NYT > Home Page

Monday, December 20, 2010

EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENT

Hello Class,ou

I don't know if I mentioned this for all my classes. I have a modest proposal for you all. If you are interested in raising your score by one grade level at the end of the second semster (A to A+, B to A, C to B, you get the idea...) complete the following task: Copy the "model student response" to every FRQ from 1999 to 2010. That is 44 FRQ's in total. You will need to assemble a packet of completed FRQ's for me in a three ringed binder--I can provide you with a free one if you are interested. You will turn this binder into me the day after you take your exam in May. You must also agree to use the assembled FRQ binder for review prior to the exam. The packet will be due after the Spring Break. So, you have two vacation breaks to complete this task (22 FRQ's per break?).

Here is the link to the website where the FRQ's are to be found: http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/exam/exam_questions/2086.html
Then find the student responses under the "Samples and Commentary" column. Click on each year.

Make sure you copy the FRQ that received the top points. It's usually the first one demonsrated at the site. The site also provides FRQ's that earned fewer points, usually under the top scoring FRQ: DON'T COPY THOSE.

Let me know if you have any questions on this extra credit opportunity....

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Sabato Quiz #4

Sabato Quiz #4

1) What position did Tony Snow have before becoming George W. Bushʹs press secretary?
A) He was the chair of George W. Bushʹs 2006 reelection committee.
B) He was the White House chief of staff.
C) He was a member of the House of Representatives from Virginia.
D) He was a Fox News commentator.
E) He was a Texas oil tycoon and a major contributor to George W. Bushʹs 2006 reelection.

2) Which of the following best describes George W. Bushʹs relationship with the press?
A) He is exceedingly accessible to the press.
B) He is frequently available to answer journalistsʹ questions in both formal and informal
settings.
C) He is very tight-lipped.
D) He has a jovial relationship with the press.
E) He has an open-door policy for journalists.

3) Which of the following best describes media coverage of the George W. Bush presidency?
A) Journalists frequently praise George W. Bushʹs leadership.
B) Journalists frequently praise George W. Bushʹs prowess for public policies.
C) Journalists cover the Bush presidency in an overwhelmingly negative light.
D) Journalists cover the Bush presidency as exceedingly honest and forthright.
E) Journalists cover the Bush presidency with awe and admiration for the presidentʹs
successes.

4) Media coverage of Congress by network affiliates tends to concentrates on
A) Newt Gingrich and Strom Thurmond.
B) local members of Congress.
C) foreign policy.
D) freshmen representatives.
E) economic issues.

5) Why did the ʺmission accomplishedʺ banner backfire on George W. Bush?
A) because ordinary voters did not understand the banner
B) because the banner seemed to contradict what he said in his speech
C) because the banner cost over $100,000
D) because it fell down while he was giving his speech, making the military look inept
E) because it later underscored Bushʹs unrealistic expectations for the war in Iraq

6) Which political institution receives the least media coverage?
A) the House of Representatives
B) the Senate
C) the president
D) Congress
E) the Supreme Court

7) The media have the greatest influence on
A) hardcore liberals.
B) hardcore conservatives.
C) strong Democrats.
D) strong Republicans.
E) independents.

8) The media have the greatest influence on public opinion about
A) neighborhood crime.
B) childrearing.
C) inflation.
D) domestic policies.
E) events in foreign countries.

9) What is agenda setting?
A) the ability of the media to tell the public what issues the public should be thinking about
B) the tendency to remember only those news stories that are consistent with oneʹs
predispositions
C) the ability of the media to influence the publicʹs opinions on issues
D) the mediaʹs focus on scandal and corruption
E) the publicʹs ability to determine what issues the media covers.

10) Which of the following accurately describes American journalists?
A) They tend to be libertarian.
B) They tend to be socially conservative.
C) They tend to be anti-establishment.
D) They tend to be economically conservative.
E) They are just as likely to be registered Democrats as registered Republicans.

11) The mediaʹs coverage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 suggests that the media may
have a
A) liberal bias.
B) anti-incumbent bias.
C) corporate bias.
D) Democratic bias.
E) status quo bias.

12) Those who claim that the media has a conservative bias point to
A) FOX News.
B) a corporate mentality that is hesitant to criticize possible sponsors.
C) fiscally conservative corporate interests of companies that own the media.
D) the lack of media skepticism given to the Bush administrationʹs arguments for waging
war in Iraq.
E) All of the above.

