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Scholarship Media Studies study materials
Scholarship Media Studies study resources

Scholarship Media Studies practice questions

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Question 1Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

In media and communication studies, what does the term "encoding" refer to in Stuart Hall's model of communication?

  1. The process by which media producers construct meaning in a message using shared codes Correct answer.
  2. The measurement of audience ratings by set-top box data
  3. The legal process of classifying content for age restrictions
  4. The technical compression of a video file for broadcast transmission

Explanation

Hall's encoding/decoding model treats encoding as the moment when producers embed meaning into a text using culturally available codes. The message is then decoded by audiences, who may not read it the way producers intended.

Question 2Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

A researcher argues that audiences actively reinterpret media texts according to their own social positions rather than absorbing producer intent. Which theoretical tradition does this argument most directly draw on?

  1. Uses and gratifications theory
  2. Cultivation theory
  3. The encoding/decoding model of audience reception Correct answer.
  4. Agenda-setting theory

Explanation

The encoding/decoding model foregrounds the possibility of negotiated and oppositional readings shaped by a viewer's social position. It treats reception as an active interpretive process rather than a direct transfer of meaning.

Question 3Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

Which concept describes the idea that heavy exposure to television gradually shapes viewers' beliefs about social reality, such as overestimating crime rates?

  1. Gatekeeping
  2. Two-step flow
  3. Semiotics
  4. Cultivation theory Correct answer.

Explanation

Cultivation theory, associated with George Gerbner, proposes that repeated exposure to television's recurring messages gradually cultivates perceptions of the world. Heavy viewers are said to absorb a shared "mainstream" view of social reality.

Question 4Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

In the two-step flow model of communication, what role do opinion leaders play?

  1. They produce the original news content for broadcasters
  2. They regulate the frequency spectrum used by broadcasters
  3. They measure audience exposure through surveys
  4. They filter and interpret media messages for others in their social networks Correct answer.

Explanation

The two-step flow model, developed from Lazarsfeld's research, holds that media messages reach opinion leaders first, who then relay and interpret them to others. This positions interpersonal networks as a mediating layer between mass media and audiences.

Question 5Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

A news editor decides which of several hundred daily wire stories will be published. In media studies, this selection function is best described as:

  1. Gatekeeping Correct answer.
  2. Framing
  3. Priming
  4. Agenda-setting

Explanation

Gatekeeping describes the process by which editors and other media workers decide which information passes through the "gates" to reach audiences. It operates at the point of selection and exclusion of content.

Question 6Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

What distinguishes framing from agenda-setting in media effects research?

  1. Framing measures audience size, while agenda-setting measures audience loyalty
  2. Framing applies only to advertising, while agenda-setting applies only to news
  3. Framing concerns how an issue is presented and interpreted, while agenda-setting concerns which issues become salient Correct answer.
  4. Framing concerns which issues audiences think about, while agenda-setting concerns how they think about them

Explanation

Agenda-setting is about the salience of issues, or what audiences consider important. Framing concerns the interpretive schema through which an issue is presented, shaping how audiences understand it.

Question 7Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

Which scholar is most closely associated with the concept of the "public sphere" as a space of rational-critical debate?

  1. Harold Lasswell
  2. Roland Barthes
  3. Jürgen Habermas Correct answer.
  4. Marshall McLuhan

Explanation

Jürgen Habermas developed the concept of the public sphere as a domain of rational-critical discourse mediating between society and the state. He traced its emergence in eighteenth-century European bourgeois society.

Question 8Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

Marshall McLuhan's phrase "the medium is the message" most directly asserts that:

  1. Content is irrelevant because audiences ignore it entirely
  2. Messages should be kept short to fit broadcast formats
  3. The characteristics of a medium shape social experience independently of its content Correct answer.
  4. Only print media can convey meaningful messages

Explanation

McLuhan argued that the form of a medium reshapes perception and social organization regardless of the specific content carried. The medium itself is the environment that structures experience.

Question 9Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

In semiotics, what is the difference between a signifier and a signified?

