Practice midterm, 10/06
(questions from 10/04 midterm)

1. Some reasons to study media history include
a. helps us to develop “critical thinking skills.”
b. helps us to understand media operations of today.
c. helps us to put current events in perspective.
d. tells us interesting stories.
e. All of the above.

2. While television became marketable in the 1930s, it didn’t really become part of most Americans’ homes until the early 1950s. Which were factors that slowed TV’s development?
a. World War II.
b. The post-World War II “Red Scare.”
c. FCC concerns of television’s huge influence on American culture.
d. Network technical disagreements over delivery formats.
e. All of the above.

3. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s experiences with the press has inspired you. As Student Senate president, you plan to use his lead and
a. hold few press conferences, maintain a dignified separation from the public.
b. hold frequent press conferences, speak to the public directly by radio.
c. use prime-time television slots to explain your policies.
d. Emphasize photo-ops and patriotic imagery.
e. both c and d.

4. The unthinkable nightmare has become reality: World War III. The president has asked you to set up the government’s Bureau of Censorship, noting “the procedure in World War II worked pretty well, let’s do it that way again.” From your media history class, you remember that Byron Price played that role very well by
a. carefully controlling content of all broadcast media, but leaving print media alone.
b. hiring government employees to replace station managers and editors.
c. asking the media to voluntarily cooperate with government censorship guidelines.
d. hiring teams of government copy editors to oversee news content of large newspapers and networks.
e. All of the above.

5. Watergate seemed to represent a change in many American cultural attitudes. From your group assignments, what were some of the changes were you able to discern?
a. Propaganda is not always the powerful force we once believed it to be.
b. Even a U.S. president cannot be trusted.
c. The press is a biased and negative force in society.
d. Wars may be lost if morale is low at home.
e. All of the above.

6. Which of the choices below are aspects of historical research, as discussed in class?
a. Interpretation.
b. Evidence.
c. Objectivity.
d. both b and c.
e. both a and b.

7. “You’ll be part of the press pool,” explains the military public relations director, on your arrival to the war front. “I hope this will work out for you.” You realize that this situation will likely mean
a. your story will be different from that of all the other reporters.
b. you’ll be part of a broadcast team and get first opportunity to cover the front.
c. your story will be similar to that of all the other reporters.
d. your editor will carefully censor the stories you file.
e. you’ll have to go to the front on your own.

8. Edward R. Murrow is remembered for
a. investigating the Watergate scandals.
b. exposing McCarthy Era abuses in his documentary, “See It Now.”
c. imposing harsh censorship during the Persian Gulf War.
d. influencing early broadcast as chair of NBC.
e. Establishing a series of U.S. propaganda films.

9. When Newton Minow of the FCC called television “a vast wasteland” in 1961, he was probably referring to
a. the possibility of watching 25,000 murders a year on TV.
b. the possibility of watching a minute-long commercial.
c. the hour after hour of boring political convention coverage.
d. the Nixon-Kennedy presidential debates of 1960.
e. three-hour documentaries on the difficulties of California farm laborers.

10. The federal ban on television cigarette advertising in 1971 is related to
a. NBC’s divestiture of the Blue Network.
b. FCC control over broadcasting for the public good.
c. H.V. Kaltenborn and early television.
d. Standards established by the Hutchins Commission.
e. The Markham Study of violence on television.

11. You have been hired at the unheard of salary (for a new college grad) of $60,000 to direct the propaganda campaign of a newly-emerging African nation, Izan. Noting that this seems to be backward spelling of an old political idea, what kind of campaign might you likely to favor?
a. Truth and interpretation.
b. Lies and objectivity.
c. Half-truths and simple slogans.
d. Internal and external.
e. press freedom and government public relations.

12. The concept of “celebrity” is born of 20th-century mass media developments. Which of the following developments contributed to the celebrity worship we see in today’s media?
a. Invention of commercial radio.
b. Advertising’s development of product endorsement.
c. Invention of movies.
d. Newspapers aimed toward a “mass audience.”
e. All of the above contributed.

13. Modern advertising developed after the U.S. Civil War as a response to
a. industrial revolution.
b. high-speed presses and mechanical typesetting.
c. railroad growth.
d. a and b only.
e. All of the above.

14. What to do, what to do? It’s 1922, and you’ve launched your new radio station, KRUD, in Fargo. But your employees demand salaries, ASCAP demands music licensing fees, and generally you’re going broke. In desperation you try “toll radio,” and
a. you receive generous contributions from the city.
b. your on-air advertising works, though some listeners complain.
c. the Federal Radio Commission shuts you down for advertising on the public air waves.
d. you assess a subscription fee to every listener.
e. your on-air advertising must be linked only to non-profit groups.

15. Press coverage of the 1991 Persian Gulf War is remembered for
a. Extensive propaganda system set up by the U.S. Government.
b. strict censorship and the “pool system.”
c. easy press credentials and unrestricted press movement.
d. threatened execution of disloyal U.S. journalists who sneaked into Iraq.
e. journalists forbidden to enter allied territory.

16. Journalist-historian Theodore White observed, “Ego is the disease of great leaders: some leave pyramids, some leave tapes.” Of course, White was speaking of which U.S. president?
a. Kennedy.
b. Johnson.
c. Nixon.
d. Ford.
e. Reagan.

17. One problem when relying on oral history for primary research is
a. the person interviewed may be biased.
b. the person interviewed may not have knowledge germane to the topic.
c. the person interviewed may have forgotten facts.
d. the person interviewed may lie.
e. All of the above.

