JRN 313: exam 2

What is a beat?

When someone is assigned to do regular coverage of a topic, government agency, or geographic region

The Missouri Group say that when you are first assigned to a beat you should begin with an Internet search to get background information and understand the context of that beat

true

Anything said in open court is fair game for a reporter to include in an article about the trial

true

Which story structure is best for court stories?

hourglass

Which kind of trial involves a violation against the state?

criminal trial

Which kind of trial involves one private individual or group suing another private individual or group?

civil trial

Which of the following is a safer and more accurate way to write when covering a crime story?

Smith was arrested on suspicion of assault

If someone confesses to committing a crime, and the news media report that confession, it can sometimes make it more difficult for that person to get a fair trial

true

place the stories in the chronological order in which they would be published

__5__

The actual trial proceedings

__2__

The person's first court appearance

__3__

Preliminary hearing – the first bit of evidence that is reveale

__1__

Story about a person being arrested

__6__

The verdict

__4__

Arraignment – plead guilty or not guilty

Since sports reporters are reporting on the hometown team, and the readers are all fans, sports reporters do not need to be objective or detached from their sources. In other words, sports reporters are fans just like the rest of us

false

A moment in time, for example, telling the story of David Lee Roth's years with Van Halen

A vignette

The story of Barney Kilgore's many years in journalism

Full-life profile

ESPN telling the story of a boxer going through his daily routine, training for a big fight that is happening soon

A day in the life

The story of reality TV stars who crashed a White House party

Fifteen minutes of fame

A profile should include quotes from:

both

An essay that explores the impact of a person's life -- and death -- often written by someone familiar with the person or the person's work

Appreciation

The story of the death of a member of a community

News obituary

Biographical info, interesting anecdotes, usually reserved for the famous

Feature obituary

An article on a speech should include something about the audience reaction to the speech

true

When writing a review of a film you should include a brief plot summary but do not devote your entire review to the plot

true

If the police give you inside information in a criminal case but ask you to wait 48 hours before reporting on it because they do not want the public to know yet, what should you do?

Wait for 48 hours. This will build trust with the police and help you obtain inside information in future cases

If you record an album review for a news website you can use portions of the songs in that review. This is not a violation of copyright because you need to be able to reference the music in order to review it

true

If you are writing an article about a car accident, you should NOT interview friends and family of the deceased. It will only upset them and there is no need for it

false

When covering stories about violent crimes, it is difficult to know how to properly describe what happened because there are no set rules that will be satisfying guidelines for everyone

true

who is a good source to interview for a story about accidents, fires, and disasters?

all of the above

One of the tips the Missouri Group give for covering the police beat is that it's a good idea to encourage gossip

true

One of the tips the Missouri Group give for covering speeches is that the first step is to make sure you have the right person

true

According to the Missouri Group, when covering a speech you should only write about the words the person says. Don't describe how the person looks because that could bias your article

false

There is no set rule for reporting on the cause of death in an obituary. Different newspapers have different policies on that

true

Anything said in open court is fair game for a reporter to include in an article about the trial

true

when a writer brings their experiences and perspectives into their argument

personal column

when the board members write an opinion piece that is not signed by one writer (e.g. candidate endorsement)

editorial

an opinion piece written by a reader

letter to the editor

an opinion piece about politics

political column

a journalistic essay expressing an opinion on a matter of public discourse

opinion column

When writing an opinion piece, you should try to cover as many topics in a single article as possible

false

When trying to persuade someone who disagrees with you, it is good to start with common ground

true

when you exaggerate your opponent's position

reductio ad absurdum

because something happened after X, it was caused by X

post hoc, ergo propter hoc

when you try to distract people from the real issue

red herring

Percentages are meaningless unless you connect them to real numbers

true

Percentages and percentage points are the same thing

false

To compare two percentages, they must have the same base number

true

__________ interest is the interest to be paid on the principle

simple interest

__________ interest is the interest to be paid on the principle and the interest that has already been accrued

compound interest

simplicity in a theory

Parsimony

That process of finding the observable and testable

Operationalization

Computer assisted reporting involves

all of the above

\n If you're in doubt about the veracity of a piece of information, the best thing to do is to omit it from your story

