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9
The Media and U.S. Politics
 Multiple-Choice Questions

1. The Internet began as a(n) __________.

a. bet between two math professors


b. outgrowth of IBM’s interest in computers
c. military project in the 1960s
d. project by Google

Answer: c
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.1.1
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 271
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy

2. In the last half century, ___________ have become a more important source of
information about candidates and issues.

a. newspapers
b. television news stories
c. television commercials
d. political mailings

Answer: c
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.1.2
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 268

273
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy

3. The average American watches approximately__________ hour(s) of television a


day.

a. one
b. three
c. five
d. six

Answer: c
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.1.3
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 268
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy

4. New York Tribune editor Whitelaw Reid saw __________ as the watchword of a
new breed of objective journalist in the early twentieth century.

a. independent journalism
b. yellow journalism
c. accurate writing
d. new journalism

Answer: a
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.2.4
Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 273
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy

5. As the print press media became less tied to political parties, candidates in the
1930s relied more on __________ to communicate personally with voters.

a. campaign flyers
b. radio
c. public speeches
d. door-to-door campaigning

Answer: b

274
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.2.5
Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 274
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Easy

6. The role media played in revealing the National Security Administration’s secret
surveillance operation is an example of __________ journalism.

a. new
b. investigatory
c. television
d. gonzo

Answer: b
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.2.6
Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 275
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

7. The __________ is an independent regulatory agency charged with licensing


television and radio stations.

a. EPA
b. FDA
c. FCC
d. FED

Answer: c
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.2.7
Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 277
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy

8. Fragmentation of the media audience has tended to __________.

a. counteract the impact of media conglomeration


b. increase the probability of media becoming more concentrated

275
c. create situations in which the media dictate what is right and wrong
d. make the audience less concerned with whether the information is true

Answer: a
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.3.8
Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
Learning Objective: LO 9.3: Evaluate the media’s influence on public opinion
and attention.
Page Reference: 282
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

9. How has television coverage of politics changed over time?

a. Television stations now devote more time to reporting on Congress.


b. Television stations now devote less time to reporting on elections.
c. Television coverage of politics has become increasingly liberal.
d. Television coverage of politics now focuses more on policymaking.

Answer: b
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.1.9
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 268
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

10. Small groups of people who are asked questions about candidates and issues in a
discussion setting are known as __________.

a. task-oriented groups
b. buzz groups
c. issue groups
d. focus groups

Answer: d
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.4.10
Topic: The Media and Elections
Learning Objective: LO 9.4: Describe the media’s role in elections and the
associated problems and benefits.
Page Reference: 268
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy

11. In which type of election is news coverage likely to be most influential?

276
a. a city council election
b. a House race
c. a Senate race
d. a presidential election

Answer: a
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.4.11
Topic: The Media and Elections
Learning Objective: LO 9.4: Describe the media’s role in elections and the
associated problems and benefits.
Page Reference: 283
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Difficulty Level: Difficult

12. The network news is reporting that a prominent U.S. Senate race is very close,
with the polls showing that the incumbent leads the challenger by just two
percentage points. This is an example of what type of news coverage?

a. horse race coverage


b. yellow journalism
c. non-substantive
d. partisan-based

Answer: a
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.4.12
Topic: The Media and Elections
Learning Objective: LO 9.4: Describe the media’s role in elections and the
associated problems and benefits.
Page Reference: 287
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Difficulty Level: Difficult

13. The media’s power to set the agenda is limited by __________.

a. the audience and the nature of any particular issue


b. the fact that people rarely pay attention to media
c. rules set by the FCC
d. the 24/7 news cycle

Answer: a
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.3.13
Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
Learning Objective: LO 9.3: Evaluate the media’s influence on public opinion
and attention.
Page Reference: 279

277
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult

14. Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) has as its mission to inform the
public of _________.

a. their role as media consumers


b. talk radio’s deleterious influence
c. bias in the media at large
d. high journalistic standards and where to find them

Answer: c
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.3.14
Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
Learning Objective: LO 9.3: Evaluate the media’s influence on public opinion
and attention.
Page Reference: 281
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Difficult

15. Which of the following depends least on the press for political support?

a. the Supreme Court


b. the executive branch
c. the Senate
d. the House of Representatives

Answer: a
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.5.15
Topic: The Media and Governance
Learning Objective: LO 9.5: Assess the media’s relationship to governance in
the United States.
Page Reference: 289 – 290
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

16. Internet piracy legislation has been proposed as a way to prevent __________
theft.

a. personal property
b. intellectual property
c. identity
d. patent

Answer: b
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.4.16

278
Topic: The Media and Elections
Learning Objective: LO 9.4: Describe the media’s role in elections and the
associated problems and benefits.
Page Reference: 283
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

17. The majority of Americans sees the press as __________.

a. biased toward a particular political party


b. more conservative than liberal
c. a watchdog over the government
d. unlikely to mold public opinion

Answer: c
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.5.17
Topic: The Media and Governance
Learning Objective: LO 9.5: Assess the media’s relationship to governance in
the United States.
Page Reference: 290
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

18. What do most campaign consultants believe about negative campaigning?

a. that it is less effective than positive advertising


b. that it galvanizes the opposition
c. that it suppresses voter turnout
d. that it is effective

Answer: d
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.4.18
Topic: The Media and Elections
Learning Objective: LO 9.4: Describe the media’s role in elections and the
associated problems and benefits.
Page Reference: 287
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

19. More than any other invention, __________ has changed U.S. politics.

a. the printing press


b. Facebook
c. television
d. radio

279
Answer: c
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.1.19
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 267
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

20. The decline in newspaper readership is especially pronounced among


__________.

a. young people
b. nonvoters
c. the elderly
d. Independent voters

Answer: a
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.1.20
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 270
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Easy

21. In the modern history of investigatory journalism, the code name that is
associated with Mark Felt is which of the following?

a. Tricky Dick
b. Carl Bernstein
c. Space Ghost
d. Deep Throat

Answer: d
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.2.21
Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 275
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy

22. During the period between 1820 and 1830, newspapers began to shift their appeal
away from an upper-class, English-speaking readership to which demographic
group?

280
a. the carriage trade
b. the merchant class
c. common men and women
d. Abolitionists

Answer: c
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.2.22
Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 273
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy

23. The __________ enabled newspapers to be more financially independent, moving


away from the financial support of political parties to profit from an expanded
circulation and advertising.

a. reliance on home delivery


b. yearly subscription fees
c. penny press
d. quarterly subscription fees

Answer: c
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.2.23
Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 273
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

24. When a gun owner does not agree with an editorial writer’s call for a ban on
assault rifles, it can be attributed, in part, to her __________.

a. regionalism
b. selective exposure
c. lack of education
d. selective perception

Answer: d
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.3.24
Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
Learning Objective: LO 9.3: Evaluate the media’s influence on public opinion
and attention.

