POL CHAPTER 8
What is the literal meaning of "democracy"?
Rule by the people
Which of the following is NOT an example of framing? (concept clip)
priming
Focus groups usually include fewer than _____ individuals at a time.
ten
Which of the following would be found in a positive issue ad?
"Ms. Roberts has long been an advocate for improving our schools." "Malia is dedicated to finding ways to improve our community healthcare system." "Representative Nadal has been a breath of fresh air in the state house."
As of 2019, about _____ percent of the adult population in the United States subscribed to satellite radio.
13
What presidential campaign saw the first time that both the Republican and Democratic parties simulcast presidential debates in Spanish? (post-test)
2016
According to a 2019 Texas Politics Project poll, what percent of Texans supported legalizing the use of marijuana for medical use only? Multiple choice question.
26 percent
In Texas, approximately what percentage of households speak Spanish? (learning exercise)
30 percent
Latinos make up approximately 18.3 percent of the U.S. population. Approximately what percentage of the Texas population is Latino? (learning exercise)
40 percent
What does the term "concentration" mean when discussing media in the United States?
A few conglomerates have emerged as the major providers of information.
What is a potential pitfall for candidates who use digital campaigning?
Any problematic statement or action, if digitally recorded, can come back to haunt them.
The impact that round-the-clock news coverage has had on the media is called the _____ effect.
CNN
Which of the following best describes the future of media?
Consumers are just as important as owners and producers.
True or false: Only the federal government, not the states, may pass laws to regulate the Internet.
False
True or false: The use of attack ads is decreasing because they often backfire and harm the sponsoring candidate rather than the intended target.
False
What is the most widely circulated newspaper in Texas today?
Houston Chronicle
How has the Internet changed the role of professional campaign consultants? (post-test)
It has greatly increased their importance.
How has the Internet affected political campaigns' ability to control their messages?
It has increased it.
What is the current general trend in Americans' level of trust in the media? (PRE-TEST)
It is declining.
Which of the following is a problematic aspect of citizen journalism?
It may lack context.
How does the 2000 Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) regulate the Internet? (post-test)
It requires elementary schools, secondary schools, and public libraries to filter accessible materials.
Why is Texas a state in which digital media can be especially cost-saving for statewide campaigns?
It's very large and costly to travel to all areas in person.
Though over 10 billion tweets go out on Twitter every day, what did researchers at Carnegie Mellon University discover about people's opinions of many of those tweets?
Less than one-third of the tweets reflected information worth reading.
_____ is a published false statement that is damaging to a private individual's reputation.
Libel
What U.S. Supreme Court decision established the definition of obscenity?
Miller v. California
The most popular podcasts reflect content hosted by ______.
National Public Radio
_____ provides a specific context and background through which audiences engage with a particular topic or story and repeats it over time.
Priming
When there is conflict between competing positions, why is it important for the government to be aware of public opinion?
Public opinion can be used to shape policy.
_____ factors include things like income, education, race, and ethnicity; they can affect voter turnout.
Socioeconomic
What election saw the first time in U.S. history that a major political debate was held in Spanish? (learning exercise)
Texas gubernatorial debate, 2002
What is one way in which the Internet and social media can have a negative effect for campaigns and candidates? (post-test)
The Internet does not forget, and inappropriate comments can haunt a candidate.
What was the result of the 1996 Telecommunications Act? (PRE-TEST)
The number of radio and television stations that could be owned by one company was increased.
How did the 2010 Citizens United decision affect corporate spending on political campaign advertising? (PRE-TEST)
The political speech rights of Americans and corporate entities are indistinguishable.
Which of the following contributed to changes in polling in the 1970s?
The relative complexity of political issues in the United States increased. Politicians began taking polling more seriously.
What does the increasing concentration of media ownership into the hands of a few conglomerates mean for those who watch the local news in Texas? (PRE-TEST)
There is a selection bias that, increasingly, focuses on national issues.
In its 2018 polling, the UT/Tribune survey determined what about Texans' support for ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, as outlined by the Trump administration?
There is more support among Texas Democrats to keep DACA than Republican consensus to end it.
Which of the following describes the way in which partisan media affect ordinary Americans? (post-test)
There is no firm evidence that partisan media are making ordinary Americans more partisan.
What is one problem associated with focus groups?
They are less quantitatively measured.
Which of the following is a major criticism of push polls? (PRE-TEST)
They are unscientific.
How do social media sites like Facebook and Twitter deal with posting problematic material, including sexually violent or criminal activity?
They list prohibitions in their terms of service.
Which of the following correctly describes how the news media treat negative ads?
