values and orientations that help them fit in their social environment.