Professor Joseph Turow

Communication 130—Mass Media and Society

Examination 2

 

I: Multiple Choice:  Please mark the letter of the most correct answer in the right column next to the question. – 2 points each

1. Which came first?

a. Chicago requires licensing of movies. 

b. Industry creates motion picture production code. 

c. Movie industry creates G through NC-17 (nee X) rating systems. 

d. Congressman Parnell Thomas implies that Soviet Communists are in powerful Hollywood positions.

 

2. Lee DeForest made the following contribution to radio:

  1. He invented the audion vacuum tube.
  2. He saw the usefulness of radio advertising before most people did.
  3. He was the one Marconi partner who really understood finance.
  4. All of the above

 

3. The following is an example of disintermediation:

a.  Buying a sweater from the Gap store in the mall

b.  Purchasing a new book from Amazon.com

c.  Buying a CD from an artist through his website

d. Ordering a used DVD from an Ebay seller 

 

4. The first radio ad was from:

  1. A realty company
  2. A radio set manufacturer
  3. A department store
  4. The U.S. Navy

 

5. What is the main reason for newspaper clustering?

  1. It increases the diversity of editorial voices
  2. It ensures that coverage remains fair and balanced
  3. It cuts operating costs
  4. All of the above

 

6. In the newspaper industry, the term shovelware refers to:

  1. Weekly newspaper supplements such as Parade
  2. Inexpensive newspaper ads which are often of low quality
  3. Online newspaper editions which are replicas of the print version
  4. Colorful, easy-to-read newspapers with large graphics and photos

 

 

 

7. According to the lecture in class, which of the following is NOT a cause of the drop in traditional newspaper readership EXCEPT:

a. hyper-localism

b. the advent of free dailies

c. the growth of news on the internet

d. the long-term turn to TV and elsewhere

 

8. According to Vivian, on what grounds have trade magazines been criticized?

a. They are seen as overly critical of the industries they cover

b. They are often loaded with puffery, praising their advertisers and industries

c. They are too segmented in focus, without addressing larger issues across industries

d. They have too few editors who really understand the businesses that their magazines cover.

 

9. The incident in Minot, North Dakota, has been used by media critics to highlight what issue regarding radio conglomeration?

a. The absence of diverse points of view

b. The dangers of centralized, non-local content

c. The threat of companies banning musicians for political reasons

d. All of the above

 

10. The A&R division of a music company is primarily responsible for

a. scouting
b. new technology
c. production
d. legal issues


11. Emile’s Berliner major contribution to media technology related to

a. the cylinder record
b. the flat record
c. transistor technology
d. laser technology

 

12. “Who is more enthusiastic about DRM--Apple or Sony?”  DRM stands for

a. Digital rights management
b. Digital resources management
c. Distribution-resources management
d. Digital research marketing

 

13. To what storytelling genre did George Melies’s movies contribute?

            a. science fiction

            b. war

            c. western

            d. detective     

 

14. In what decade did radio become a commercial medium in the US?

            a. the 1900s

            b. the 1910s

            c. the 1920s

            d. the 1930s

 

15. What came LAST?

            a. The first president to appear on television

            b. The War of the Worlds radio broadcast

            c. The rise of commercial television

            d. World War II

 

16. When did Thomas Edison invent the movie?
            a. The decade right before the US Civil War

            b. The second half of the nineteenth century

            c. The first decade of the twentieth century

            d. The second decade of the twentieth century

 

17. From the quote presented in class, what was US Secretary of Commerce Hoover’s approach to radio advertising in the early 1920s?

a.       He thought radio advertising was a useful way to get free news and entertainment into the American home.

b.      He thought it would be horrible to have radio advertising interspersed with such content as presidential addresses.

c.       He worried that radio advertising would take money away from newspapers and magazines.

d.      All of the above.

18. Which of the following is NOT an example of a format war?

a.       Cylinder record vs. disc record

b.      LP vs. 33 1/3 RPM

c.       Cassette vs. LP

d.      Blue-Ray vs. HD-DVD

 

 

19. Which of the following is true about the recording industry?

a.       In view of the declining number of illegal song downloads, it is finally winning the piracy war.

b.      It has long refused to cooperate with iTunes but seems now to be willing to do so.

c.       It has supported the RIAA in suing people who download and share music files illegally.

d.      All of the above.

 

20. What is Nollywood?

            a. An emerging Nigerian film industry

            b. A sector in the San Fernando Valley in which more and more films are being made.

            c. The term used to describe the emerging Alaskan film industry.

            d. The term used to describe Vancouver, Canada.

           

PART II:  Short Answers:  Please answer the following questions briefly.  4 points each

21. What is Total Market Coverage in the newspaper industry?   What is another way that a marketer can get total market coverage with the print medium?

 

 

22. What are the four major companies in the record industry?

 

 

23. What is the difference between controlled circulation and paid circulation?

 

 



24. Briefly explain why local content is being used by newspapers as a strategy to gain readership.

 

 

 

25. Define C.P.M. as it relates to media.  Why is it an important figure for advertisers to know?

 

 

 

26. Name one advantage AND one disadvantage of satellite radio for consumers, as compared to traditional broadcast radio.

 

 

 

27. Explain two criteria used to evaluate the quality of newspapers.

 

 

 

28. Identify two fundamental outcomes of the Radio Act of 1927.

 

 

 

 

 

 

29. Identify two realities of chain ownership that work against local journalism.

 

 

 

 

30. Note two ways that the movie majors’ “consent decree” changed the movie industry.

 

 

 

 

31. What is the most important reason for the magazine industry’s use of “sweepstakes”?  

 

 

 

32. What company produced the 1927 film The Jazz Singer?   How did The Jazz Singer affect movie exhibition in the immediate years that followed?

 

 

 

33. In what way have the prices that journal publishers charge college and university librarians been affecting their purchase of academic books?  Why, in turn, might the librarians’ book purchasing in response to journal prices be causing a reevaluation of tenure standards in the humanities and social sciences in some universities?

 

 

 

34. Name two journalistic accomplishments of Edward R. Murrow.

 

 

35. List four technologies that compete with broadcast radio.