Mass Media and American Culture
Chapter Exam Questions
Course Introduction
This course explores the dynamic relationship between mass media and American culture, examining how various forms of media such as television, radio, film, print, and digital platforms both reflect and shape societal values, identities, and politics in the United States. Students will analyze the historical evolution of mass media, their influence on public opinion and cultural norms, and critical issues such as representation, media ethics, and the impact of emerging technologies. Through theoretical frameworks and case studies, the course fosters a deeper understanding of the media's role in fostering cultural trends, shaping national narratives, and affecting social change.
Recommended Textbook
Media and Culture Mass Communication in a Digital Age 10th Edition by Richard Campbell
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Chapter 1: Mass Communication- a Critical Approach
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Sample Questions
Q1) Most forms of culture demonstrate multiple tendencies; for example, a film could be both conventional and innovative.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) According to the textbook, the mass media are industries that produce and distribute cultural products to large numbers of people.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) The transformation from an industrial, print-based society to one grounded in the Information Age began with the development of the _______.
A)sound recording
B)printing press
C)newspaper
D)magazine
E)None of the above options is correct.
Answer: E
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Chapter 2: The Internet, Digital Media, and Media Convergence
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Sample Questions
Q1) Flickr is an online content community for sharing videos.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) Written code that creates Web pages and links
A)Fiber-optic cable
B)World Wide Web
C)Social media site
D)HTML
Answer: D
Q3) The U.S.Supreme Court ruled that efforts to ban indecent and obscene material on the Web through the Communications Decency Act of 1996 were unconstitutional.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q4) Invented in the 1980s, the _________________________ is the most popular part of the Internet and is essentially the navigation system for it.
Answer: World Wide Web
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Chapter 3: Digital Gaming and the Media Playground
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Sample Questions
Q1) The most advanced form of collective intelligence in gaming is ______.
A)advergames
B)modding
C)MMORPGs
D)blogging
E)None of the above options is correct.
Answer: B
Q2) In 2013, about how many people played fantasy sports in the United States and Canada?
A)5 million
B)18 million
C)25 million
D)34 million
E)58 million
Answer: D
Q3) Atari's first creation was _________________________, a simple two-dimensional tennis-style game with two vertical paddles that bounced a white dot back and forth.
Answer: Pong
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Chapter 4: Sound Recording and Popular Music
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following statements about the music industry and the Internet since the year 2000 is true?
A)Musicians and music companies are afraid to use the Internet to market new music.
B)No one will spend money for music if they can download it for free.
C)Artists who use the Internet to generate a fan base can improve their chances of being signed by a major label.
D)No musicians have experimented with bypassing record labels and selling their music directly on the Internet.
E)None of the above options is correct.
Q2) Folk is considered the sound of social activism.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Music talent scouts, or _________________________, discover, develop, and sometimes manage performers.
Q4) Internet radio stations pay a licensing fee to broadcast copyrighted music. A)True
B)False
Q5) Unauthorized online file sharing is known as __________________.
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Chapter 5: Popular Radio and the Origins of Broadcasting
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Sample Questions
Q1) What has been the defining feature of public debate regarding radio as a natural resource?
A)Broadcasting companies are eager for questions on their financial arrangements.
B)Public debate is vigorous and intense over the role of radio.
C)There is little public debate over the issue.
D)Record companies want to encourage debate in order to create the best environment for artists to grow on the airwaves.
E)All of the options are correct.
Q2) As a new network, CBS was able to compete with NBC by ______.
A)charging affiliates less for its programs
B)paying affiliates to broadcast its programs
C)being the first network to broadcast in high fidelity
D)advertising its programs on billboards
E)being the first to offer musical programs and quiz shows
Q3) Under the Radio Act of 1927, broadcasters were allowed to own their radio channels.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Why was the RCA monopoly formed?
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Page 7
Chapter 6: Television and Cable- the Power of Visual Culture
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Sample Questions
Q1) Few children's programs are aired on network television because most advertisers are less interested in reaching that audience.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The quiz-show scandals of the 1950s provided the first indication that TV images could be manipulated.
A)True
B)False
Q3) After years of going back and forth on cable rates and rules, Congress enacted the ______________________ and brought cable fully under the federal rules that had long governed the telephone, radio, and TV industries.
Q4) Explain the two key developments that pushed network television from sponsored programming to spot ads.