281
Page Reference: 281
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Difficulty Level: Difficult

25. President Barrack Obama __________ because his campaign understood that
younger voters get most of their information and news this way.

a. participated in television debates


b. appeared on as many magazine covers as possible
c. reached out to voters via the Internet
d. wrote two memoirs

Answer: c
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.1.25
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 272
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

26. What was the original motivation for the creation of the Internet?

a. to create a communications network that could survive a nuclear attack


b. to create new revenue sources for media conglomerates
c. to facilitate communication between government and citizens
d. to enable large scale social networking

Answer: a
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.1.26
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 271
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

27. What is the top circulating U.S. newspaper?

a. USA Today
b. the Wall Street Journal
c. the New York Times
d. the Washington Post

Answer: b
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.1.27

282
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 271
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy

28. When politicians try to influence the “spin” the media give to their actions or
issues, they engage in which of these?

a. issue control
b. issue framing
c. media control
d. issue politicizing

Answer: b
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.3.28
Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
Learning Objective: LO 9.3: Evaluate the media’s influence on public opinion
and attention.
Page Reference: 280
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Easy

29. When individuals perceive only what they want to in the media, it is known as
__________.

a. political association
b. political bias
c. selective perception
d. biased perception

Answer: c
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.3.29
Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
Learning Objective: LO 9.3: Evaluate the media’s influence on public opinion
and attention.
Page Reference: 281
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy

30. The greatest amount of news coverage during political campaigns occurs in which
type of race?

a. state legislative
b. governor

283
c. presidential
d. congressional

Answer: c
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.4.30
Topic: The Media and Elections
Learning Objective: LO 9.4: Describe the media’s role in elections and the
associated problems and benefits.
Page Reference: 283
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

31. What impact did wire services have on the content of news?

a. They led to greater sensationalism in news coverage.


b. They led to greater emphasis on local news.
c. They further strengthened the trend toward objectivity.
d. They led to a decrease in coverage of elections.

Answer: c
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.2.31
Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 274
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

32. Many political and campaign events do not receive attention from the media
because news outlets do not consider them to be __________.

a. framed
b. newsworthy
c. opportunistic
d. transparent

Answer: b
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.4.32
Topic: The Media and Elections
Learning Objective: LO 9.4: Describe the media’s role in elections and the
associated problems and benefits.
Page Reference: 284
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

284
33. Because of 24/7 news cycles and on-the-spot reporting, many citizens feel their
elected leaders should make decisions in what manner?

a. intelligently
b. deliberately
c. instantly
d. collaboratively

Answer: c
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.5.33
Topic: The Media and Governance
Learning Objective: LO 9.5: Assess the media’s relationship to governance in
the United States.
Page Reference: 288
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

34. George W. Bush’s decision to embed reporters in the Iraq War was an example of
an elected official __________ the news coverage.

a. manipulating
b. exposing
c. clarifying
d. repudiating

Answer: a
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.5.34
Topic: The Media and Governance
Learning Objective: LO 9.5: Assess the media’s relationship to governance in
the United States.
Page Reference: 288
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

35. Unlike the Supreme Court or the president, what kind of news coverage is
Congress likely to receive?

a. sporadic
b. positive
c. negative
d. balanced

Answer: c
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.5.35
Topic: The Media and Governance

285
Learning Objective: LO 9.5: Assess the media’s relationship to governance in
the United States.
Page Reference: 289
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

36. A minority reporter would be most likely to work at which of the following
outlets?

a. a local television station


b. a local newspaper
c. a national newspaper
d. a radio station

Answer: c
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.2.36
Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 276
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Difficulty Level: Difficult

37. Newsweek, CNN, Fox News, the New York Times, National Public Radio, and the
Daily Dish blog are all examples of what?

a. biased media
b. objective media
c. mass media
d. self-regulation

Answer: c
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.1.37
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 266
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

38. Media outlets that tell people what is happening in the world, regardless of the
level of entertainment, are known as __________.

a. infotainment
b. objective journalism
c. news media

286
d. subjective journalism

Answer: c
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.1.38
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 266
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

39. How do the majority of people sometimes feel about the quality of news received
via the Internet?

a. skeptical
b. reassured
c. disinterested
d. informed

Answer: a
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.1.39
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 267
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy

40. Rupert Murdoch’s ownership of numerous television stations, newspapers, and


other media companies is an example of __________.

a. the privatization of the news


b. pack journalism
c. media consolidation
d. media fragmentation

Answer: c
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.2.40
Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 275 – 276
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

287
41. Before the advent of objective journalism in the early twentieth century,
__________ focused on exaggeration and sensationalism.

a. yellow journalism
b. party journalism
c. junk journalism
d. biased journalism

Answer: a
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.2.41
Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 273
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy

42. The process by which individuals develop their political attitudes, values, and
beliefs is called __________.

a. political socialization
b. social development
c. cultural assimilation
d. peer influence

Answer: a
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.3.42
Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
Learning Objective: LO 9.3: Evaluate the media’s influence on public opinion
and attention.
Page Reference: 281
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy

43. The FCC fined CBS in 2004 for what infamous television violation?

a. swearing at the Super Bowl half-time show


b. swearing at the World Series opening ceremony
c. nudity at the Super Bowl half-time show
d. nudity at the World Series opening ceremony

Answer: c
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.2.43
Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.

288
Page Reference: 277
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy

44. Most U.S. news media are committed to __________.

a. expressing liberal viewpoints


b. being unbiased
c. expressing conservative viewpoints
d. providing international coverage

Answer: b
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.3.44
Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
Learning Objective: LO 9.3: Evaluate the media’s influence on public opinion
and attention.
Page Reference: 280
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

45. Some of those who object to free trade with China are drawing attention to
Chinese human rights abuses. This type of action is known as what?

a. socializing
b. issue framing
c. media bias
e. political socialization

Answer: b
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.3.45
Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
Learning Objective: LO 9.3: Evaluate the media’s influence on public opinion
and attention.
Page Reference: 280
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Difficulty Level: Difficult

46. The increasing use of television advertising has added to the __________ in
political campaigns.

a. drama
b. clout
c. costs
d. bias

Answer: c

289
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.4.46
Topic: The Media and Elections
Learning Objective: LO 9.4: Describe the media’s role in elections and the
associated problems and benefits.
Page Reference: 284
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

47. Image making in politics has resulted in an increased number of what?

a. journalists
b. CEOs
c. political contributions
d. media consultants

Answer: d
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.4.47
Topic: The Media and Elections
Learning Objective: LO 9.4: Describe the media’s role in elections and the
associated problems and benefits.
Page Reference: 286
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

48. What political actor is considered newsworthy in any public activity, regardless of
whether it has a political function?

a. the president
b. the Senate majority leader
c. the vice president
d. the Speaker of the House

