Comm 160 Exam #3

Question 1

What was the main story surrounding Edwards and how did it relate to politics?

Answer 1

Edwards was allegedly cheating on his wife with a mistress and they kept following him until they figured out that it really was his mistress and he had a son with him. Initially Times people were asked not to talk about this because only the Enquirer had published it and no one even made a serious effort to investigate it. Once it came out, his affair pretty much ruined his campaign.

Question 2

What is objectivity?

Answer 2

It is seeing the world as it is, not as how you wish it was.

Question 3

Resurgence of partisanship in the press

Answer 3

Many reject objectivity in favor of overt bias which they believe to be the correct side

Question 4

What is bias?

Answer 4

A person’s incline to favor one side versus the other (both in an attitude or in news)

Question 5

What are cognitive biases?

Answer 5

Distortions in ways that humans see reality

Question 6

What is disconfirmation bias?

Answer 6

Tendency to avoid and scrutinize information that contradicts preconceptions

Question 7

What is pack journalism?

Answer 7

When reporters are homogenous in their prior beliefs, other reporters’ stories are likely to confirm and strengthen the same beliefs . It shoes that most reporters reach each other’s work

Question 8

Example of a dramatic Confirmation Bas in a magazine

Answer 8

Rolling Stone’s Rape on Campus

Question 9

Unknowns Unknowns problem

Answer 9

Things that cannot be anticipated and we know little about

Question 10

How to solve the unknown unknowns problem

Answer 10

• get it seconded
• rely on common news values
• plan news in advance
• rely on beats

Question 11

What are appointment stories

Answer 11

stories that are planned out long before, such as the caitlyn jenner story

Question 12

What are some of the different type of beats

Answer 12

national: white house, congress, crime, judiciary, iraq, death penalty in Texas
local: different areas, government

Question 13

What was the typical campaign day?

Answer 13

morning policy speech, afternoon photo ops, evening live rally, and night fundraisers

Question 14

What do sources want?

Answer 14

Help themselves and hurt their enemies

Question 15

Sources and journalists fight for control of what stories

Answer 15

timing of release, content, attribution, spin of the story, emphasis, wording,

Question 16

Why would anyone want to be anonymous?

Answer 16

To avoid consequences, politically incorrect information, and avoid fingerprints on the dagger, not really allowed to be a source

Question 17

Official AP Source Rule Definitions; on the record

Answer 17

information with no caveats, quoting the source by name

Question 18

official ap source rule definitions: off the record

Answer 18

information cannot be used for publication

Question 19

official AP source rule definitions: background and deep background:

Answer 19

published with conditions- no name, but position or title

Question 20

Why does Obama often go off the record?

Answer 20

He wants to win the columnists over and get his point of view printed, it is not scripted, can focus on preferred issues instead of the current events

Question 21

Who has the power in few media, few souces

Answer 21

unknown

Question 22

who has the power in few media, many sources

Answer 22

media has more powers

Question 23

who has the power in may media few sources

Answer 23

sources have more power

Question 24

who has the power in many media and many sources

Answer 24

uncertain

Question 25

what is opposition research

Answer 25

when the other party does deep and intense research on their opponent in order to figure out information that they can spin negatively to attack him. they give these stories to reporterd

Question 26

advantages for opposition research

Answer 26

easy, cheap, some information may not have been made public

Question 27

disadvantages in opposition research

Answer 27

media may be manipulative and report the stories as their own

Question 28

Bush National Guard Memos in Opposition Research

Answer 28

Alleged that bush’s family connections allowed him to serve in the national guard instead of in the front lines and had authentic documents, but CBS did not authenticate them and they were fake

Question 29

The president as a source

Answer 29

the president will often come out and release stories and talk about topics they feel are important, he appeals directly to the people on a regular basis, we know everything about them like what they like to eat if they have a dog and if they like a celebrity

Question 30

Nightline and Clinton

Answer 30

showed his trip to a small town in Wisconsin where they would for sure be excited to have the President there

Question 31

How does congress control the media?

Answer 31

it doesnt, there is no it because they are too large of a group and if you think about it, there are very few movies about them

Question 32

what are some congressional media tools

Answer 32

CSPAN, local news, hearings, and their own PR teams

Question 33

supreme court and coverage

Answer 33

not much, only reporting on decisions, there are no cameras allowed, dump all decisions at one time, jargon is too difficult to understand, and judges are not available for interviews

Question 34

What are some spin strategies

Answer 34

dont lie, talk about things you want to talk about

Question 35

4 D’s in a spin strategy

Answer 35

Deflect and tell them to ask someone else, dismiss and move on, defuse so make a joke and then move on, duck and say you cannot talk about it

Question 36

what is a brand

Answer 36

it is the intangible sum of a product’s attributes: its name, packaging, and price, its history, its reputation and the way it is advertised THIS IS THE SAME WITH POLITICAL PARTIES

Question 37

Why do parties brand

Answer 37

clear choice for voters, presidential communication more effective when backed by voters, parties can spread information more effectively, failure to unify party weakens the incentives to get things done

Question 38

problems with brainding

Answer 38

some may want to free ride off of the band, can customize the branding into something else “tea party republicans”, there is no CEO who can hire and fire people, no binding contract with that party, hard to screen like trump, very easy to break down

Question 39

central question in the Groeling book

Answer 39

What stories will the nonpartisan press focus on when covering partisan news?

Question 40

Groeling book assumptions

Answer 40

• journalists prefer novelty, conflict balance, and authority
• politicians prefer to help themselves and hurt the party
• nonpartisan journalists rely on sources to provide reaction

Question 41

Why should you use free media in a campaign

Answer 41

Its free, imparts credibility, voters have more influence over selecting candidate, increasing role of the press as a voter, such as the invisible primary

Question 42

what are the disadvantages to the free media

Answer 42

they cant really only rely on it, they lose control over the message, downticket races are not covered and it becomes harder for the challengers than the incumbents

Question 43

typical voter response to news coverage

Answer 43

discovery, scrutiny, and decline

Question 44

Groelings solution to what stories the nonpartisan press should cover

Answer 44

look at the presidential approval polls to observe news decision and see peoples feelings on them

Question 45

Hearing the message (guest)

Answer 45

what is the message, why should people listen, whose support do you need, what will persuade the, how and when will you reach them, who are your best messengers

Question 46

good messaging

Answer 46

know your audience and target accordingly, pick 3 key messages, repeat it so it will stick in people’s mind, use stories

Question 47

an example of the good messaging

Answer 47

obama’s yes we can