Download TB_chapter10

TEST BANK for
Straubhaar’s Media Now, 5th Edition 2008 Update
CHAPTER 10
PUBLIC RELATIONS
True/False
1. T F
The Trucking Information Bureau was a front group created by Edward
Bernays.
Answer: True
Reference: p. 296
2. T F
Interactive press releases provide hyperlinks to background information.
Answer: True
Reference: p. 304
3. T F
More and more corporations have created blogs to help counter or preempt PR
attacks.
Answer: True
Reference: p. 305
4. T F
Westinghouse claims it was the first organization to use the term public
relations.
Answer: False
Reference: p. 295
5. T F
The Exxon Valdez story is an example of how good public relations practices
can help the environment.
Answer: False
Reference: p. 298
6. T F
Since English has increasingly become the default language for international
business, cultural and linguistic barriers have become less critical.
Answer: True
Reference: p. 299
7. T F
Because of a bumbling PR campaign, the video of Harry Potter & The
Philosopher’s Stone sold poorly during its initial release.
Answer: False
Reference: p. 299
Pitch letters are poorly written press releases, which reporters “pitch” into
their waste baskets.
Answer: False
Reference: p. 300
8. T F
9. T F
Women dominate employment in the public relations field.
Answer: True
Reference: p. 315
10. T F
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act protects corporate whistleblowers.
Answer: True
Reference: p. 317
11. T F
Technology is giving politicians new opportunities to circumvent mass media
channels and state their case directly to the public.
Answer: True
Reference: p. 320
12. T F
The Public Relations Society of America was founded in the 1920s by Edward
Bernays.
Answer: False
Reference: p. 296
13. T F Television stations must pay PR companies to use video news releases.
Answer: False
Reference: p. 301
14. T F
Thanks to the Internet, a lone, disgruntled employee can rapidly disseminate
his or her message as loudly and effectively as a multibillion-dollar company.
Answer: True
Reference: p. 305
15. T F
During his re-election campaign in 2004, President Bush used e-mail to
announce his choice for vice president.
Answer: False
Reference: p. 307
16. T F About 360,000 people in the United States work full-time in public relations.
Answer: False
Reference: p. 314
17. T F The press release was invented in the 1920s by Bell Telephone.
Answer: False
Reference: pp. 311–312
Multiple Choice
18. Which of the following is a prominent PR research firms?
a) Echo Research
b) KD Paine and Partners
c) CARMA
d) All of the choices
Answer: D
Reference: p. 319
19. The U. S. Department of Education paid talk-show host Armstrong Williams so that
he would _______________.
a) run public service announcements on his show
b) give inspirational speeches at staff meetings
c) plug the department’s policies to his audience
d) All of the choices
Answer: C
Reference: p. 318
20. _______________ is the intentional influence of attitudes and opinions.
a) An information campaign
b) News
c) Advertising
d) Propaganda
Answer: D
Reference: p. 294
21. What did Ivy Lee do?
a) He worked to improve the image of the industrialists of the late nineteenth
century.
b) He represented unions fighting against corporations for higher wages.
c) He worked with Edward Bernays to establish the first PR firm.
d) He served as John Kerry’s press spokesman during the 2004 presidential race.
Answer: A
Reference: p. 296
22. Which of the following is least problematic as an ethical issue for public relations?
a) Working with political campaigns
b) Creating deceptive “citizens front groups”
c) Associating movements like feminism with practices like smoking
d) Placing press releases in publications to look like news stories
Answer: A
Reference: pp. 314–317
23. Which of the following is not a function of public relations?
a) Promotion
b) Media relations
c) Lobbying
d) They all are functions of public relations.
Answer: D
Reference: p. 320
24. According to a commonly held industry view, public relations seeks to establish
mutually beneficial relationships between _______________ and _______________.
a) a country … its neighbors
b) an organization … its publics
c) a front group … consumers
d) parents … children
Answer: B
Reference: p. 307
25. When was the press release invented?
a) In colonial America
b) In the late 1800s
c) In 1926
d) In the 1950s
Answer: B
Reference: p. 311
26. One major criticism of current public relations is that it may tend to
_______________.
a) represent the public interest at the expense of corporate interests
b) allocate excessive funds to research and evaluation of the corporate environment
c) mislead the public and put corporate interests above the public good
d) ignore the usefulness of integrating new computer technologies in the campaigns
Answer: C
Reference: p. 320
27. _______________ is a common PR activity targeting legislators to influence the
content or course of legislation or institutional practices.
a) Lobbying
b) Issue management
c) Promotion
d) Propaganda
Answer: A
Reference: p. 309
28. The tensions between _______________ and _______________ are at the center of
some of the major issues affecting public relations.
a) truths … lies
b) individualism … collectivism
c) the public interest … private interests
d) facts … values
Answer: C
Reference: pp. 309, 314–317
29. _______________ work on behalf of another organization or set of institutions whose
direct involvement might be controversial.
a) Lobbyist groups
b) Front groups
c) Opinion groups
d) Activist groups
Answer: B
Reference: p. 296
30. _______________ is the art of intentionally manipulating public opinion in support
of one’s products, services, ideas, or issues without regard for truth or reality.
a) Propaganda
b) Public relations
c) Agenda setting
d) Spin
Answer: D
Reference: p. 296
31. Who created a wave of publicity stunts and coverage that made his circus “The
Greatest Show on Earth”?
a) Adolph Hitler
b) P.T. Barnum
c) Franklin Roosevelt
d) Edward Bernays
Answer: B
Reference: p. 295
32. What are the most important functions that PR professionals perform?
a) Publicity and media relations
b) Corporate and environmental relations
c) Employee relations and issue management
d) Lying and deception
Answer: A
Reference: p. 308
33. Which of the following is a newer PR tool that builds on the latest advances in video,
audio, and computer communications?
a) Video news releases
b) Pitch letters
c) Press kits
d) All of the choices
Answer: A
Reference: pp. 300–303
34. Which of the following is not a public relations research and evaluation method?
a) Trend analysis
b) Environmental monitoring
c) Satellite media tracking
d) Readability studies
Answer: C
Reference: p. 320
Short Answer
35. Where did the idea of propaganda develop?
Reference: p. 294
36. What are the elements of successful public relations?
Reference: pp. 310–312
37. Describe how public relations professionals use new communications technologies.
Reference: pp. 301–306
38. Describe two specialties or functions of public relations.
Reference: pp. 307–309
39. What is the tension between corporate interests and the public interest?
Reference: pp. 315–318
40. What are the benefits of enhancing the research and evaluation capabilities of PR
firms?
Reference: p. 319
41. How has e-mail changed the work of PR firms?
Reference: pp. 306–307
42. Why are video news releases flourishing?
Reference: p. 301
43. Describe a “cyber smear” campaign.
Reference: p. 305
44. How does the Sarbanes-Oxley Act affect public relations?
Reference: p. 317
45. What type of skills do senior public relations practitioners complain are important but
difficult to find in new employees?
Reference: p. 318
46. Modern public relations evolved in the late nineteenth century. Describe an earlier
instance that may yet be seen as a good example of successful public relations.
Reference: pp. 293–295, 319