13) Which of the following best summarizes ideological bias in the media?
A) The media have a strong liberal bias.
B) The media have a strong conservative bias.
C) The media have a liberal bias on social issues and a conservative bias on economic issues.
D) The media have a conservative bias on social issues and a liberal bias on economic issues.
E) Liberals think the media has a conservative bias and conservatives think the media has a
liberal bias.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Sabato Media Quiz #3

Class: This quiz corresponds to the reading pages: 564-68.

Sabato: The Media #3

1) What did the Supreme Court decide in New York Times Co. v. U. S.?
A) Journalists can be prosecuted for divulging classified information.
B) The government can not censor the press.
C) The New York Times could not publish the Pentagon Papers because they were classified.
D) The New York Times could not publish the Pentagon Papers because they were stolen.
E) The president has ʺinherent powerʺ to halt the publication of news that may harm the
morale of American soldiers.

2) What innovation did the George W. Bush administration establish regarding media coverage
of the 2003 invasion of Iraq?
A) The media could only report on the military action using pre-stationed remote field
cameras.
B) All media coverage of Iraq would need to be delayed for one week to allow the military
to notify the next of kin.
C) Journalists were permitted to embed themselves with various parts of the military.
D) The Bush administration limited news coverage by requiring reporters to conduct
interviews in Arabic.
E) The Bush administration limited news coverage by refusing to transport journalists into
combat areas.

3) Which of the following is most likely to be delivered in person by an officeholder?
A) a press release
B) a press briefing
C) a press conference
D) talking points
E) bad news

4) Information that is provided to a reporter on deep background
A) can only appear in the second half of a story.
B) can only appear in the part of the article that is continued on a later page.
C) can not be released to the public unless the reporter learns the same information from
another source.
D) can not be released to the public under any circumstances.
E) can be used but can not be attributed to the source in any way.

5) Why was New York Times reporter Judith Miller jailed for eighty-five days?
A) She divulged off the record information.
B) She divulged the source of information she had obtained on background.
C) She refused to reveal her source during the investigation into a leak that exposed a CIA
agent.
D) She leaked secret government information.
E) She embarrassed the White House by uncovering pictures of prisoner abuse at Abu
Ghraib.

6) A 2004 60 Minutes story claimed to provide evidence that George W. Bush had received
preferential treatment in the National Guard. What happened after this story ran?
A) Dan Rather received a Pulitzer Prize for investigative journalism.
B) George W. Bush apologized for ʺbeing derelict in my duties to my country.ʺ
C) Conservative bloggers uncovered problems with story and the producer was fired.
D) The producer of the story was attacked by an overzealous Bush supporter.
E) George W. Bush was dishonorably discharged from the military and required to repay
thousands of dollars in salary that he had collected under false pretenses.

7) Why was Lewis ʺScooterʺ Libby indicted in 2005?
A) for leaking classified information to the press
B) for misleading investigators searching for the source of a leak revealing the identity of a
CIA agent
C) for misleading Congress about stockpiles of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction
D) for hindering prosecution of enemy combatants held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
E) for falsely implying that confidential information had been stolen from his office


8) In New York Times v. Sullivan, the Supreme Court
A) made it easier to prove libel.
B) prohibited prior restraint of the press.
C) required public officials to prove actual malice to win a libel suit.
D) determined that the New York Times had printed libelous falsehoods against Lyndon
Johnson.
E) declared that a sitting president can not be sued until after his tenure in office is finished.

9) Which president held the fewest press conferences?
A) Franklin Roosevelt
B) Harry Truman
C) John F Kennedy
D) Ronald Reagan
E) George W. Bush

10) The bulk of the media coverage focuses on
A) the president
B) the speaker of the House
C) the Senate majority leader
D) the Chief Justice of the United States
E) the bureaucracy

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Sabato Quiz #2 on Media

Hello Class,

This quiz corresponds to reading pages: 553-563:

Sabato Media Quiz #2

1) People who use the Internet for news tend
A) not to subscribe to newspapers.
B) to disregard traditional media sources.
C) to be highly informed voters who use the Web to update their information.
D) to have blue collar jobs.
E) to be Republicans.

2) Which of the following accurately describes al-Jazeera?
A) It is modeled after CNN.
B) It is uniformly praised throughout the Middle East.
C) It mainly provides entertainment programs.
D) Most of its news is simply government propaganda.
E) All of the above.