They often denounce them on air.
Citizens' use of social media to obtain information is both detrimental and beneficial to democracy.
True
True or false: Connecting with the public directly is the most important advantage that the Internet offers political campaigns.
True
True or false: Consumers drive media content as much as owners and producers do.
True
Texas gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis received a big boost in popularity after her senatorial filibuster speech went viral on ______.
According to Harold Lasswell's model, what questions should we ask in order to better understand "the media"?
Who is the sender? Who is the audience? What is the method? What is the message?
According to recent research cited in the text, do Americans believe the media are biased? (post-test)
Yes, and by a large margin.
Citizen journalism is especially problematic on _____ because people generally ignore the site's guidelines about attribution.
YouTube
Candidate Ronald Reagan's 1984 "Morning in America" campaign commercial was designed to make viewers feel good about Reagan. What type of ad was this?
a positive issue ad
A fundamental function of the media is to decide what is news. This is called ______.
agenda setting
In the example of the news coverage of Texas's Child Protective Services and its severe problems, the issue finally received attention only after it was covered in the media. This is an example of ______.
agenda setting
What category of public opinion is "the simple sum of many individual opinions"?
aggregation
What category of public opinion is defined as "the simple sum of many individual opinions"? (PRE-TEST)
aggregation
As of 2018, approximately what percentage of Americans rely upon television broadcasts for their news?
approximately 40 percent
What are some problems with survey polling?
biased sampling leading questions low response rates
Across the generations, how are Americans most likely to discover news? (post-test)
by going directly to a news organization
The collection, dissemination, and analysis of news and information by the general public, especially by means of the Internet, is called (post-test)
citizen journalism.
What was the location of the earliest radio stations in Texas?
college campuses
Which of the following are among the influences that affect individual Texans' opinions?
conservatively biased media coverage a traditionalistic culture
Which of the following would be classified as "hard news"?
coverage of a U.S. Senate election an interview with the head of a foreign nation an investigative report on wasteful spending by the Department of Defense
Sometimes called "the journalism of outrageousness," _____ often features embarrassing "gotcha" moments. (post-test)
critical journalism
The purpose of mass media gatekeeping is ______.
determining newsworthiness
When users self-select information on social media, the result is a(n) ______.
echo chamber
The text describes one function of the media as serving as a "linkage mechanism." What are the media linking? (PRE-TEST)
elected representatives and their constituents
The 2014 ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that struck down the FCC's Open Internet Order had what effect at that time? (quiz)
ending network neutrality requirements for ISPs
Facebook, especially after it changed its algorithms to limit the ability of news organizations to asset themselves into news feeds, has _____ the echo chamber effect.
exacerbated
Interviews with citizens just after they have voted in an election are referred to as _______ polls.
exit
Former Republican Speaker Newt Gingrich's 1990 GOPAC political action committee's actions to help "train local Republican candidates" was designed to (PRE-TEST)
extend the art of the attack ad.
The free exposure that results from a newspaper endorsement of a political candidate, such as the one Hillary Clinton received from The Dallas Morning News in 2016, is the most commonplace free coverage for a candidate. (learning exercise)
false
The winner of the late-night news slot for Spanish-language households across the years 2013 through 2016 is Telemundo. (learning exercise)
false
Today, most news media refuse to run political attack ads. (learning exercise)
false
When using social media, there is a greater chance of being exposed to opinions and perspectives that may differ from our own. (learning exercise)
false
In the five broad categories of public opinion, what is defined as the "rhetorical construction used so freely in our newspapers and television as to be meaningless"? (post-test)
fiction
Which of the five broad definitions of public opinion involves "rhetorical construction"? (quiz)
fiction
Research has shown that newspapers from counties near the U.S.-Mexico border tend to have an overall negative slant toward immigrants. This "slant" is an example of ______.
framing
What are two strategies the media use to influence the public agenda? (concept clip)
framing and priming
What did "freedom of the press" mean at the time of the founding of the United States?
freedom to use an actual printing press
Mass media filter down all of what is happening in a given community into a specific set of news that is then transmitted to an audience. This is called ______.
gatekeeping
A local news outlet decides that it is important for the public to be informed about an upcoming vote on property taxes. It replays a short segment about the vote three times a day until voting day arrives. What processes are represented here? (quiz)
gatekeeping, agenda setting and framing, and priming
Which of the following definitions most closely describes the type of public opinion known as interest group conflict? (learning-exercise)
groups constantly engaged in a struggle to define social problems and provide solutions to them
When citizens self-select news sources that are in harmony with their own perspectives and reject those that are not, ______.