Q5) A relatively recent technology, ______________________ are devices that enable users to find and record specific television shows (and movies) and store them in computer memory to be played back at a later time.
Q6) Explain how cable and satellite television could be made into more democratic media.
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Chapter 7: Movies and the Impact of Images
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Q1) The six major studios were able to dominate movie exhibition in the United States by acquiring all of the country's drive-in theaters.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Examples of genres include comedy, drama, romance, action, and thriller.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Alfred Hitchcock
A)This director's editing techniques redefined suspenseful drama.
B)This director was a popular actor first.
C)This director made Easy Rider, which tapped into baby-boomer anxieties.
D)This director made the controversial epic The Birth of a Nation.
E)This director's films inspired blaxploitation movies.
Q4) Describe the ways in which Hollywood has responded to waves of new technologies and home entertainment since the 1970s.
Q5) Film noir movies are notable for their bright lighting, lush sets, and upbeat story lines.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 8: Newspapers- the Rise and Decline of Modern Journalism
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Q1) Besides providing community calendars and meeting notices, ______ newspapers mostly carry articles on local schools, social events, town government, property crimes, and zoning issues.
A)underground
B)alternative
C)conflict-oriented
D)postmodern
E)consensus-oriented
Q2) In what ways has the Internet resulted in changes in traditional newspaper operations?
Q3) Daily newspaper circulation numbers ______.
A)have declined but these declines show some signs of being offset by increases in online readership
B)continue to grow in terms of actual paper subscriptions in the United States
C)continue to decline in places like Asia, Africa, and South America
D)continue to grow, but newspapers are still operating in the red
E)All of the options are correct.
Q4) The space left over in a newspaper for news content after all the ads are placed is called the _______________________.
10
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Chapter 9: Magazines in the Age of Specialization
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Q1) The Saturday Evening Post
A)Championed women's property rights
B)Published the work of writers such as Emerson, Thoreau, and Twain
C)Longest-running magazine in U.S.history
D)Pioneered the national political magazine format
Q2) How are some online-only magazines trying to reinvent the idea of a magazine?
Q3) Muckraking journalists exposed corruption and abuses in the oil, meatpacking, and patent medicine industries.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Specialized magazines outside the mainstream publish information and viewpoints for readers not served by other media channels.
A)True
B)False
Q5) The first magazines primarily offered entertainment news and gossip. A)True
B)False
Q6) Large companies are increasingly beginning to dominate the magazine business.
A)True
B)False
Page 11
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Chapter 10: Books and the Power of Print
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Sample Questions
Q1) Johannes Gutenberg is remembered for ______.
A)inventing paper
B)developing the printing press
C)inventing the codex
D)translating the Canterbury Tales into English
E)translating the Bible into English
Q2) Which of the following is the best-selling book of all time?
A)Various versions of the Bible
B)Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook
C)Baby and Child Care by Dr.Benjamin Spock
D)Peyton Place by Grace Metalious
E)Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
Q3) While e-books can be read off computers and smartphones, devices created specifically for reading e-books are called ______________________.
Q4) One disadvantage of having a statewide adoption policy for textbooks is that the needs of local communities are undermined.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What have been the major contributions of books to democratic life?
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Chapter 11: Advertising and Commercial Culture
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Q1) What role did advertising play in transforming America into a consumer society?
Q2) Any print or broadcast expression for which a fee is charged to the organization or individual buying time or space in the mass media is referred to as ____________________ speech.
Q3) Online advertising has taken the form of ______.
A)banner ads that lead across the top or side of a Web page
B)pop-under ads
C)interstitials and flash multimedia
D)paid search engine advertising
E)All of the options are correct.
Q4) In what way did patent medicines and department stores figure prominently in advertising in the late 1800s?
Q5) One twentieth-century trend associated with advertising was the transition from a producer to a consumer society.
A)True
B)False
Q6) What is "blog-ola," and why are consumer advocates and the FTC concerned about it?
Q7) How can analyzing mythic elements be used to critique an ad?
Page 13
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Chapter 12: Public Relations and Framing the Message
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Q1) While P.T.Barnum felt that all publicity was good publicity, Edward Bernays viewed all public relations as propaganda and therefore unethical.
A)True
B)False
Q2) A public relations firm looking to make full use of the Internet can ______.