3) Which of the following newspapers has the least influence over what stories are covered by
the television news media?
A) the Wall Street Journal
B) USA Today
C) Washington Post
D) New York Times
E) Houston Chronicle

4) Which of the following is a wire service that distributes stories to newspapers around the
world?
A) the New York Times
B) the Christian Science Monitor
C) al-Jazeera
D) the Associated Press
E) the BBC

5) Which of the following trends accurately describes the media in the United States?
A) The number of towns with competing local newspapers has increased.
B) Television networks are increasingly breaking with their parent companies to become
independent.
C) Newspapers are being bought by local governments to ensure that news coverage is
driven by journalist standards instead of corporate profits.
D) Media consolidation has increased in recent years.
E) Americans are consuming more political news than ever before.

6) What is narrowcasting?
A) the tendency of the media to frame political events using well-established stereotypes
B) the tendency for the media to focus on domestic events rather than international events
C) the increasing reliance of the media on political pundits
D) the targeting of media programs at specific segments of the population
E) political coverage that is superficial
Answer: D7) Republican viewersʹ main source of campaign news is
A) Fox News
B) CNN
C) MSNBC
D) the Daily Show
E) NPR


8) How does narrowcasting further polarize public opinion?
A) Viewers tend to watch news that reinforces their preexisting views.
B) Narrowcasting focuses on government corruption and political misdeeds.
C) Viewers are exposed to a range of information covering divergent views.
D) Narrowcasting encourages voters to reject the status quo and to support change.
E) Narrowcasting has resulted in fewer news outlets and, therefore, less diverse political
coverage.

9) Why are the broadcast media more strictly regulated than the print media?
A) The broadcast media has a long history of political malfeasance.
B) The broadcast media leases public airwaves.
C) The airwaves are an unlimited resource, but there can only be one newspaper in a city.
D) Children are exposed to television but donʹt have access to newspapers.
E) The broadcast media is more dangerous because pictures are more powerful than words.

10) The equal time rule requires that the electronic media
A) cover both liberal and conservative positions on a given issue.
B) cover both Democratic and Republican positions on a given issue.
C) sell advertising time to all candidates if they sell it to any candidate.
D) include all presidential candidates in any political debates they host.
E) devote the same coverage to domestic and to international events.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Sabato and More

For tomorrow's Class:

Chapter 15: The News Media

1) Which of the following events did NOT cause a public relations problem for the George W.
Bush administration?
A) Bush landing on the USS Abraham Lincoln under a ʺMission Accomplishedʺ banner
B) images of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib
C) pictures from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina
D) payments to Iraqi reporters to write pro-U.S. stories
E) the pardon of Marc Rich for campaign finance violations

2) Which of the following was true regarding the penny press?
A) Newspapers typically cost about 10 cents.
B) They attempted to attract more readers by being nonpartisan.
C) They focused on serious news and avoided publishing political scandals.
D) They were owned and operated by political parties.
E) They were tools used by political machines to reward their supporters and punish their
detractors.

3) Which of the following was a hallmark of yellow journalism?
A) sensationalized reporting
B) high journalistic standards
C) anti-immigrant editorials
D) long and complex feature stories
E) the partisan press

4) Which of the following places the various journalistic periods in the correct chronological
order?
A) muckraking, yellow journalism, the penny press, the partisan press
B) the partisan press, yellow journalism, the penny press, muckraking
C) yellow journalism, the penny press, muckraking, the partisan press
D) the penny press, muckraking, the partisan press, yellow journalism
E) the partisan press, the penny press, yellow journalism, muckraking

5) A form of newspaper publishing during the early twentieth century concerned with reforming
government and business conduct is called
A) the penny press.
B) yellow journalism.
C) muckraking.
D) partisan journalism.
E) pack journalism.

6) Among the publishers who promoted yellow journalism was
A) William Randolph Hearst.
B) James G. Blaine.
C) Upton Sinclair.
D) William Roper.
E) David Sanger.

7) Which president most effectively used the radio to promote his public policies?
A) Calvin Coolidge
B) Franklin Roosevelt
C) Dwight Eisenhower
D) Lyndon Johnson
E) Richard Nixon

8) Which of the following accurately describes AM talk radio?
A) It is popular among liberals.
B) It is popular among minorities.
C) It has a strong conservative bent.
D) It has become more popular than television for getting political news.
E) It presents in-depth news coverage in a nonideological format.

9) Americans are most likely to get their news from
A) newspapers.
B) television.
C) radio.
D) news magazines.
E) the Internet.

10) When compared to older Americans, young Americans are more likely to get their campaign
news from
A) talk radio and C-SPAN.
B) NPR and MSNBC.
C) the Internet and comedy television.
D) newspapers and newsmagazines.
E) Nightline and 60 Minutes.

2004 FRQ on Third Parties: “Model Student Response”
Third parties have had over the course of time an influence over politics. They show an alternative to the common majority powers that have always dominated our country. However, they have also served as a “road block” or stumbling point for election years.