  1. The signifier is the audience, while the signified is the producer
  2. The signifier is the physical or perceptual form of a sign, while the signified is the concept it evokes Correct answer.
  3. The signifier is the broadcast signal, while the signified is the receiving antenna
  4. The signifier is a legal code, while the signified is an industry standard

Explanation

Following Saussure, a sign comprises a signifier, the material form such as a word or image, and a signified, the mental concept it refers to. Meaning arises from the relation between the two rather than from the form alone.

Question 10Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

Roland Barthes's concept of "myth" in media analysis refers to:

  1. The historical origins of storytelling in oral cultures
  2. A second-order system of meaning in which signs naturalize particular cultural values Correct answer.
  3. The fictional genre conventions of fantasy television
  4. The economic structure of media ownership

Explanation

For Barthes, myth is a second-order semiological system that takes an existing sign and turns it into a signifier for an ideological message. This process makes culturally specific meanings appear natural and obvious.

Question 11Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

What does the term "hegemony" contribute to media studies analysis of ideology?

  1. It describes the dominance of a single media technology over others
  2. It refers to the legal requirement for balanced broadcasting
  3. It explains how dominant groups secure consent to their values through cultural institutions rather than coercion alone Correct answer.
  4. It measures the market share of the largest media firms

Explanation

Drawing on Gramsci, hegemony describes how dominant social groups win consent to their worldview through cultural institutions including media. Power is maintained through the organization of consent, not solely through force.

Question 12Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

Which of the following best describes the "hypodermic needle" model of media effects?

  1. Media effects vary according to the decoding practices of different audiences
  2. Media effects are mediated by opinion leaders before reaching the public
  3. Audiences actively select media to satisfy specific needs
  4. Media messages are injected directly into passive audiences, producing immediate and uniform effects Correct answer.

Explanation

The hypodermic needle or magic bullet model assumes powerful media and passive audiences, with messages producing direct and uniform effects. It is now largely treated as a historical foil against which later audience research was developed.

Question 13Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

Uses and gratifications research differs from earlier effects models primarily because it:

  1. Focuses exclusively on the effects of advertising
  2. Assumes audiences are passive recipients of messages
  3. Asks what audiences do with media rather than what media do to audiences Correct answer.
  4. Measures effects through laboratory experiments only

Explanation

Uses and gratifications shifts the question toward audience agency, examining the needs audiences seek to satisfy through media use. This contrasts with models that treat audiences as passive targets of powerful media.

Question 14Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

In political economy of media, what does "concentration of ownership" primarily refer to?

  1. The diversification of content genres over time
  2. The consolidation of media outlets into fewer corporate hands Correct answer.
  3. The geographic spread of audiences across regions
  4. The increasing number of independent outlets in a market

Explanation

Concentration of ownership describes the trend toward fewer companies controlling a growing share of media outlets. Scholars link this to concerns about diversity of voices and editorial independence.

Question 15Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

A regulator requires that a broadcaster provide airtime for opposing political views. This policy is best described as an example of:

  1. Must-carry rules
  2. The fairness doctrine or balance requirement Correct answer.
  3. Net neutrality
  4. Copyright fair use

Explanation

Balance or fairness requirements oblige broadcasters to present opposing viewpoints on contested public issues. Such rules reflect the view that broadcast spectrum is a public resource with corresponding obligations.

Question 16Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

What is the primary purpose of net neutrality regulation?

  1. To require internet service providers to treat all traffic equally without blocking or paid prioritization Correct answer.
  2. To set advertising time limits on television
  3. To require social platforms to verify user identities
  4. To limit the number of media companies that may own broadcast stations

Explanation

Net neutrality rules aim to prevent internet service providers from discriminating among content or services through blocking, throttling, or paid fast lanes. The principle treats the network as a common carrier of diverse content.

Question 17Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

What does the concept of "media convergence" describe?

  1. The decline of audience attention spans
  2. The replacement of all print media by digital formats
  3. The standardization of global broadcasting schedules
  4. The merging of previously separate media technologies, industries, and content forms Correct answer.

Explanation

Media convergence refers to the blurring of boundaries among technologies, industries, and content as digitization proceeds. It encompasses technological, economic, and cultural dimensions of change.

