BSJ Bachelor of Journalism: Media Impact on Society 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is 'public journalism' (also called civic journalism) primarily designed to do?
- Report on government press releases
- Re-engage citizens in public life and democratic deliberation through news (Correct answer)
- Provide free news access to low-income communities
- Train journalists in public speaking
Correct answer: Re-engage citizens in public life and democratic deliberation through news
Public journalism is a movement that encourages news organizations to go beyond reporting events and actively foster civic engagement and community problem-solving.
Question 2: Which social media phenomenon involves rapidly spreading false or misleading information, often faster than corrections can be issued?
- Viral misinformation (Correct answer)
- Digital libel
- Sock puppeting
- Astroturfing
Correct answer: Viral misinformation
Viral misinformation spreads through social networks at a speed that outpaces fact-checking, making corrections less likely to reach the same audience as the original falsehood.
Question 3: A newspaper endorsed a political candidate but its news division covered the same candidate objectively. This separation reflects which journalistic principle?
- Editorial independence (Correct answer)
- Shield law protection
- Source anonymity
- Conflict of interest disclosure
Correct answer: Editorial independence
Editorial independence refers to the separation of a news organization's opinion/editorial function from its news reporting function to preserve journalistic credibility.
Question 4: What historical term describes sensationalist U.S. journalism of the late 1800s that prioritized shock value and is often linked to inciting the Spanish-American War?
- Muckraking
- Yellow journalism (Correct answer)
- New journalism
- Checkbook journalism
Correct answer: Yellow journalism
Yellow journalism, exemplified by Hearst and Pulitzer newspapers, used exaggerated headlines and sensationalism to boost circulation, with some historians linking it to war fever over Cuba.
Question 5: Which effect describes how media coverage of a political event can activate pre-existing attitudes in an audience, making those attitudes more influential in their evaluations?
- Agenda-setting
- Priming (Correct answer)
- Framing
- Spiral of silence
Correct answer: Priming
Priming theory holds that media coverage raises the accessibility of certain considerations in memory, which then disproportionately influence how people evaluate political figures or issues.
Question 6: A social media platform's algorithm promotes content that generates strong emotional reactions, leading to increased exposure to outrage-inducing news. This illustrates:
- The marketplace of ideas
- Algorithmic amplification of emotional content (Correct answer)
- The watchdog function of media
- Objective journalism principles
Correct answer: Algorithmic amplification of emotional content
Algorithmic amplification of emotional content occurs when platform recommendation systems favor high-engagement posts, often those triggering anger or fear, shaping what users see.
Question 7: Which concept in media studies describes the practice of news organizations focusing disproportionately on elite nations, persons, or institutions in international coverage?
- Media imperialism
- Elite bias (Correct answer)
- Ethnocentrism
- Foreign news framing
Correct answer: Elite bias
Elite bias in international news refers to the tendency to cover wealthy, powerful nations and individuals far more than developing countries or ordinary people, skewing global understanding.
BSJ Bachelor of Journalism: Media Impact on Society 5
What is 'public journalism' (also called civic journalism) primarily designed to do?