The Green Party candidate Ralph Nader ran in the 2000 election and was able to gather some of the percentage of voters. In the cartoon, Ralph states “End…throwaway mentality” but essentially everyone who voted for him threw away their votes. Essentially, Ralph Nader took votes away from both of the majority candidates running to win the election as he is planning to do for the 2004 election in which he has no possibility of winning.

The Electoral College is a series of winner-take-all elections. No partial election votes are won based on proportion. If a candidate wins the state majority vote, the candidate gets all of the electoral votes. Also, bigger states carry larger electorates to win. Unless a candidate has substantial financial backing, minor political parties cannot run campaigns in larger states as well as the Democratic or Republican parties can.

Third parties offer alternative choices to individuals with different ideological beliefs. Also, third parties offer different public policy ideas that are not offered by the mainstream Democratic or Republican parties. The Green Party has offered many policy positions such as on global warming and other areas of environmental concern. Their presence in a presidential race ensures that these issues are offered up for debate when they might otherwise be swept under the table by the mainstream candidates.

The role of minority groups has an important influence on campaigns and domestic policy. Although the mainstream party majority may control the playing field, issues that fit the concerns of the many Americans are expressed and this lends a voice to persons who otherwise might not be heard during election time. Although a minor party may never win an election when it comes to the presidency, third party views, opinions and issues will be brought up for the country to hear.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Monday's Sabato Quiz

12.2 True/False Questions

1) The 2004 Democratic and Republican Party platforms were nearly identical.

2) George Washington was the founder of the American political party system.

3) The American two-party system was established by the Constitution.

4) The Era of Good Feelings occurred during James Monroeʹs presidency.

5) By the 1820s, most states used popular elections to select their members of the Electoral
College.

6) Political machines were Republican Party organizations that organized rural voters by offering
many intangible incentives to be loyal to the party.

7) Political machines contributed to high voter turnout.

8) The Progressive movement weakened political parties and ushered in candidate-centered
politics.

9) A secular realignment occurred in the South in the 1990s, with traditionally Republican
Southerners gradually aligning with the Democratic Party.

10) The Republican Party has been very successful in its get-out-the-vote efforts.

11) Europeans are much more likely than Americans to believe that government should help in
providing children with food, clothes, and housing.

12) Party affiliation provides a useful cue for voters when evaluating political events and issues.

13) Very few of the items in the winning partyʹs platform are ever implemented.

14) Winner-take-all systems make it difficult for third parties to win legislative seats.

15) A third party candidate has never been elected to the U.S. Congress.

16) Third parties that are built around a single issue or a charismatic candidate are unlikely to
attain long-term viability.

17) Party chairpersons do a substantial amount of the planning for presidential nominating
conventions.

18) Contemporary national nominating conventions are choreographed to project the best image
to the American people.

19) Think tanks are comprised of intellectuals who study public policies from an academic
perspective and have no interest in influencing political debates or outcomes.

20) Republicans have dominated the world of think tanks.

21) Soft money played a crucial role in the 2006 midterm elections, helping Democrats regain
control of both chambers of Congress for the first time since 1994.

22) Republicans have consistently raised more hard money than Democrats.


23) Democrats trail behind Republicans in most measures of party activity.

24) The Democratic National Committee is chaired by Howard Dean, who has emphasized
grassroots organization and fund-raising.

25) In Congress, party-based voting has increased considerably in recent years.

26) In Congress, both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party have become increasingly
ideologically homogeneous.

27) George W. Bush has dedicated considerable energy to building the Republican Party in the
electorate and in the government.

28) Most federal judicial appointees come from the presidentʹs party.

29) During Bill Clintonʹs presidency, congressional Republicans blocked Clintonʹs judicial
appointees. During George W. Bushʹs presidency, congressional Democrats blocked Bushʹs
judicial appointees.

30) Following the 2006 elections, Republicans held a majority of state legislatures.

31) Restrictive ballot laws, campaign finance rules, and the inertia of a two-party system have
made it difficult for third parties to become viable.

32) Most Americans perceive the middle class to be fairly narrow and restrictive.

33) One reason for the gender gap is the lack of support for the Democratic Party among men.

34) Americans with advanced degrees are more likely to be Democrats than Republicans.

35) Although Hispanics have traditionally supported the Democratic Party, they began voting en
masse for the Republican Party starting with the 2000 presidential election.

36) One reason older voters tend to support the Democratic Party is its traditional support for
Social Security and Medicare.

37) While the party in the electorate has declined in recent years, the party in government and the
party organizations are stronger than ever.