Question 18Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

Henry Jenkins's concept of "participatory culture" emphasizes that:

  1. Audiences become producers and circulate media content through fan communities and platforms Correct answer.
  2. Media consumption is declining among young people
  3. Only professional journalists may create news content
  4. Regulation is the primary driver of media change

Explanation

Jenkins describes participatory culture as one in which fans and users actively create, remix, and circulate media rather than only consuming it. This blurs the boundary between producers and audiences.

Question 19Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

In media studies, what is a "moral panic" as described by Stanley Cohen?

  1. A sudden drop in advertising revenue across an industry
  2. A genre of horror entertainment
  3. A regulatory investigation into media ownership
  4. A disproportionate social reaction to a group or behavior perceived as a threat to social order Correct answer.

Explanation

Cohen used moral panic to describe a heightened, disproportionate societal response to a perceived threat, often amplified by media coverage. The reaction typically targets a group cast as deviant and intensifies social control.

Question 20Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

A news report describes a protest primarily through scenes of property damage while omitting the demonstrators' stated grievances. Which concept best captures this editorial choice?

  1. Agenda-setting
  2. Framing Correct answer.
  3. Encoding
  4. Cultivation

Explanation

Framing concerns the selection and emphasis of certain aspects of an issue over others, shaping how audiences interpret it. Emphasizing damage while omitting grievances constructs a particular interpretive frame for the protest.

Question 21Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

Which statement best captures the difference between quantitative and qualitative audience research?

  1. Quantitative research cannot use surveys
  2. Qualitative research only studies media producers, not audiences
  3. Quantitative research counts and measures patterns, while qualitative research interprets meanings and experiences Correct answer.
  4. Quantitative research is always more reliable than qualitative research

Explanation

Quantitative audience research measures distributions and patterns, such as ratings or survey responses, while qualitative research explores how audiences interpret and experience media. The two approaches answer different kinds of questions and are often combined.

Question 22Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

In audience measurement, what is the key limitation of using set-top box data alone to estimate viewing?

  1. It measures only radio listening rather than television viewing
  2. It captures only households with the relevant equipment and cannot show who within the household is watching Correct answer.
  3. It requires viewers to keep written diaries
  4. It records viewing behavior but cannot record channel changes

Explanation

Set-top box data reflect only equipped households and typically lack person-level attribution, so they cannot establish who in a household is viewing. Panel-based methods are often used to complement such data.

Question 23Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

What does the term "commodification" refer to in critical media studies?

  1. The conversion of analog signals to digital formats
  2. The archiving of broadcast material for historical research
  3. The process by which media content and audiences are treated as goods to be bought and sold Correct answer.
  4. The regulation of advertising content by governments

Explanation

Commodification describes how media content, and in critical political economy the audience itself, becomes a product traded in markets. Dallas Smythe's "audience commodity" argument is a prominent example of this analysis.

Question 24Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

Which of the following is a defining feature of public service broadcasting?

  1. It is funded primarily by advertising and accountable only to shareholders
  2. It broadcasts only entertainment content
  3. It operates without any regulatory oversight
  4. It is mandated to serve the public interest with universal access and diverse programming Correct answer.

Explanation

Public service broadcasting is defined by a mandate to serve the public interest, typically including universality, diversity, and independence from commercial and political pressure. Funding models vary, but the public-interest obligation is the defining feature.

Question 25Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

A scholar argues that a popular reality television format exports not only a program but also cultural assumptions about individualism and competition. Which concept best names this process?

  1. Cultural imperialism Correct answer.
  2. Media literacy
  3. Agenda-setting
  4. Technological determinism

Explanation

Cultural imperialism describes the spread of cultural values and forms, often from dominant media exporters to other societies. The argument that formats carry assumptions alongside entertainment is central to this critique.

Question 26Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

In media and communication research, what does the term "gatekeeping" describe?

  1. The process by which editors and producers select which information passes through to audiences Correct answer.
  2. The technical routing of broadcast signals between transmission towers
  3. The legal requirement that journalists reveal their sources in court
  4. The tendency of audiences to remember only the first item in a news bulletin

Explanation

Gatekeeping refers to the selection decisions made by journalists, editors, and other media workers who determine which events and voices reach the public. The concept, associated with Kurt Lewin and later David Manning White, highlights that news is a constructed selection rather than a mirror of reality.