ideological gaps among the citizenry form
What is an effect of self-selection of media sources by individuals based on their own ideological biases? (quiz)
increased media bias through market competition
In his 1992 presidential campaign, Ross Perot spent $34.8 million of his own money on a series of ______.
infomercials
The media are a variety of tools used to store and broadcast what? (concept clip)
information
Deeply researched stories that uncover serious crime, corruption, or corporate wrongdoing are called _____ journalism, something in which notable news magazines engage.
investigative
The media cannot effectively act as an adversary to government if it ______.
is not providing accurate, substantive news
Which of the following best characterizes a "public"?
its communicative nature
In defining "the public," it is notable that it is characterized entirely by (PRE-TEST)
its communicative nature.
The role that media bias plays in the development of public opinion is ______.
large
The category of public opinion that is defined as "a projection of what journalists, politicians, and 'elites' believe" is called ______.
media/elite opinion
The principle that Internet service providers should enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source, and without favoring or blocking particular products or websites, is called (post-test)
net neutrality.
Which of the following is NOT one of the political functions of the media? (concept clip)
neutralizing the public agenda
In 2009, utilizing its police powers, the Texas Legislature passed HB 2003. What issue(s) did it address?
online harassment and stalking
This American Life and the New York Times The Daily are examples of very popular ______.
podcasts
The development of political attitudes and beliefs occurs through agents of _____, such as socioeconomic factors, family, religion, school, community, the media, and so on. (post-test)
political socialization
The process through which we learn political attitudes and opinions is called ______.
political socialization
Ronald Reagan's "morning in America," George H. W. Bush's "thousand points of light," and Clayton Williams's "share my vision" slogans were all used in what type of political ad? (learning exercise)
positive
Presidential candidate Ronald Reagan's "morning in America" commercial was what type of media coverage? (PRE-TEST)
positive, purchased
According to political scientist Tim Groeling, what two types of bias exist in the media? (PRE-TEST)
presentation bias and selection bias
Sociological stimuli are typically used in what media process? (concept clip)
priming
When discussing how the media shape perceptions, the term _____ refers to a specific context and background through which audiences engage with a particular topic or story. (PRE-TEST)
priming
When the local newspaper and local television station repetitively cover a story about a new stadium opening, that repetition is an example of ______.
priming
In terms of medium, which of the following are categorizations we use?
print electronic
The right of rebuttal does not apply to ______.
print media
What type of survey interviews a scientifically determined sampling of people within a population?
probability sample survey
Which of the following definitions most closely describes the type of public opinion known as media/elite opinion? (learning-exercise)
projection of what journalists, politicians, and other "elites" believe
According to Jan E. Leighley's research, when the mass media are pushers of a particular individual/politician, product, or idea, they are following the _____ model.
propagandist
The media cultivate and influence the public's social reality and mirror society's culture back to the viewer through ______.
resonance
When media reinforce and magnify existing beliefs about the reality of an event, it is an example of
resonance
The reinforcement and magnification of existing beliefs about reality and commonality of events due to the presentation of reality by the media is called (post-test)
resonance.
Which of the following definitions most closely describes the type of public opinion known as fiction? (learning-exercise)
rhetorical construction used so freely in our newspapers and on television as to be meaningless
The systematic selection of particular news that presents a distorted view of reality is called _____ bias.
selection
From what direction do traditional media face their greatest challenge? (learning exercise)
streaming services
In 2015, the FCC reclassified broadband Internet transmission as a _____, which allowed to regulate ISPs, but the protections offered by that decision ended in December 2017.
telecommunications service
Today, what medium is the most effective for the acquisition of political information? (post-test)
television
What is the top daily news source for most Americans today? (learning exercise)
television (local and national broadcasts)
Recent research shows that _____ remain(s) the most effective single medium available for the acquisition of political information.
television news
What period of American history saw the founding of polling organizations, such as Gallup and Harris, that used more scientific methodologies than earlier polling methods? (post-test)
the 1920s-1930s
What government entity is responsible for enforcing the equal time rule and the right of rebuttal? (PRE-TEST)
the Federal Communication Commission
What entity is responsible for issuing regulations concerning broadcast media?
the Federal Communications Commission
What notable event was a turning point in the evolution of broadcast media and their effect on people's perception of the news? (PRE-TEST)
the assassination of President Kennedy
According to anthropologist Thomas de Zengotita, what 1963 event, which was widely covered in the media, changed people's perception of the news?
the assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas
During the 1920s and 1930s a "convergence of change" had a big effect on polling. Which factors were led to that "convergence"?
