Law, Policy, & Ethics Exam
Answer the following multiple choice and written answer questions
- 1.What is libel?
- A.
A) Publishing a false statement that damages someone’s reputation
- B.
B) A tendency to do something
- C.
C) Publishing private information about a person
- D.
D) Use of outside editors
- 2.What is defamation?
- A.
A) Publishing unflattering reports about someone
- B.
B) An invasion of privacy
- C.
C) A clearly labeled personal opinion
- D.
D) An untruthful accusation that lowers someone’s reputation
- 3.In invasion of privacy cases, what is meant by intrusion?
- A.
A) Pretending to be someone you’re not
- B.
B) Trespassing
- C.
C) Using a hidden camera or tape recorder
- D.
D) All of the above
- 4.In invasion of privacy cases, what is meant by public disclosure?
- A.
A) Broadcasting sensitive material from a person’s private life
- B.
B) Requiring a reporter to identify herself or himself
- C.
C) Publishing information that is newsworthy
- D.
D) All of the above
- 5.Freedom of the press in the U.S. is __________________.
- A.
A) unlimited
- B.
B) limited only for school sponsored journalism
- C.
C) limited by laws, ethics, and policy
- D.
D) guaranteed by the Constitution
- 6.In Journalism, ethics involves___________________.
- A.
A) self-discipline by writers and reporters
- B.
B) following policy guidelines of the publication
- C.
C) obeying the law
- D.
D) all of the above
- 7.Libel and slander are_______________________.
- A.
A) essentially the same in meaning
- B.
B) two types of obscenity
- C.
C) defined by federal rather than state law
- D.
D) not important concerns for student journalists
- 8.Privilege protects a journalist from charges of defamation when___________________.
- A.
A) he or she has connections to celebrities
- B.
B) the information came directly from the subject
- C.
C) the damaging information came from an official government source
- D.
D) only this journalist reported the information
- 9.To establish fault in a libel case, a public official must prove____________________.
- A.
A) both negligence and actual malice
- B.
B) the truth or falsity of the accusation
- C.
C) who else might have been responsible
- D.
D) all of the above
- 10.To avoid libel changes, a journalist__________________.
- A.
A) should check all sources carefully
- B.
B) should avoid confidential content in notes
- C.
C) should distinguish accuracy from truth
- D.
D) all of the above
- 11.In a story about a traffic accident, you quote one of the victims saying, “That driver’s a lunatic. He’s a freakin’ menace.” That remark is:
- A.
A) libelous
- B.
B) not libelous
- 12.A shoplifter was arrested at the Family Video and Bookstore after stealing two movies, “Sinful Flesh” and “Young Desires.” In a story about the crime, you say the movies are “soft-core porn,” but those videos are actually religious-instruction films. Can the store’s owner, a devout Baptist, win a libel suit against you?
- A.
A) Yes
- B.
B) No
- 13.In writing a story about local acupuncturist Ophelia Paine, you quote a brain surgeon at a nearby hospital who says, “Acupuncturist are all quacks. They’ll kill you if you’re not careful.” Paine considers this defamatory. “Your story will bankrupt me,” she says. Could she win a libel suit against your publication?
- A.
A) Yes
- B.
B) No
- 14.You write a story describing how Al Bino confessed to police after attempting to murder his wife. After the story runs, a police department spokesman admits they gave you the wrong name; Al Bino was merely a witness to the crime. Could Al Bino win a libel suit against you for the lie you printed?
- A.
A) Yes
- B.
B) No
- 15.In a football-game story, you quote the losing coach, who says, “That referee is blind. He cost us the game. He’s got no business officiating in this league.” Videotapes, however, prove the referee made the right call. Could the referee win a libel suit against you?
- A.
A) Yes
- B.
B) No
- 16.You’re standing in the hallway, waiting to interview a professor from Iraq. As you lean against the door to his office, you hear from him making pro-terrorist, anti-American statements. You take careful notes. Later, you confront him with his remarks. He calls them lies and threatens to sue you if you print them. Could he win?
- A.
A) Yes
- B.
B) No
- 17.On his late-night NBC show, Conan O’Brien makes several lengthy jokes in your newspaper, but the editor says you can’t do it without getting approval from NBC. Those jokes are copyrighted, he says, and NBC could sue the paper if you preprint them verbatim without permission. Is your editor correct?
- A.
A) He’s right; you need permission.
- B.
B) He’s wrong; you didn’t.
- 18.In writing a story about an outspoken anti-abortion activist, you print that she was once arrested for trying to bomb an abortion clinic. But you’ve read the court records incorrectly: she only testified at someone else’s trial. Your newspaper has run a correction, but she’s still furious. Can she win a libel suit?
- A.
A) Yes
- B.
B) No
- 19.In that story about the pro-life activist, you reveal that she was once arrested for obtaining an illegal abortion herself, back in 1970 (before Roe v. Wade made abortions legal). She claims that you’ve violated her right to privacy by revealing confidential information about her medical history. If she takes you to court, can she win her case?
- A.
A) Yes
- B.
B) No
- 20.Gossip about your school’s cheerleaders is posted on a Web site. You reprint it in your weekly newspaper opinion column, clearly identifying your source. An angry cheerleader reads your column, gets upset and decides to sue for libel. Who is most liable?
- A.
A) You
- B.
B) The gossip Web site
- C.
C) Both you and the Web site
- 21.Libel laws are consistent from state to state.
- A.
True
- B.
False
- 22.Someone gives you secret information. In return, you promise to conceal his identity. If you suddenly change your mind and publish his name, that’s called “burning a source.”
- A.
True
- B.
False
- 23.Someone gives you secret information. In return, you promise to conceal his identity. If you suddenly change your mind and publish his name, he could sue you for violating a verbal contract.
- A.
True
- B.
False
- 24.If you cruelly and unfairly criticize a public figure, that’s called “actual malice.”
- A.
True
- B.
False
- 25.A “shield law” prevents a reporter from being sued for libel.
- A.
True
- B.
False
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