Question 27Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

A researcher counts how many times each of five newspapers mentions a climate treaty over one month and compares the totals. Which approach best describes this method?

  1. Participant observation
  2. Quantitative content analysis Correct answer.
  3. Discourse analysis
  4. Ethnographic audience reception study

Explanation

Quantitative content analysis systematically counts manifest features such as mentions, column inches, or frequencies across a defined sample. It aims at measurable, replicable description rather than interpretation of underlying meaning.

Question 28Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

What does the term "intertextuality" refer to in media analysis?

  1. The practice of translating a program's dialogue into another language
  2. The way texts gain meaning through references to and relationships with other texts Correct answer.
  3. The competition between media firms for the same audience segment
  4. The physical interleaving of advertising and editorial content

Explanation

Intertextuality, a term associated with Julia Kristeva and Mikhail Bakhtin, describes how the meaning of a text depends on its relation to other texts through allusion, genre convention, parody, or quotation. Media scholars use it to analyze how genres and formats build on prior cultural material.

Question 29Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

Which term describes the process by which a media organization's routines, deadlines, and formats shape what counts as newsworthy?

  1. Media archaeology
  2. Media ecology
  3. Media literacy
  4. Media logic Correct answer.

Explanation

Media logic, developed by David Altheide and Robert Snow, describes how media formats and production routines impose their own criteria on the content they present. It explains why events are shaped to fit schedules, visual demands, and narrative conventions.

Question 30Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

A scholar distinguishes "audience" from "public" by arguing that a public is constituted through open discussion of matters of common concern. Which tradition does this argument most closely follow?

  1. The pragmatist and deliberative tradition of John Dewey and related theorists Correct answer.
  2. The stimulus-response tradition of early propaganda research
  3. The diffusion of innovations tradition of Everett Rogers
  4. The screen theory tradition of psychoanalytic film criticism

Explanation

Dewey and later deliberative theorists treat the public as formed when people collectively address shared problems through communication. This contrasts with an audience, which is defined by shared exposure to a medium rather than by deliberation.

Question 31Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

In media regulation, what is the "public interest" standard typically used to justify?

  1. The right of owners to editorial control free from any obligation
  2. The exemption of online platforms from all content liability
  3. The prohibition of cross-media ownership in all markets
  4. Conditions placed on broadcasters concerning diversity, accuracy, and service to the community Correct answer.

Explanation

The public-interest standard holds that because broadcasters use scarce spectrum and reach large audiences, they owe obligations such as balanced coverage, local service, and diversity of voice. It is a regulatory justification rather than a blanket rule about ownership or immunity.

Question 32Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

A producer adapts a documentary into a serialized podcast and a short-form video series for social platforms. Which concept best names this practice of reworking one content property across media channels?

  1. Narrowcasting
  2. Cross-media or transmedia distribution Correct answer.
  3. Time-shifting
  4. Simulcasting

Explanation

Cross-media or transmedia distribution involves extending a content property across several platforms, often with content tailored to each. It differs from simply repeating the same broadcast on multiple channels.

Question 33Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

What does "agenda-setting" research typically measure?

  1. The number of advertisements shown during a news program
  2. The ownership structure of news organizations
  3. The emotional arousal of viewers measured by skin conductance
  4. The correspondence between the prominence of issues in news coverage and the importance audiences assign to those issues Correct answer.

Explanation

Agenda-setting research, associated with Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw, examines whether issues emphasized in news coverage become the issues audiences regard as important. It is a transfer-of-salience claim rather than a claim about direct persuasion.

Question 34Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

A researcher finds that viewers who already follow politics are most likely to watch political interviews. Which concept best describes this pattern?

  1. Desensitization
  2. Cultivation
  3. Mainstreaming
  4. Selective exposure Correct answer.

Explanation

Selective exposure describes audiences' tendency to seek out content consistent with their existing interests and attitudes. Here, prior political interest predicts viewing, illustrating self-selection rather than media-induced change.