the founding of polling organizations the media pushing for more data a growing concern over accuracy
Which of the following are agents of socialization in the United States?
the media family education
At what point did newspapers in the United States really begin to struggle to remain viable? (PRE-TEST)
the mid-twentieth century
What is the most important advantage that the Internet provides for political campaigns? (learning exercise)
the opportunity to connect directly with the public
sampling error
the possibility for underrepresentative responses
Which of the following definitions most closely describes the type of public opinion known as aggregation? (learning-exercise)
the simple sum of many individual opinions
Which of the following definitions most closely describes the type of public opinion known as majoritarian? (learning-exercise)
the values and beliefs of the majority of citizens; involves people paying close attention to the opinions of friends, coworkers, and neighbors, with a tendency to conform to the majority opinion among their significant others
Today, we use "press" and "media" somewhat interchangeably. At the founding of the nation, ______.
these two words had more nuanced meanings
What age group is most likely to get its news from print media?
those older than age 65
What is the point of a push poll?
to attack a candidate or issue
What was the purpose of Newt Gingrich's GOPAC political action committee's glossary, which was distributed to more than 4,000 state Republican candidates? (learning exercise)
to highlight positive words to describe Republicans and negative words to describe Democrats
A sample is determined and a poll conducted for that sample, but many respondents choose not to answer all the questions asked in the poll. This contributes to what type of error? (quiz)
total versus actual sample size
What source do Americans trust most for discovering the news? (learning exercise)
traditional news organizations
Over two-thirds of all American adults use at least one form of social media to share information. (learning exercise)
true
Telemundo's 2015 #YODECIDO voter information campaign targeted young Spanish-speaking voters. (learning exercise)
true
Approximately what portion of American adults use at least one form of social media to share information?
two-thirds
The Telegraph and Texas Register is remembered as the originator of what rallying cry?
"Remember the Alamo!"
_____ are carefully planned discussions designed to obtain perceptions on a defined area of interest in a permissive, non-threatening environment.
Focus groups
______is the media's attempts to focus attention on certain events and place them in context for meaning. Listen to the complete question
Framing
The 1996 Telecommunications Act did what?
It relaxed the limit on how many radio and TV stations one company could own.
_____ is the principle that Internet service providers should enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source and without favoring or blocking particular products or websites.
Net neutrality
Push polls are considered outright illegitimate for which of the following reasons?
Scientific sampling is not used. They attack opposing candidates and ideas.
_____ are perhaps the greatest threat to traditional media's longevity.
Streaming services
In its 2020 polling, the UT/Tribune survey determined what about support for Republican Governor Abbot?
Texas Republicans supported him overwhelmingly.
_____ state(s) that candidates must be given an opportunity to respond to any criticism made by a television or radio media outlet.
The right of rebuttal
In the 2016 election cycle, campaigns were expected spent over $4 billion on television advertisements. How effective, generally, are these ads?
They don't seem to have much impact.
In which of the following ways have social media proven to be disruptive to the traditional forms of media?
They have made people part of the news as it happens. They allow citizens to shape the news agenda. They expose many to news outside of mainstream sources.
Paul Baran, one of the Internet's earliest pioneers, presciently predicted that the rise of channel choice would lead to which of the following?
a decline in dialogue between community members with different viewpoints
Baum and Potter argue that the mass media, as an institution in our democracy, traditionally act as a conduit for information up and down between the political elite and their constituents. This describes ______.
a linkage mechanism
One manner of free exposure for political campaigns is ______.
a newspaper endorsement
What are the three broad functions the media serve within their communities?
acting as a link shaping perception providing information
The actual or perceived failure of the media to report news objectively is called ______.
media bias
The news media, in particular, operate as an institution within the _____ sphere.
public
The _____ is a community's arena. It allows individuals to freely discuss and identify societal problems and influence political action.
public sphere
Political scientist Thomas Patterson argues that the _____ that citizens can access affects their interest in the news.
quality of information
Paul Barran believed that, when cleavages in society emerged due to the choice of channels, the essential role of all media sources should be to ______.
respect the overarching principles of democratic theory
One big advantage of the use of digital media for political campaigns is that it ______.
saves money
Due to its nature, government regulation of ______ is the most complicated.
the Internet
During what era of American history did almost 95 percent of U.S. households own radios?
the end of World War II
response rate
the possibility for a large percentage of nonresponses
total versus actual sample size
the possibility for respondents to answer some not all questions
A crucial element to the success of streaming services is ______.
the use of smartphones
How many notable news magazines are published in Texas?
two