18. What a cool idea! You’ll promote your election campaign for PRSSA president using newsreels! Just like those glorious days of the 1930s-40s! Well, ah, I dunno, says your campaign manager. Might not work because
a. you’d need to show them in movie theaters.
b. you’d need an expensive digital camera of make them.
c. KDSU-radio is now run by North Dakota Public Radio, and not available for student projects.
d. not every student owns a laptop computer.
e. NDSU’s television station is not available for student broadcasts.

19. A big problem the media had with the McCarthy Hearings was
a. Obligation to “objectivity” meant they couldn’t counter McCarthy’s lies.
b. Obligation to advertisers meant they couldn’t broadcast the hearings.
c. Obligation to the FCC meant they dared not show McCarthy’s face.
d. Obligation to the Communist Party required them to broadcast the hearings.
e. Obligation to Edward R. Murrow required broadcast of McCarthy’s statements.

20. Early radio; today’s “celebrity status.” How are they related?
a. Development of Federal Radio Commission extended choice of formats.
b. Radio stations based their choices of talent on unionized entertainers.
c. “Toll radio” helped to make local announcers famous.
d. Silent movies became popular radio programs.
e. Development of radio networks extended fame of entertainers to a national audience.

21. Which of the historical examples below demonstrates an application of “Ted Bates USP” advertising?
a. “As a flesh producer the best choice is Scott’s emulsion of pure cod liver oil”
b. “That art of wheelmanship is a fascinating one once acquired never forgotten”
c. “Schlitz: Washed with live steam!”
d. “Mommy, they have a lovely home, but the bathroom paper hurts!”
e. “Listerine: because even your friends won’t tell you.”

22. “Got a new idea, boss,” your ebullient (look up this word after class) new reporter tells you. “We’ll take this little weekly to financial success by starting up a new feature, ‘the muckrakers’ weekly report.’ “Not sure about that,” you respond. “I don’t think our readers are really ready for
a. comic strips of a conservative slant.
b. tough investigative stories showing crime and exploitation of the poor.
c. another call for impeachment of a U.S. president.
d. a large feature devoted to wetlands management.
e. both a and c.

23. If you were to use an “archeologist’s model” to write your historical research paper on women in local journalism, where might you begin?
a. Look at the first daily Fargo newspapers, dating from the 1870s, and work forward.
b. Read the letters of women reporters before World War II.
c. Interview recently retired women reporters, and work backwards to the last century.
d. Dig at the site of the old Moorhead Daily News building for artifacts and clues.
e. Interview new Fargo-Moorhead Forum editor Lou Ziegler for ways to begin.

24. In writing historical research, you always need to be on guard against “present mindedness.” An example of this might possibly be
a. “Thomas Jefferson was a slave-owning philosopher who proposed a law guaranteeing free speech and press.”
b. “William Manchester’s sources cannot by authenticated because he used no footnotes.”
c. “Christopher Columbus’ treatment of the Native Peoples in America demonstrates the destructive arrogance of early explorers.”
d. “George Creel’s work during wartime shows how influential propaganda could be during that era.
e. Both a and b.

25. A question directly from the class bulletin board: “What event caused television to become more popular?” (I presume we’re talking 1950s here.)
a. World War II’s bombing of London.
b. Murrow’s investigation of McCarthyism.
c. Steinbeck’s publication of “The Grapes of Wrath.”
d. Nixon’s escalation of the Vietnam War.
e. Newton Minow’s “Vast Wasteland” speech.

26. George Creel’s Committee on Public Information become a huge U.S. propaganda operation during
a. World War I.
b. Spanish-American War.
c. World War II.
d. Korean War.
e. Vietnam War.

27. Question from the class review: The so-called McCarthy Era is best remembered for what?
a. Anti-Communist “witch hunts.”
b. Censorship of the press.
c. Misuse of reporter’s attempts to be objective.
d. Both a and c.
e. All of the above.

28. Sensationalism, “tabloid journalism” lurid headlines, crime and sex stories; all these define big-city journalism during the “jazz age,” but what else changed journalism during that era?
a. Lippmann’s call for professional journalism education.
b. Henry Luce’s influential new magazines Time and Life.
c. Invention of 35 mm camera and principles of photojournalism.
d. Both b and c.
e. All of the above.

29. In both world wars I and II the U.S. Government set up successful public relations/propaganda operations. Part of the reason they worked may have been
a. they emphasized strict censorship.
b. they were directed by well-respected journalists.
c. they tightly controlled radio and television.
d. they relied on university professors to distribute material to their students.
e. they learned from German tactics of “half-truth” and “scapegoating.”

30. Your press release based on your organization’s anti-stocking cap campaign emphasizes the gaudy ugliness of the caps, and the “hathead” look they leave when you remove them. You don’t say anything about possibility in Fargo of freezing your ears, however. Of this campaign public relations pioneer Edward Bernays might say,
a. “The big lie is better than a half-truth.”
b. “Rational argument usually obtains superior results.”
c. “There are no facts, only interpretations.”
d. “Press releases offer the best way to get your message to the right people.”
e. “Repeat, repeat, repeat.”

31. Based on group presentations of photography history, what can we assume is true?
a. Photography as “art” didn’t appear in museums until well into the twentieth century.
b. Photography during wartime has generally enjoyed free access to battlefields and tactics.
c. Manipulation of news photographs is not new, but digital photography makes it easier.
d. Both a and c.
e. All of the above.