Answer: a
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.5.48
Topic: The Media and Governance
Learning Objective: LO 9.5: Assess the media’s relationship to governance in
the United States.
Page Reference: 288
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

49. What television network provides uninterrupted coverage of congressional


deliberations and presidential nominating conventions?

a. CNN
b. C-SPAN

290
c. MSNBC
d. CBS

Answer: b
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.2.49
Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 275
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy

50. One concern raised by proposals to crack down on Internet piracy is that it might
__________.

a. limit people’s access to the Internet


b. lead to censorship
c. inadvertently cause the Internet to crash
d. accelerate media consolidation

Answer: b
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.4.50
Topic: The Media and Elections
Learning Objective: LO 9.4: Describe the media’s role in elections and the
associated problems and benefits.
Page Reference: 283
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult

51. Which type of media, with its immediacy, visual imagery, and drama, has an
emotional impact that cuts across age groups, educational levels, social classes,
and races?

a. newspapers
b. newsmagazines
c. the Internet
d. television

Answer: d
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.1.51
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 266 – 267
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult

291
52. Which of the following is true of network news programs on ABC, CBS, and
NBC?

a. Viewership has decreased dramatically since the late 1980s.


b. They have been surpassed by cable news in terms of viewership.
c. They are biased in a liberal direction.
d. They provide more comprehensive coverage than radio programs.

Answer: a
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.1.52
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 268
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult

53. In terms of media consumption, how does the United States differ from other
countries?

a. A higher percentage of Americans turn to the Internet for news.


b. A higher percentage of Americans rely on the radio for news and information.
c. A lower percentage of Americans pay attention to political news.
d. A lower percentage of Americans read newspapers.

Answer: a
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.1.53
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 269
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult

54. Recent FCC rulings have produced a trend in media __________.

a. independence
b. regulation
c. conglomeration
d. bias

Answer: c
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.2.54
Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media

292
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 277
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

55. How did the penny press alter the content of news?

a. It led to more political coverage.


b. It led to an increase in human-interest stories.
c. It led to more objectivity in news coverage.
d. It led to more liberal news coverage.

Answer: b
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.2.55
Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 273
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

56. When did the era of “objective journalism” begin?

a. in the early 1800s


b. in the 1870s
c. in the early twentieth century
d. in the 1950s

Answer: c
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.2.56
Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 273
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy

57. How has competition from cable news stations influenced broadcast news
coverage?

a. It has led broadcast news to boost its entertainment value.


b. It has led broadcast news to provide extended news coverage.
c. It has led broadcast news to adopt an ideological perspective.
d. It has led broadcast news to provide more objective news coverage.

293
Answer: a
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.1.57
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 268
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult

58. Using a photo op and a large gathering of supporters to convey a specific message
as to whom the candidate really is, the politician is creating which of these?

a. a social event
b. a campaign event
c. a television operation
d. a horse race

Answer: b
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.4.58
Topic: The Media and Elections
Learning Objective: LO 9.4: Describe the media’s role in elections and the
associated problems and benefits.
Page Reference: 284
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

59. On election day, __________ inform(s) the public about who voted and why they
voted the way they did.

a. media consultants
b. campaign events
c. exit polls
d. the horse race

Answer: c
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.4.59
Topic: The Media and Elections
Learning Objective: LO 9.4: Describe the media’s role in elections and the
associated problems and benefits.
Page Reference: 288
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

60. Outside of family, the media are one of the strongest factors in __________.

a. political socialization

294
b. objectivity
c. the horse race
d. selective perception

Answer: a
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.3.60
Topic: The Media and Governance
Learning Objective: LO 9.3: Evaluate the media’s influence on public opinion
and attention.
Page Reference: 281
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

True-False Questions

61. Mass media by definition disseminate messages to a large audience for a profit.

Answer: TRUE
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.1.61
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 266
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy

62. President Obama used the presidential press conference more than any other
president.

Answer: FALSE
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.5.62
Topic: The Media and Governance
Learning Objective: LO 9.5: Assess the media’s relationship to governance in
the United States.
Page Reference: 289
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy

63. During the 1820s and 1830s, newspapers began shifting their appeal from the elite
toward the masses.

Answer: TRUE

295
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.2.63
Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 273
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy

64. Exaggeration and sensationalism are often associated with yellow journalism.

Answer: TRUE
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.2.64
Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 273
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy

65. U.S. public opinion is not influenced by the images and events covered by
television.

Answer: FALSE
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.3.65
Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
Learning Objective: LO 9.3: Evaluate the media’s influence on public opinion
and attention.
Page Reference: 278
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

66. Campaign advertising has recently taken on a much more positive tone with
regard to the opposing candidate.

Answer: FALSE
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.4.66
Topic: The Media and Elections
Learning Objective: LO 9.4: Describe the media’s role in elections and the
associated problems and benefits.
Page Reference: 287
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy

67. Most Americans believe that the media are a valuable watchdog over government.

Answer: TRUE

296
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.5.67
Topic: The Media and Governance
Learning Objective: LO 9.5: Assess the media’s relationship to governance in
the United States.
Page Reference: 290
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy

68. Political campaigns no longer use radio to communicate with voters.

Answer: FALSE
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.1.68
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 270
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy

69. The growth of the Internet has led to fragmentation of media audiences.

Answer: TRUE
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.3.69
Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
Learning Objective: LO 9.3: Evaluate the media’s influence on public opinion
and attention.
Page Reference: 282
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

70. Selective perception is the process by which we pick our political attitudes,
values, and beliefs.

Answer: FALSE
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.3.70
Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
Learning Objective: LO 9.3: Evaluate the media’s influence on public opinion
and attention.
Page Reference: 281
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy

71. Media consultants are playing an increasingly important role in political


campaigns.

Answer: TRUE

297
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.4.71
Topic: The Media and Elections
Learning Objective: LO 9.4: Describe the media’s role in elections and the
associated problems and benefits.
Page Reference: 286
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

72. Of the three branches of government, the executive branch depends least on the
press.

Answer: FALSE
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.5.72
Topic: The Media and Governance
Learning Objective: LO 9.5: Assess the media’s relationship to governance in
the United States.
Page Reference: 289
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

73. The Internet and social media have become increasingly important largely
because they are easily accessible.

Answer: TRUE
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.1.73
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 267
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult

74. Politicians are friendly with the press in part because of the level of influence the
media have on the voting public.

