Question 1

The effect caused by smoking crack cocaine in the 1980s that the media most emphasized was:

Accepted Answer

A)   dying of an overdose of the drug
B)   progressing to the use of other,more dangerous drugs
C)   becoming addicted or dependent on the drug
D)   becoming insane
E)   using crack in conjunction with alcohol and becoming an alcoholic C

Question 2

Which of the following theories best explains media bias on the drug story? The:

Accepted Answer

A)   ruling elite theory
B)   money machine theory
C)   grassroots theory
D)   professional subculture theory
E)   All of the above theories contribute concepts that help to understand media bias on the drug story E

Question 3

News stories in the 1960s about the harm caused by the use of LSD:

Accepted Answer

A)   reported consistently throughout the decade about only one harm the use of the drug caused-insanity and self-destruction
B)   reported consistently throughout the decade about only one harm the use of the drug caused-chromosome damage
C)   began by focusing its reporting mainly on one harm the use of the drug caused (insanity and self-destruction) ,but switched its attention to a second harm (chromosome damage) 
D)   was unfocused and all over the map with regard to the harm the use of the drug caused-from addiction to overdoses to progression to more dangerous drugs
E)   none of the above C

Question 4

What factors make the sudden emergence of the widespread use of a particular drug newsworthy? Use examples from specific drugs during specific eras.

Accepted Answer

The answer of What factors make the sudden emergence of...

Question 5

Media stories on the use of PCP in the 1970s tended to emphasize that the use of the drug would cause the user to:

Accepted Answer

A)   die of a drug overdose.
B)   progress to more dangerous drugs.
C)   engage in multiple drug use and harm himself or herself as a result.
D)   have psychotic episodes and engage in self-destructive behavior.
E)   none of the above

Question 6

The author emphasizes that charges of media bias are commonly lodged by observers with particular approaches or perspectives.Which of the following is the author regarding as bias with respect to the media reporting the drug story? The extent to which these stories:

Accepted Answer

A)   subvert the Marxist agenda and delay the proletariat revolution.
B)   undermine the readers' faith in God.
C)   accurately reflect the evidence gathered and the conclusions reached by scientists.
D)   fail to contribute to patriotic fervor.
E)   stimulate an interest among the young in trying and using illicit psychoactive drugs.

Question 7

Knowing what we know about drug use and harm-specifically that legal drugs kill vastly more users than illegal drugs-explain the disjunction between the volume of media attention paid to the latter versus the former.Try to discuss this matter objectively rather than moralistically.What makes death as a result of use of an illicit drug more newsworthy than death as a result of an illegal drug?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Knowing what we know about drug use...

Question 8

The news stories that reported that LSD causes chromosome damage and result in the user passing on birth defects to his or her offspring was:

Accepted Answer

A)   verified by research conducted in the 1960s
B)   a complete media invention-no article published in the scientific literature reported such a finding
C)   an urban legend that was circulated during the 1960s
D)   disconfirmed by later scientific research

Question 9

The professional subculture of journalism is made up of several components or elements,some of which push a drug story in the direction of bias and others of which toward objectivity and accuracy.Explain what these elements are and how they could have such influences on a drug story,giving examples from specific drugs during specific eras.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The professional subculture of journalism is made...

Question 10

Which of the following theories is most likely to be influenced by the cardinal rule,verify a story with two or more sources? The:

Accepted Answer

A)   ruling elite theory
B)   money machine theory
C)   grassroots theory
D)   professional subculture theory
E)   none of the above

Question 11

Which of the following assertions about methamphetamine,as reported by the media in the late 1980s,turned out to be true? The use of meth:

Accepted Answer

A)   had moved up the socioeconomic ladder to the point where abuse was as common among the rich as among the poor
B)   had marched across the country to the point where abuse was as common on the East coast as on the West coast
C)   had become the drug of choice among young people to the point where it had become the most popular and widely used drug in the country
D)   was "instant addiction"-one puff and you're hooked for life
E)   none of the above

Question 12

The year the American public most strongly believed that drug abuse was the nation's number one problem was:

Accepted Answer

A)   1959
B)   1969
C)   1979
D)   1989
E)   1999

Question 13

This chapter is based mainly on which of the following sources of news media:

Accepted Answer

A)   broadcast news-mainly television
B)   the Internet
C)   print sources,mainly newspapers and magazines
D)   fiction,mainly novels
E)   advertising

Question 14

Sociologists refer to an episode during which the public or the media express concern or fear from a given agent or threat that is exaggerated,out of proportion to,and less serious than,its objective danger or potential damage:

Accepted Answer

A)   a moral panic
B)   media overload
C)   an accurate assessment of the situation
D)   media objectivity
E)   none of the above

Question 15

The harm that the media attributed marijuana with causing during the 1930s was that use of the drug would cause the user to:

Accepted Answer

A)   develop the "amotivational syndrome"
B)   progress to more dangerous drugs
C)   become insane and violent,and commit rape and murder
D)   drop dead of a drug overdose
E)   pass on birth defects in his or her offspring

Question 16

In terms of number of people that drug use kills each year in the United States:

Accepted Answer

A)   illegal drugs kill roughly 30 times as many people as legal drugs.
B)   legal drugs kill roughly 30 times as many people as illegal drugs.
C)   illegal and legal drugs kill about the same number of people.
D)   the number of people that legal and illegal drugs kill remains unknown.
E)   none of the above

Question 17

Why is the distinction between factual bias and selection bias in the reporting of news stories about drugs and drug use? Be specific,be detailed,using examples.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Why is the distinction between factual bias...

Question 18

Sensationalistic stories of drug harm erupted for different drugs at different times.For these stories,match up the decade with the drug during which these stories most typically erupted.

Accepted Answer

A)   marijuana in the 1960s
B)   crack cocaine in the 1950s
C)   PCP in the 1990s
D)   methamphetamine in the late 1980s to the 2000s
E)   none of the above

Question 19

Which of the following media assertions about the use of crack cocaine in the 1980s was later verified by scientific research?

Accepted Answer

A)   Crack has become America's drug of choice-even more popular than marijuana.
B)   Nearly every expert now concedes that the crack plague is all but universal.
C)   One out of ten babies born today are "crack babies"-infants of crack-addicted mothers.
D)   Crack babies will be permanently damaged,an unmanageable multitude of disturbed and disruptive youth-a lost generation.
E)   none of the above

Question 20

Which of the following theories of media bias is most strongly focused on the factor of hegemony or institutional bias in stressing the slant of media drug stories? The:

Accepted Answer