Question 35Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

Which statement best characterizes the "encoding/decoding" model proposed by Stuart Hall?

  1. Audiences may read a text in dominant, negotiated, or oppositional ways relative to its preferred meaning Correct answer.
  2. Decoding is a purely technical process of signal conversion
  3. Meaning is fixed entirely by the intentions of the producer
  4. Messages pass from sender to receiver with predictable and uniform effects

Explanation

Hall argued that producers encode a preferred meaning, but audiences decode it through frameworks shaped by their social positions, yielding dominant, negotiated, or oppositional readings. The model therefore rejects the idea of a fixed message with uniform effects.

Question 36Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

A cable operator bundles a popular channel only with an expensive tier, forcing subscribers who want that channel to buy many others. Which concept best describes this practice?

  1. Net neutrality
  2. Must-carry obligation
  3. Spectrum auction
  4. Tying and bundling in media distribution Correct answer.

Explanation

Bundling and tying practices in pay-TV distribution require consumers to purchase a package to obtain a desired channel, which raises questions about market power and consumer choice. Regulators have examined such practices in competition reviews of media markets.

Question 37Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

What does "symbolic annihilation" refer to in media representation research?

  1. The use of computer-generated imagery to replace actors
  2. The deletion of archived broadcasts by media institutions
  3. The decline of print circulation in favor of digital news
  4. The absence, trivialization, or condemnation of a social group in media content Correct answer.

Explanation

Coined by Gaye Tuchman, symbolic annihilation describes how media underrepresent or demean certain groups, thereby denying them cultural recognition. It operates through omission, trivialization, and negative portrayal rather than through physical erasure.

Question 38Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

A critic argues that a news outlet's repeated use of the phrase "tax relief" embeds a pro-cut assumption. Which analytical concept most directly supports this critique?

  1. Cultivation through repeated viewing
  2. Uses and gratifications through audience need
  3. Framing through lexical choice Correct answer.
  4. Agenda-setting through issue prominence

Explanation

Word choice is a framing device: calling a measure "relief" presupposes that taxation is a burden and that reduction is beneficial. Framing analysis examines how such lexical selections shape interpretation, distinct from how often an issue appears.

Question 39Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

Which of the following best describes the "two-step flow" of communication?

  1. Messages are delivered first by broadcast and then repeated by print outlets
  2. Messages reach opinion leaders, who then relay interpretations to others in their social networks Correct answer.
  3. Audiences receive a message twice before it affects their attitudes
  4. Regulators review content before it is broadcast to the public

Explanation

The two-step flow, developed by Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet, holds that media influence operates partly through interpersonal relays by opinion leaders. This challenged the assumption of direct, uniform media effects on isolated individuals.

Question 40Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

A platform's recommendation algorithm ranks content by predicted engagement. Which concern is most specific to this design choice?

  1. The permanent loss of the platform's original source code
  2. The legal requirement to rank content chronologically
  3. The impossibility of measuring any user behavior
  4. Feedback loops that amplify emotionally engaging material regardless of its accuracy Correct answer.

Explanation

Engagement-optimized ranking can create feedback loops in which attention-grabbing or emotionally charged content is promoted, potentially advantaging misinformation. This is a design-level concern about incentive structures rather than an inevitable outcome.

Question 41Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

What is the primary function of a "style guide" in a newsroom?

  1. To assign reporters to beats
  2. To standardize spelling, terminology, and usage conventions across published output Correct answer.
  3. To determine which stories will appear on the front page
  4. To set advertising rates for different sections

Explanation

A style guide establishes consistent conventions for spelling, capitalization, titles, and terminology so that output is coherent across writers and platforms. Editorial decisions about placement, pricing, and staffing are separate processes.

Question 42Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

Which concept describes the way repeated exposure to a genre's conventions leads audiences to expect certain narrative patterns?

  1. Cultural capital
  2. Genre competence Correct answer.
  3. Agenda building
  4. Media imperialism

Explanation

Genre competence refers to audiences' learned familiarity with conventions, enabling them to anticipate structure and interpret cues. It is a form of media literacy acquired through repeated exposure to genre texts.