Answer: TRUE
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.3.74
Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
Learning Objective: LO 9.3: Evaluate the media’s influence on public opinion
and attention.
Page Reference: 280
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult

75. For a potential candidate, looking and sounding good on television are
increasingly important.

298
Answer: TRUE
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.4.75
Topic: The Media and Elections
Learning Objective: LO 9.4: Describe the media’s role in elections and the
associated problems and benefits.
Page Reference: 284
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

 Fill-in-the-Blank Questions

76. The television networks ABC, NBC, and CBS are known as __________.

Answer: the big three


Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.1.76
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 268
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Difficulty Level: Difficult

77. Party identification acts as a(n) __________ through which people view the
media.

Answer: filter
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.3.77
Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
Learning Objective: LO 9.3: Evaluate the media’s influence on public opinion
and attention.
Page Reference: 281
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

78. The nickname __________ was given to Ronald Reagan.

Answer: the “Great Communicator”


Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.3.78
Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
Learning Objective: LO 9.3: Evaluate the media’s influence on public opinion
and attention.
Page Reference: 279
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

299
Difficulty Level: Moderate

79. Before the ___________, all news that was reported was political.

Answer: penny press


Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.2.79
Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 273
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy

80. The primary responsibility of a(n) __________ is to provide a positive image of


the candidate and to reinforce negative images of the opponent.

Answer: media consultant


Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.4.80
Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
Learning Objective: LO 9.4: Describe the media’s role in elections and the
associated problems and benefits.
Page Reference: 286
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

81. __________ of types of media used in campaigns lessens the ability of any one
medium to influence election outcomes.

Answer: Diversification
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.4.81
Topic: The Media and Elections
Learning Objective: LO 9.4: Describe the media’s role in elections and the
associated problems and benefits.
Page Reference: 283
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

82. The Supreme Court does not allow the use of ___________ to cover oral
arguments.

Answer: television cameras


Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.5.82
Topic: The Media and Governance
Learning Objective: LO 9.5: Assess the media’s relationship to governance in
the United States.
Page Reference: 289 – 290

300
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy

83. Newspapers, the Internet, and radio are all examples of __________.

Answer: mass media


Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.1.83
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 266
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

84. The first newspapers in the early 1800s were run by __________.

Answer: political parties


Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.2.84
Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 273
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy

85. The commercial tradition of exaggeration and sensationalism in selling


newspapers is called __________.

Answer: yellow journalism


Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.2.85
Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 273
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy

86. All serious candidates today have ___________ to make their positions and
policies accessible to the electorate via the computer.

Answer: Web sites


Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.1.86
Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 272

301
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

87. __________ held the largest number of press conferences of any president in U.S.
history.

Answer: Franklin D. Roosevelt


Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.5.87
Topic: The Media and Governance
Learning Objective: LO 9.5: Assess the media’s relationship to governance in
the United States.
Page Reference: 289
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy

88. When Walter Mondale famously said that he would give up the right to veto any
law Congress sent him for media access, he was simply acknowledging the power
of __________ news during the 1970s and 1980s.

Answer: television
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.3.88
Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
Learning Objective: LO 9.3: Evaluate the media’s influence on public opinion
and attention.
Page Reference: 279
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult

89. __________ often has far more impact on our opinions than the information or
views we get from an impersonal television program or newspaper article.

Answer: Peer pressure


Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.3.89
Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
Learning Objective: LO 9.3: Evaluate the media’s influence on public opinion
and attention.
Page Reference: 281
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult

90. Although the media insist that they pay attention to all candidates who have a
__________ to win, they also influence who gets such an opportunity.

Answer: chance
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.4.90
Topic: The Media and Elections

302
Learning Objective: LO 9.4: Describe the media’s role in elections and the
associated problems and benefits.
Page Reference: 284
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult

 Short Answer Questions

91. What forms of media make up news media, and what has recently changed for
each of them?

Answer: An ideal response will:


1. Describe the different forms of news media including print media,
television, radio, and electronic media such as the Internet and social
media sites.
2. Explain how the print media have struggled to keep readership
numbers, while television and radio remain persistent in their reach to the
American public.
3. Discuss how the rapid growth of the Internet and social media sites has
greatly increased the ability of Americans to connect to each other in
addition to accessing news information quickly.

Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.1.91


Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 266 – 268, 270 – 272
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

92. What is investigatory journalism, and what is its role in political reporting?

Answer: An ideal response will:


1. Explain that investigatory journalism is an outgrowth of the media’s
watchdog responsibility to expose corruption, wrongdoing, and
malfeasance by government and politicians.
2. Explain how investigatory reporting helps keep government
accountable to citizens, drawing upon specific examples such as the
Washington Post exposure of Watergate or the 60 Minutes report on the
torture of Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison.

Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.2.92


Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media

303
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 275
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

93. For many younger people, the era of the “big three” took place in the past.
Describe the new norm of 24/7 news and explain why it exists.

Answer: An ideal response will:


1. Explain the rise in news consumption.
2. List and describe the technologies that make such a cycle possible.

Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.1.93


Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 268
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

94. Define and explain the role of agenda setting.

Answer: An ideal response will:


1. Define agenda setting as the media helping to determine what topics
will become the subject of public debate and legislation by drawing the
public’s attention to certain issues.
2. Note that while the media can help set the national agenda and spur
public discussion, they do not have absolute power and are limited by the
nature of the issues and the audience.

Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.2.94


Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 279 – 280
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

95. Explain the concept of yellow journalism. What type of new journalism did it give
rise to?

Answer: An ideal response will:


1. Explain that yellow journalism was a development in the newspaper
industry in the late nineteenth century that sought to appeal to new

304
immigrants and a mass population by relying on comics, color, and
sensationalism.
2. Discuss how the sensationalism of yellow journalism gave rise to
objective journalism, the sentiment that the media should be independent
and focus on facts, not exaggeration.

Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.2.95


Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 273 – 274
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

96. Explain campaign events. Why do political candidates stage these events, and
why do media sometimes choose not to cover them?

Answer: An ideal response will:


1. Define campaign events as scheduled events, such as press conferences
and interviews, that reinforce a candidate’s messages and public image.
2. Explain that candidates stage these events hoping to reach voters
through favorable media coverage.
3. Note that the media do not necessarily consider these events
newsworthy, or they believe they are too staged, and sometimes choose
not to cover them.

Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.4.96


Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
Learning Objective: LO 9.4: Describe the media’s role in elections and the
associated problems and benefits.
Page Reference: 284
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult

97. What is media bias? In your opinion, is the media biased? Give concrete examples
and relate them to what you’ve learned.

Answer: An ideal response will:


1. Explain that media bias is the concern that the major media outlets
exhibit an ideological slant that affects the content of the news they
deliver.
2. Provide an argument as to whether or not the student thinks the media
exhibit bias, drawing upon specific examples such as the perceived bias of
Fox News, the New York Times, MSNBC, or AM talk radio.
3. Relate this argument and the accompanying examples back to the
discussion in the book.

305
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.3.97
Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
Learning Objective: LO 9.3: Evaluate the media’s influence on public opinion
and attention.
Page Reference: 280 – 281
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult

98. Explain audience fragmentation. Is it a good thing or not? What are some positive
and negative consequences of it?

Answer: An ideal response will:


1. Define audience fragmentation as the scattering of audiences across
multiple press outlets due to the growth of cable television and the Internet
and the subsequent specialization of the media content for those venues.
2. Make a clear argument for why fragmentation is or is not beneficial by
illustrating the benefits of fragmentation (diffuses the influence of the
media, works against the effects of conglomeration) versus the costs
(fragmentation and separation of audiences who cannot understand the
issues of others).

Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.3.98


Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
Learning Objective: LO 9.3: Evaluate the media’s influence on public opinion
and attention.
Page Reference: 282
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult

99. What does “personality over substance” mean as it pertains to political


candidates? Is there a case to be made that the media should cover candidates’
characters and personalities?

Answer: An ideal response will:


1. Explain that the media are criticized for focusing too much on a
candidate’s personality traits and background rather than on the substance
of issues and policy.
2. Explain that some people view character and personality as important
factors in their voting decisions, and they find the media’s focus
appropriate and even helpful.

Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.4.99


Topic: The Media and Elections
Learning Objective: LO 9.4: Describe the media’s role in elections and the
associated problems and benefits.

306
Page Reference: 287
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult

100. Explain issue framing, using one real-world example of an issue that can be
framed two different ways. In your opinion, is framing a good or bad thing? Why?

Answer: An ideal response will:


1. Define framing as the process by which the media creates a context for
a story that shapes the way the public thinks about it.
2. Using a real-world example, demonstrate how an issue can be framed
two different ways.
3. Provide a clear argument for why framing is either good (it helps shape
the dynamic of a discussion) or bad (it artificially constrains discussion
within a specific framework).

Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.3.100


Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
Learning Objective: LO 9.3: Evaluate the media’s influence on public opinion
and attention.
Page Reference: 280
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Difficulty Level: Difficult

101. If you were a media consultant and your candidate had an “image problem,” what
would you do to fix it? Tie your ideas back to what you’ve learned.

Answer: An ideal response will:


1. Discuss generally that media consultants either try to make their
candidate look better or try to make the opposition candidate look worse
(or both).
2. Explain how the candidate could be coached on how to act and behave
on TV by using the results of focus groups and public opinion polls to
bring the candidate’s positions in line with what the public thinks is good.

Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.4.101


Topic: The Media and Elections
Learning Objective: LO 9.4: Describe the media’s role in elections and the
associated problems and benefits.
Page Reference: 286 – 287
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Difficulty Level: Difficult

102. Define and analyze the role of political socialization. What affect on politics does
it have?

307
Answer: An ideal response will:
1. Define political socialization as the education process by which citizens
acquire political beliefs, attitudes, and values.
2. Explain that while the media themselves are factors in the political
socialization process, our political beliefs and values provide a lens
through which we filter our perceptions of the media and the content they
deliver.
3. Illustrate the point by drawing upon the example in the text of how a
Republican from Arizona might see bias in the “liberal eastern networks”
(or some other relevant example).

Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.3.102


Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
Learning Objective: LO 9.3: Evaluate the media’s influence on public opinion
and attention.
Page Reference: 281
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult

103. Analyze the role of media consultants. Explain what contributed to their rise in
politics.

Answer: An ideal response will:


1. Explain that a media consultant is a campaign professional who
provides a candidate with advice and services regarding media relations,
advertising strategies, and opinion polling.
2. Explain that the rise of the consultant is in part attributed to the media’s
focus on a candidate’s personality and its highlighting of candidate gaffes.
It is also attributed to the need to reach a new mass audience and the
power of television as a political medium.

Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.4.103


Topic: The Media and Elections
Learning Objective: LO 9.4: Describe the media’s role in elections and the
associated problems and benefits.
Page Reference: 286 – 287
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult

104. Explain what “horse race journalism” means and analyze its impact on political
campaign coverage.

Answer: An ideal response will:


1. Define horse race journalism as the media’s tendency to comment more
on who is ahead in the polls than on a candidate’s actual positions on
issues.

308
2. Explain how the obsession with “game,” or tactics and strategies of the
campaigns, that accompanies horse race journalism has the effect of
displacing the coverage of political issues.

Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.4.104


Topic: The Media and Elections
Learning Objective: LO 9.4: Describe the media’s role in elections and the
associated problems and benefits.
Page Reference: 287
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Difficulty Level: Difficult

105. How has audience fragmentation affected broadcast media and newspapers?

Answer: An ideal response will:


1. Define audience fragmentation as the scattering of audiences across
multiple press outlets due to the growth of cable television and the
Internet.
2. Explain that due to audience fragmentation, the impact of the press has
become more diffuse and thus works to counteract the effects of media
conglomeration.
3. Note that this effect will be minimized as media conglomerates move to
both acquire cable stations and promote their own online Web sites.

Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.3.105


Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
Learning Objective: LO 9.3: Evaluate the media’s influence on public opinion
and attention.
Page Reference: 282
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult

 Essay Questions

106. What is media consolidation, and what role has it had in political reporting?

Answer: An ideal response will:


1. Define media conglomeration as the recent trend that multiple types of
media are owned by an increasingly limited number of corporations.
2. Discuss how the increase in the number of media outlets, due to the
Internet as well as cable and satellite TV, has increased the accessibility of
information.

309
3. Explain how conglomeration might actually constrict the amount of
information due to an echoing of the same information in different media
outlets.
4. Explain how the nationalization of the news media has led to the
creation of media news personalities, such as Sean Hannity, who have a
major influence due to their large presence on radio, TV, the Internet, and
in print books.
5. Provide a clear and concise conclusion.

Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.2.106


Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 275 – 277
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate

107. What are two criticisms of mass media? Choose a political topic in the news
today. Drawing on the coverage of the topic and what you’ve learned, are these
criticisms justified, in your opinion?

Answer: An ideal response will:


1. Discuss two criticisms of mass media, which could include the media’s
role in framing issues for citizens, setting the agenda by helping to
determine what issues become subjects of popular debate and draft
legislation, and the worry about ideological bias (both liberal and
conservative) in the media.
2. Form an argument, using a topic currently being covered in the news
today, as to whether these criticisms are justified by giving a clear and
logical explanation with appropriate support.
3. Provide a clear and concise conclusion.

Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.3.107


Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
Learning Objective: LO 9.3: Evaluate the media’s influence on public opinion
and attention.
Page Reference: 278 – 281
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Difficulty Level: Difficult

108. What are three factors that limit media influence on public opinion? Focus on one
or more of these factors and give an example of how they affected the media’s
influence on you.

Answer: An ideal response will:

310
1. Discuss three factors that limit media influence on public opinion,
which could include political socialization (our attitudes and beliefs
toward the media or specific media outlets), selectivity both in terms of
the media consumed and the information perceived, needs (why people
use media), and audience fragmentation (the diffusion of audiences across
multiple media venues).
2. Select one or two factors and provide an example of how they affected
the influence of the media on the student.
3. Provide a clear and concise conclusion.

Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.3.108


Topic: The Media and Public Opinion
Learning Objective: LO 9.3: Evaluate the media’s influence on public opinion
and attention.
Page Reference: 281 – 282
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Difficulty Level: Difficult

109. Compare and contrast the political impact of radio communication with the
phenomenon of the Internet.

Answer: An ideal response will:


1. Note that even though the Internet seems to dominate, radio remains an
effective and widely utilized form of political communication.
2. Explain that these two forms of media both have the ability to reach
vast audiences and to target specific audiences for political
communication.
3. Discuss how the Internet provides a less expensive medium for political
communication and one that is more directly accessible for citizens when
it comes to searching for information.
4. Comment on how the dramatic rise of social media sites in the past
decade has increased the ability of specific political groups, e.g., African
Americans, to connect and for multiple forms of government, including
candidates, government agencies, elected politicians, and political
movements, to connect and share information.
5. Provide a clear and concise conclusion.

Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.1.109


Topic: The Influence of the Media on Politics
Learning Objective: LO 9.1: Describe changes in the nature and extent of the
political influence of the various news media.
Page Reference: 268, 271 – 272
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult

311
110. Analyze how, over time, presidents have used the media to their benefit. Compare
and contrast two different presidents’ use of mass media.

Answer: An ideal response will:


1. Discuss how the mass media can serve as a political tool for presidents,
especially in keeping citizens informed.
2. Explain that as the nature of the media has changed, so has their utility
in advancing the political agendas of various presidents.
3. Note that the media provide the mechanism whereby presidents can
directly communicate their political agendas to the public and attempt to
sway public opinion in favor of their positions. For example, the student
might note how Roosevelt used the radio to have “fireside chats” with the
nation during the Great Depression and WWII.
4. Choose two presidents and compare and contrast their use of media. For
example, compare how Roosevelt and Obama both used the media to
connect directly with citizens but how the different media (radio versus
TV and social media) change the way that they mobilized the public.
5. Provide a clear and concise conclusion.

Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q9.2.110


Topic: The Changing Role of the U.S. News Media
Learning Objective: LO 9.2: Trace the evolution of the news media over the
course of U.S. history.
Page Reference: 274 – 275
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult

312
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Trouble Times
Two
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
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United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where
you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Trouble Times Two

Author: George O. Smith

Illustrator: Raymond

Release date: May 24, 2022 [eBook #68161]

Language: English

Original publication: United States: Street & Smith Publications,


Incorporated, 1945

Credits: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed


Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TROUBLE


TIMES TWO ***
Trouble Times Two
By GEORGE O. SMITH

Illustrated by Raymond

[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from


Astounding Science-Fiction December 1945.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Thomas Lionel Ph.D., M.M. bounded out of bed with a cheerful bit of
off-tune song. He glanced at the calendar and then the clock and he
grinned because life was just too good to be true.
Everything was according to plan. He'd won his first battle. Up to
now it had been touch and go; at last he had established his right to
co-occupy the mind along with the engineer. No longer could the
engineer claim that he was an expensive detriment. He had forced
the engineer into agreeing that his offering, though not directly
productive, was a causative factor in the development of success.
Then to top it all, he retained enough technology to be a necessary
item. He must be permitted to remain if only for a source of
information.
The engineer's trap had been excellent. But the trap had turned and
caught the engineer. Those reams of data on the poltergeist effect
had been the basis for an entirely new science that only a real
physicist could appreciate—and no engineer could hope to thread
his way through them without a research physicist's assistance.
He stood over the chessboard in the living room for a few minutes.
The engineer was not making any great moves. Therefore the
physicist thought that he might best consolidate his position. He
castled to the queen's side, burying his king behind a bulwark of
defenses that would defy a master chess player to penetrate in less
than ten or fifteen moves.
During breakfast, he perused a thin volume of recent publication. He
did not entirely agree with the theories presented; after all, the book
had been written for the express purpose of getting reader's
viewpoints and Thomas knew it. In fact, the book was not too
interesting to Thomas but he knew that the engineer would fume,
fret, and howl at the idea of having a well-thumbed volume of
"Theory of Multi-Resonant Wave Guides" in the library.
Thomas wouldn't look at the engineer's volume, laying on the table
opposite. It was too un-physical. It was un-erudite. It was "Basic
Theory in Micro-Wave Transmission" and the edges of the pages
were loaded with application formulas, diagrams, and working
sketches.
He was near the end of breakfast when the glint of reflected
sunshine arrowed through the window and caught his eye. He
looked, and wondered who was landing on his lawn in a helicopter.
Then he did a double take.
"Helicopter" stemmed from Greek, the "helix" or screw plus the
"opter" a machine. This contrivance did not. It was not operated with
air screws.
It looked like a three-wheeled coupé. It looked like the industrial
designer's dream of the Plan For Tomorrow, excepting those three
wheels. The Plan For Tomorrow should, by all rights, have four
wheels. And, if the thing is going to fly, it should have some sort of
overhead vanes, or wings, or engines, or jets, or even a skyhook.
But there it was, coming down as light as a feather to make a neat
landing on the back lawn.
By the time the door was open, and the passenger stepped to the
ground, Thomas was standing before the little sky car, looking
somewhat dazed at the name:
POLTERGEIST
"Like a dream," said the driver of the sky car.
"It should," said Thomas, covering his ignorance with monosyllabic
agreement.
"Handles well, too. I think we could stand a bit more positivity of
control, though."
"I'll look into it."
"I wish you would. We've got the jump on the whole world with this.
We'd like to keep it. But the thing doesn't answer to the wheel too
solidly."
"Uh-huh."
"The chief engineer said, 'Jim, take that crate over to Lionel and see
if he will beef up the control force a bit.' So here I am."
"O.K., Jim," said Thomas, offering a prayer for the name that had
been given unwittingly. The engineer must have been a busy boy!
"How are you going to get back?"
Jim looked up into the sky. "Jerry is following in the pilot model. He'll
pick me up and we'll go on back thataway."
Jim nodded skyward, and Thomas looked at the growing speck that
must have been the pilot model.
Thomas forgot about the pilot model. What he wanted to know was
the whereabouts of the five tons of equipment that had been an
integral part of this idea. He looked at the model. He wondered
whether the engineer had installed the whole thing, stepping up the
power and using the main part of the power to support the
equipment. That did not seem possible. Any failure would cause the
little sky car to collapse of its own dead weight. Besides there was
not enough room in the little crate to pack all that equipment-
tonnage.
The engineer had achieved the impossible. He had done away with
the main part while retaining the effect.
The pilot model landed. It was not the finished job of the prototype.
The cabin was squarely functional and the landing wheels were not
faired into the hull. The rear end, instead of tapering gently into a
narrow paraboloid of revolution, was a truncated four-sided pyramid.
Jerry did not emerge. He merely tossed the door open and shouted:
"Come on—we ain't got all day!"
Thomas nodded. "I'll call you when I get it fixed."
Call who? the physicist wondered, and then forgot about it. He
wanted desperately to dig into the sky car. He wanted to find out
where the engineer had packed five tons of equipment. He wanted to
see what made the wheels go around. No doubt the thing could be
returned to its owners without calling in the police. The thing was
probably recorded in the precisely kept engineering notebook of the
physicist's alter ego.

