I’d like to begin this, the final Quill News Biz Quiz, by saying thanks.
Hopefully you’ve enjoyed these quizzes over the last few months and perhaps even gotten some new insight into how media itself can shape the news.
As for me, I’m signing off to start work on my PhD in mass communications at:
a) Syracuse University’s Newhouse School
b) Faber College
c) Grand Lakes University
d) Wossamatta U
e) UC Sunnydale
The correct answer is a, obviously, but bonus points for you if you can name the source of the fictional higher education locations on this list. See answers below.
With that, on to the rest of this month’s questions…
If you need a reminder on how to play, simply answer the following questions dealing with the last few weeks of news about the news. Total your score and compare that to either your journalistic colleagues or the scoring key right there in the blue box.
1. What tennis player withdrew from this year’s French Open just days after saying she’d skip most contact with the press during the tournament because of her anxiety over doing interviews?
2. Denying they were kowtowing to a Stanford University college Republicans group, Associated Press editors say they fired reporter Emily Wilder after just two weeks on the job because of a history of tweets about what subject?
3. According to a study from the University of Utah and Washington University, about what percentage of Americans overestimate their ability to spot fake news?
a) 25%
b) 40%
c) 65%
d) 75%
4. Conservatives are suing what Chicago mayor, following her decision only to give interviews to reporters of color on the occasion of her second anniversary in office? (Photo below)
5. Danny Fenster, a journalist working for a website covering what Asian nation, was jailed as he attempted to get on a plane to leave that country in May?
6. Asahi Shimbu, Japan’s second-highest circulation newspaper, caused a stir when its editorial board said what high profile event (which the paper is helping to sponsor) should be canceled because COVID-19 isn’t well enough under control yet?
7. What hedge fund, which has been referred to as a “vampire” and a “corporate strip miner” because of its habit of slashing staffs at the media organizations it buys, has succeeded in a bid to buy a controlling interest in Tribune Publishing?
8. The bid to purchase Tribune could have been blocked by Patrick Soon-Shiong, the owner of what West Coast imprint, had he not elected to abstain from voting with his 23% share of the company?
Photo of Nikole Hannah-Jones by James Estrin/The New York Times
9. What CNN anchor crossed multiple ethical lines when he advised New York Governor Andrew Cuomo about how the governor should handle sexual assault allegations against him?
10. Trustees of what university, which had offered its Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism to Pulitzer Prize-winning “1619 Project” journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, said they would not grant her tenure upon her taking the job (despite other holders of the job being given the same dispensation)?
11. A dispute with website Refinitiv has stalled a plan for what wire service to set up a $34.99 per month paywall to access its content?
12. Citing the Financial Times as a model, a study from the International News Media Association says newspapers could more quickly grow their subscriber bases by focusing more effort on what groups of customers?
13. What company is partnering with retailer Okayplayer to launch “The Byline Project,” which gives journalists the opportunity to monetize hyper-local reporting via a widget where subscribers can give them tips for stories about neighborhood-level content?
14. In an effort to grow more than just reader engagement, the Southern California News Group has started boosting a newsletter written by Alex Groves (who normally covers the casino business) about what longtime hobby of Groves?
a) Gardening
b) Baseball card collecting
c) Skiing
d) Cycling
15. (ARCHIVE… though a bit forward-looking, too…) Samuel Newhouse, the namesake of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, owned what conglomerate (that publishes such magazines as Vogue and Vanity Fair) with his brother Donald?
Scroll down for answers.
Fictional University bonus points:
b) Animal House
c) Back to School
d) Rocky and Bullwinkle
e) Buffy the Vampire Slayers
Quiz Answers:
1. Naomi Osaka
2. Palestine
3. Three of every four (75%)
4. Lori Lightfoot
5. Myanmar (formerly Burma). The site is called Frontier Myanmar
6. The 2020 Olympics (yes, they’re still called that, even after being delayed a year)
7. Alden Global Capital
8. Los Angeles Times
9. Chris Cuomo (who’s Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s brother)
10. The University of North Carolina
11. Reuters
12. Business-to-business consumers
13. Google
14. Gardening (the newsletter is called Garden Party and boasts a 55% open rate)
15. Conde Nast
Stan Jastrzebski begins a PhD in mass communications at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School in August. Go Orange!