A)encourage clients to use social media tools like Facebook and Twitter to interact with audiences
B)edit Wikipedia entries for its client's benefit
C)hire apparently independent bloggers to promote products
D)create a blog where corporate executives can report company news and share their own observations
E)All of the options are correct.
Q3) Walter Lippmann
A)Lamented influence of PR profession on modern life
B)Convinced women that cigarette smoking was publicly acceptable
C)Helped open the PR profession to women
D)Transformed image of millionaire John D.Rockefeller, Sr.
Q4) What are some socially responsible strategies that can be used during a crisis to help a PR specialist manage bad publicity?
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Chapter 13: Media Economics and the Global Marketplace
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Sample Questions
Q1) What purpose does it serve for politicians and powerful media companies to provide "common-sense" narratives to the public?
Q2) Disney owns the television network ABC.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The global economy has reduced prices to the point where most low paid workers in Third World factories can afford the stereos and TV sets they help manufacture.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Deregulation, globalization, and new media technologies have had significant effects on the content, the shape, and the business of media as a whole.Pick two changes you think are most significant and discuss their major impact.
Q5) The shift to an information-based economy emphasized the cultivation of specialized niche media markets.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Is there such a thing as a global village? What does this concept mean to you?
Q7) Describe three negative effects of media consolidation.
Page 15
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Chapter 14: The Culture of Journalism- Values, Ethics, and Democracy
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Sample Questions
Q1) _________________________ ethics suggests that reporters should never use deception to get a story.
Q2) A journalist who practices an informational or modern model approach to journalism would most likely be inclined to focus a story about a crime spree around ______.
A)presenting official comments and statistics in a neutral manner
B)taking an advocacy stance
C)condemning the criminals involved
D)acknowledging his or her own point of view
E)None of the above options is correct.
Q3) John Stuart Mill's ethical principle was to promote the "greatest _________________________ for the greatest number" of people.
Q4) Journalists routinely straddle a line between the public's right to know and a person's right to privacy.
A)True
B)False
Q5) How has convergence with the Internet changed the demands on traditional print and broadcast journalists?
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Chapter 15: Media Effects and Cultural Approaches to Research
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Q1) Researchers associated with the minimal-effects model argue that people engage in selective ________________________ and selective retention with regard to the media.
Q2) Which kind of research method employs a control group for comparison?
A)Focus group interviews
B)Content analysis
C)Political economy
D)Experiment
E)Survey
Q3) Textual analysis is able to demonstrate the effects of the media on audiences.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Media historian James Carey defined communication as ______.
A)"an exchange of verbal or nonverbal symbols between individuals or groups"
B)"a symbolic process whereby reality is produced, maintained, repaired, and transformed"
C)"the gathering of a middle class to critically discuss the world around them"
D)"a strict set of rules governing how different social classes interact"
E)All of the options are correct.
Q5) What are pseudo-polls? Why are they used?
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Chapter 16: Legal Controls and Freedom of Expression
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Q1) Which statement about copyright law is true?
A)Copyright covers a creative work for only seven years after it is produced.
B)Companies like Disney are huge supporters of getting their material into the public domain.
C)Corporate owners spend lots of money getting Congress to shorten the length of copyright protections.
D)The original idea behind American copyright law was that authors would have a financial incentive to create original works, and after fourteen years others would be able to safely use it to create derivative works.
E)Copyright laws have remained virtually unchanged since they were written in the eighteenth century, being adapted without debate to new media.
Q2) Defamation that is broadcast is considered slander because it is spoken rather than written.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The ________________________ model for journalism and speech tolerates little public dissent or criticism of government.
Q4) Name and briefly explain at least three of the legal limitations on free speech.
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Chapter 17: General Questions Covering the Entire Text
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Q1) Coca-Cola
A)Income
B)Divides consumers into types
C)Propaganda Technique in the World War
D)"The real thing"
E)Investigative journalism pioneer
F)Public Opinion
G)Former president Richard Nixon
H)Ivy Ledbetter Lee
I)United Arab Emirates
J)NBC
K)Pseudo-event
L)Crystallizing Public Opinion
M)Galvanometers
Q2) Would society benefit from tighter government regulations on media ownership (such as those that were in place before the Telecommunications Act of 1996) or would it be better to continue on the current course of deregulation? Give specific examples of how your position might be better for society.
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