Question 43Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

A study finds that heavy television viewing correlates with exaggerated estimates of crime risk, but the authors cannot rule out that fearful people watch more television. Which issue does this illustrate?

  1. The problem of paywall effects on readership
  2. The problem of inter-coder reliability
  3. The problem of sampling bias in content analysis
  4. The problem of causal direction in cultivation research Correct answer.

Explanation

Cultivation research faces a causal-direction challenge: heavy viewing may produce fear, or fearful viewers may seek out more television. Cross-sectional correlations cannot resolve which direction dominates without longitudinal or experimental designs.

Question 44Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

In political economy of communication, what does the term "commodification of audience attention" describe?

  1. The sale of audience attention to advertisers as the core product of commercial media Correct answer.
  2. The migration of audiences from broadcast to streaming platforms
  3. The regulation of advertising time on children's programming
  4. The conversion of public broadcasters into subscription services

Explanation

This concept holds that advertiser-funded media sell audiences' attention to advertisers, making the audience the commodity. It draws on Dallas Smythe's argument that audience time and attention are the central products of commercial media.

Question 45Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

A government requires streaming platforms to fund a quota of domestically produced drama. Which policy objective does this most directly pursue?

  1. Standardizing data protection rules across borders
  2. Preventing vertical integration in device manufacturing
  3. Ensuring equal treatment of internet traffic
  4. Preserving domestic cultural production against market dominance by imported content Correct answer.

Explanation

Content quotas and production levies are cultural-policy instruments intended to sustain domestic production and pluralism in the face of imported content. They are typically justified by cultural rather than competition or privacy objectives.

Question 46Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

What distinguishes "thick description" from thin description in ethnographic media research?

  1. It relies on large representative samples and statistical inference
  2. It measures physiological responses to media stimuli
  3. It compares media systems across many countries using indices
  4. It situates observed practices within their cultural meanings and contexts Correct answer.

Explanation

Clifford Geertz's notion of thick description interprets observed behavior within layers of cultural meaning rather than merely recording it. Ethnographic media research uses it to understand how media practices make sense to participants.

Question 47Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

A scholar argues that "the digital divide" should be reconceived as a hierarchy of skills and benefits rather than a binary of access. Which concept best captures this argument?

  1. The third-person effect
  2. The spiral of silence
  3. The hypodermic effect
  4. The second-level digital divide Correct answer.

Explanation

The second-level digital divide refers to inequalities in skills, usage, and benefits that persist even after basic access is widespread. It shifts attention from whether people are connected to what they can do with connectivity.

Question 48Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

Which of the following best describes the role of "standards and practices" departments in broadcast organizations?

  1. Measuring audience ratings for advertisers
  2. Designing the visual identity of news programs
  3. Negotiating carriage agreements with cable operators
  4. Reviewing content for compliance with legal and ethical guidelines before broadcast Correct answer.

Explanation

Standards and practices departments review scripts and content for compliance with legal requirements and ethical codes before material airs. They are internal gatekeeping units distinct from design, distribution, and measurement functions.

Question 49Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

A newsroom's policy states that anonymous sources may be used only when the information is essential and unobtainable otherwise. What ethical principle does this policy primarily balance?

  1. The privacy of journalists against surveillance by authorities
  2. The speed of publication against the need for copy-editing
  3. The public's need for information against the accountability of attributed sourcing Correct answer.
  4. The profitability of investigative reporting against its cost

Explanation

Anonymous sourcing policies weigh the value of important information against the reduced accountability and verification that unnamed sources entail. The aim is to permit anonymity only when its informational benefit clearly outweighs the cost to transparency.

Question 50Media Studies (content domains not enumerated in source)

What does the term "media repertoire" describe in audience research?

  1. The combination of media channels and platforms an individual regularly uses Correct answer.
  2. The archive of past broadcasts held by a broadcaster
  3. The set of scripts a producer keeps for a recurring program
  4. The list of advertisers attached to a single program

Explanation

Media repertoire refers to the portfolio of outlets and platforms a person habitually combines in daily life. The concept reflects fragmented, cross-platform media use rather than reliance on a single medium.