true

Some websites with the .edu extension can actually be personal websites, not educational institutions

true

One quick way to check the legitimacy of a website is to look for an "about us" page to see who runs the website and whether that person or organization is credible

true

Government databases are never trustworthy sources

false

The process of a news story going through multiple people before it is published is called

layered editing

Unlike news in print, when writing for digital media you shouldn't put the most important information first

false

News online allows for greater customizability for the reader in their news consumption habits

true

Online readers of the news are less likely to scan what they read than the readers of print newspapers are

false

The Missouri Group suggest that, when writing for online media, you should write stories that are shorter and make use of subheads to split the story up

true

Readers are more likely to read a long story on the screen than they are if reading in print from a newspaper or magazine

false

With the increasing presence of digital media, the audience is becoming more like passive consumers of the news rather than actively engaged with content

false

The Missouri Group suggest that it's best to use simple language in news writing so that, when automated translation programs translate your article for a search engine, it will be more likely that the translation will be accurate

true

The Missouri Group argue that, with digital media, the audience is:

international

Web writers have to think

Verbally and visually

Which is NOT a characteristic of hypertext links that the Missouri Group describe in Ch. 8?

They present ideas non-sequentially

A single device performs multiple functions (or every function)

Technological convergence

A single company delivers all of your media

Corporate convergence

Multiple points of entry into the content 

Cultural convergence

You should make every effort to find the original creator of UGC and give them their due credit

true

When you are incorporating UGC into your reporting, you don't have to worry about copyright issues because UGC is not covered by copyright

false

Truth is a defense against libel

true

When you make use of a copyright work, fair use is a protection so that you aren't sued for copyright violation if you, for example, use a portion of a song in reviewing that song. What is the definition of fair use?

all of the above are part of defining fair use

When deciding a defamation lawsuit, some parties have to prove actual malice. What is actual malice?

This is when the defendant acted with knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for the truth

When deciding a defamation lawsuit, some parties have to prove negligence. What is negligence?

This is when the defendant did not act with reasonable care

What group of people have to prove actual malice?

public figures

What group of people have to prove negligence?

private figures

How did the court rule in the case of Galella v. Onassis?

They ruled that, despite the fact that Galella was indeed a reporter, he had violated the privacy of Onassis and her children and had actually endangered their lives in some instances

If someone is walking down the street and a news camera catches them they can sue the station for using their image without permission. This is called appropriation and it is a violation of privacy

false

Defamation in print

libel

Defamation that is spoken

slander

The majority of libel lawsuits are won by media outlets

true

You cannot be sued for misquoting someone in an article because that misquote is protected by the First Amendment

false

The words "right to privacy" do NOT appear in the U.S. Constitution

true

Deals with the dissemination of information

Appropriation

Deals with the collection of information

intrusion

Freedom from Illegal Search and Seizure

4th Amendment

Which of these is not part of the criteria for judging if something is fair use?

All of the above are part of the criteria for fair use

A copyright is owned for the life of the owner plus:

70 years

You cannot copyright facts

true

What is payola?

This is when journalists receive payment from someone other than their employer in exchange for reporting

What is checkbook journalism?

This is when journalists pay a source for information

If you're ever assigned to a story that involves a friend, you should ask for someone else to cover it so as to avoid a conflict of interest

true

In general, news media avoid publishing the names of minors even if those minors have committed crimes

true

Most news media have an ethical standard against publishing the names sexual assault victims

true

The Missouri Group argue that a story can be ethical but still not be in good taste

true

All of the ethical guidelines of journalism apply to journalists when they are on Twitter

true

What is the vividness hypothesis?

The more dramatic an image is, the more affects the viewer

a fixed set of principles from which we should not deviate

Absolutism

The ethically right thing to do depends on the context

Situational Ethics

What is the outcome of your decision?

Ethics of Final Ends and Consequences

Which is NOT an example of self-organizing journalism?

All of above are examples of self-organizing journalism

With a partisan press, the goal was not to create informed citizens, it was to create party-loyal citizens

true