The pilot model was not completely out of sight before Thomas had
the power cowls off, and the whole model stripped of its servicing
doors. They had done an excellent job of design; the sky car without
its servicing panels was but a skeleton frame, with every line, every
connection, and every control rod open for easy servicing.
And it was then and there that the physicist understood what the
engineer had been doing.
Instead of the low-voltage high-current supply lines, with their
attendant heavy busbars, thin pipes ran about the sky car. Seamless
aluminum tubing carried the energizing current. Or, rather the space
inside of the tubing carried it. At the generator end, a ten megawatt
microwave generator supplied high power at ultra high frequency. At
the terminus, rectifiers brought the ultra high frequency down to
direct current for operation of the force-field generators.
Thomas nodded. It was not the final tenth of one percent job. It was
not direct current. The diagravitic force was not constant. It operated
only seven tenths of the time, and was turned off and on fifteen or
twenty million million times per second. Nothing short of high-
definition test equipment would ever tell the difference, however.
Gone were the massive electromagnetic deflection field coils. In their
place was a set of seventy kilovolt electrostatic plates.
Missing entirely were the variable-speed motor generators. In their
place was a simple crystalline formation under permanent magnetic
stress. "Artificial radio-activated crystals," muttered Thomas. "Good
for a couple of years."
But the feed lines. The feed lines. The current carrying ability of
space itself—not the metallic conductor—did the trick. Using the ultra
high frequency bands, the busbars had been replaced with
cylindrical wave guides. The depth of penetration was measured in
microns at those frequencies—and as long as the guides were
properly designed, they offered little loss in power. The current went
down the wave guides by virtue of the magnetic fields created
throughout the guides—magnetic fields generated in the space
inside of the tubular guides.
The generator itself was one of the new crystal microwave
generators and the rectifiers at the receiving end were of the same
ilk.
And the five tons of equipment had vanished in a puff of tubular
guides, electrostatic plates, and intermittent operation.
Thomas hit a snag for a moment. The engineer had answered his
challenge. So he'd come up with the answer to the five-ton-per-fifty-
pound answer—and had gone further. Thomas knew that there was
no apparent limit to the maximum power or lift. It merely set a fifty
pound minimum—actually it was 49.87 pounds by measurement—
under which limit no amount of tinkering would produce the effect.
He smiled. There must be something beyond. After all, small stones
moved quietly in natural poltergeist manifestation; they would be
able to reproduce that eventually. But for now, the engineer was
willing to accept the limitation whereas the physicist would not.
He knew now. And he'd leave the sky car until the engineer returned.
Let him beef up the control force. It was his baby.
Thomas put the panels back on the sky car and stood off to admire
it. It was a neat job, just what the public wanted. The urge to get in
and drive was a most compelling one, and Thomas succumbed. He
sat for a moment, inspecting the dashboard until he had the pattern
well set. Then he snapped on the power, took the wheel and pulled
back gently. The sky car lifted its nose slightly, and as Thomas
pressed the foot pedal, it took off on a side-line straight into the sky.
He leveled off at a thousand feet and he did some scurrying back
and forth in midair. It did handle a little sloppy but not enough to
make the physicist uncomfortable. Yet it wouldn't stand any hedge-
hopping or bridge-undercutting without a prayer on the part of the
driver. Butter the controls a bit and you could thread a needle with it
on the first try.
Yes, the engineer had done it again—all of which made Thomas
chuckle. A bit more of this and the engineer would have such an
income that he'd no longer worry himself into engineering. Then—
Thomas turned the sky car and drove across the city toward Dr.
Hamilton's place. He landed on the psychiatrist's lawn and startled
the doctor out of a week's growth.
"I've won," he told the doctor.
"Good," laughed Hamilton. "Mind if I ask which you are today—and
how do you know you've won?"
"I'm Thomas Lionel, Ph.D. And the engineer has worked himself out
of a job."
"Interesting. But how?"
"He dropped me a mess of cockeyed data, remember? Well, I
unraveled it into a most interesting field of science. From it I handed
him a slab full of theories and experiments that are just inefficient
enough to make him fume. He's come up with several things that
make money in vatfuls."
"That, I know and understand. Go on."
"Remember, I am his ideal personality, I am a physicist, a type of
person he has always wanted to be. He couldn't be a physicist
because of financial reasons and so he went into the engineering
field to bolster up his bank account. That was eminently practical.
But now that the worry about the bankroll is over, he can turn to
theoretical physics and physical research. That's me—and I've won!"
"Suppose he, himself, takes the gradual retreat from engineering into
physical research?"
"Um—I don't think he's capable of it. He's been too well conditioned."
"Might well be," admitted the doctor. "Well, as I said before, I'm just a
referee. Both of you are well adjusted and good, worthy additions to
society. Either one of you that wins will be a credit to civilization."
"You're a great help," laughed Thomas. "But I don't mind. This is my
round, and it's my game. He's licked himself."
"I'll tell him that when I see him," said Dr. Hamilton. "But there is one
thing that I must know. I want to know what makes that little tungsten
box work."
"I cast the tungsten in—"
"I don't care how you made it," said Hamilton flatly, "unless it has a
definite bearing on how it works."
"I made it of tungsten because the engineer would rip it apart if it
weren't too tough," grinned Thomas. "Being of tungsten it doesn't
matter how it works excepting it would have been more efficient if I'd
made it of silver."
"Look, Thomas, stay on the subject. I want to know what's with the
works."
Lionel laughed. "What's so important?"
"Look, man, I'm a psychiatrist. The functioning of the human mind is
my baby. Or," he added bitterly, "it should be. But, darn it, all we can
do is to surmise, theorize, hope and pray. We don't know what
makes schizophrenics, or manic-depressives or any of the other
mental quirks. We aren't even certain why some people are well
liked while others, of almost identical get-together are heartily
disliked. But you've come up with a little dingus that causes a switch-
over from one personality to another merely by pushing a button.
Find out why and we psychiatrists may some day get to first base in
psychoanalysis."
"Um—I suppose a real pathophone would be a help."
"Pathophone is a good word," smiled the psychiatrist, "but to dig into
a warped mind without having the erroneous impressions and false
evaluation clouding the only entry ... we'd be able to clear up almost
any mental condition. Now, how does it work?"
"I am not prepared to say. I was seeking experimental data on the
'epicenter' of the poltergeist phenomena—the poltergeist usually
manifests in the vicinity of or because of some central influence—
usually a person who is unaware of his potentiality. At any rate, I was
setting up a series of local magnetic and electrostatic fields and then
trying the micro-microwave spectrum for response. I was running up
through the region between long heat radiation and micro-micro
radio waves when—blooey!—I was the engineer. I switched back
eventually and consolidated my findings into that little tungsten box."
"I want the dope on it."
"I'll give it to you," nodded Thomas. "As soon as I make some final
measurements and consolidate my data."
"Fine. Mind telling me what causes the poltergeist?"

"As best I can. The present concept of space is that space itself is
under internal strain. Force vectors in cancellation prevail, resulting
in a stable continuum. Space is warped by electrostatic effects,
magnetic effects, and gravitic effects. These local effects do not
create a discontinuity in the space strain, and therefore no eruption
takes place. Now enters the epicenter. Radiation from his mind or
brain in thinking goes out and starts a very minor sympathetic
oscillation in the warps and strains of space. If these strains are in
the right vectorial situation, the minor oscillation builds up the
response amplitude—"
"That doesn't make sense," objected the doctor. "Mental radiation
must be weak. How can it induce high power?"
"It can't. But if you know radio at all, you'll recall that a high 'Q' circuit
will develop very high voltages across the terminals with a very small
driving voltage. Well, this is analogous to the epicenter effect. The
epicenter wave causes instability in the space strains because the
brain wave is not a natural phenomena of space. Then—like two
sticks end to end under compression, it takes very little sidewise
thrust to make the compression-force collapse, forcing the sticks out
at right angles. Follow?"
"But where did this energy or force come from?" puzzled Hamilton.
"Isn't that a violation of the Law of Conservation of Energy?"
"Not at all. The law is still valid. It does state that you cannot get
more out of anything than is put into it. The guesswork comes in
deciding how the energy got there. Coal, for instance, is just a black
stone. It has potential energy which was put into it by the eons of
solar energy shining on the carboniferous forests. A stone has
potential energy for falling. Where did it get it? It may have been
carried up the hill; it may have been dropped from space—put out
there by the cosmic eruption that caused Creation. Or it may have
been on the edge of a gully and the potential drop made by the
stream eroding the ground out from under it."
"How about atomic power?"
"You mean, how did the power get locked in the atom?"
"Yes."
"The power in the atom was put there by the universe's atom
factories. Sol, and the other suns," explained Hamilton.
"But where did the earth—?"
"Creation," murmured Thomas. "Who knows? I don't. Every time
somebody comes up with a perfect answer, someone else comes up
with perfect data that proves that the answer couldn't be anything
that anybody has ever used before.
"The atom factory is the Solar Phoenix. You start with hydrogen and
carbon. The solar heat is such that they combine atomically to an
unstable isotope of nitrogen which immediately becomes a stable
isotope of nitrogen. More hydrogen gets in, making it unstable
oxygen and so forth. Oxygen breaks down, releasing energy, helium,
and, what do you know, carbon again, which begins to take on
hydrogen again, and here we go again. But the thing is uncontrolled
hell on wheels. Things go wrong due to the variances of pressure
and temperature, and the oxygen doesn't always break down into
helium and carbon. It takes offshoots and sidetracks. It'll add
hydrogen and become fluorine, for instance, which then adds more
and becomes something else, some of which trails off like the
branches of a tree and do not break down into recurrent reactions.
Hence the other atoms."
"I'll read about it and get the real picture. Know a good book?"
Thomas scratched his chin. "If you can find a copy of 'The Days of
Creation,' by Willy Ley, the first part of the book has a description of
the Solar Phoenix."
"Well, good enough," said Dr. Hamilton. "But just bear one thing in
mind. You think you've beaten the engineer. Your basic trouble is just
that the engineer is you, too. He has your ability and your knowledge
and your experience upon which to work. He is no fool, and you can
take that as a back-handed compliment if you want to. He is just as
capable an engineer as you are a physicist. He thinks in different
channels, I will admit. But, Thomas, remember that his extra-
channellar thinking is done with the same thinking equipment as
yours is, and it is no less efficient because of being divergent from
your own thought-track. Your battle was won too easily to be
conclusive."
"What do you expect?"
"I wouldn't know. I'm no scientist in physics." Hamilton held up a
hand as Thomas started to protest. "I use 'scientist' despite your
dislike of the word only because there is no term that describes both
of the attributes of practical engineer and research physicist. Frankly,
I'm hoping for an eventual coalition, but I fear not."
"Why view no-coalition with distaste?" demanded Thomas.
"Because both personalities offer much to the world, to science in
general, and to the body that houses both of them."
"I heartily dislike all aspects of practical engineering," stated Thomas
flatly. "To be everlastingly forced to retrace your own steps, again
and again and again, working out the most insignificant details—
bah!"
"The engineer has another viewpoint."
"I know. But the engineer in this case is here only because of his
own necessity—which he himself has removed. I am the real entity; I
am the desire of the engineer. I am what he wants to be. I am what
he will become!"

"Good morning, Frank."


"Morning, Miss Elaine. Mr. Lionel isn't here."
"He'll be back?" asked the girl.
"Oh yes. He went over to see Dr. Hamilton."
"Oh. Frank, the usual question?"
"This morning he is Thomas Lionel, Ph.D., M.M."
"Oh."
"He went to bed Tom Lionel, Consulting Engineer."
"I wonder if he remembers," smiled Elaine.
The Poltergeist landed on the lawn. It was silent, but a flash of
sunshine caught the sleek side and attracted Elaine's attention.
"Hi," she called as she emerged from the house.
"Howdy," he answered. "What brings you out?"
"Never ask a girl a question like that," she laughed. "You'll never get
the right answer."
"Why?"
"If she says 'you' it's either a lie or she's the kind of girl your mother
tried to protect you from. If she says anything else, it's either a lie or
she's the kind of girl your mother tried to protect you from."
"A man can't win," snorted Thomas.
"Does a man really want to win?"
"Nope," admitted Thomas. "I won't ask questions, Elaine. I'll just be
glad you came."
"I'm glad you're glad."
Elaine flirted with him shamelessly, and then turned toward the
laboratory building. He followed, and they kept up a running fire of
light talk all the way.
"The first thing I have to do is to see what the engineer was doing
last," remarked Thomas as he opened the laboratory door.
"You are a strange fellow," smiled Elaine. "You respect each other's
possessions and beliefs, though you argue madly through
impersonal mediums. Still writing nasty letters?"
"Uh-huh. And playing chess."
"What's he been doing?" asked Elaine innocently.
"Don't really know. Aside from some experiments on the poltergeist
effect—reducing them to practice—I wouldn't know. I doubt that he's
been doing much else. I do happen to know that he's deeply
interested in the epicenter effect. He may find the key to it, too."

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