History Help

​​Question 1
What news organization formed a “duopoly” with Western Union?

1. The Associated Press
2. The Independent Press
3. The Amalgamated Press
4. The United Press

Question 2
According to Wu, what kind of invention was the telephone?

1. A sustaining invention
2. A transcending invention
3. A disruptive invention
4. A quantum invention

Question 3
What was the Kingsbury Commitment?

1. AT&T’s acceptance of government regulation, the divestment of Western Union and a few other concessions in exchange for its monopoly position.
2. The U.S. Postal Service’s commitment to not open and read people’s mail.
3. The commitment of the US Postal Service, made in 1827, to deliver mail to personal mailboxes rather than the closest post office, also known as Rural Free Delivery.
4. Western Union President Rufus Kingsbury’s deal with President Andrew Johnson in 1866 that gave his company a monopoly position in the telegraph business.

Question 4
What was NOT one of the ways Congress subsidized the press (or at least some newspapers) in the early 19th century?

1. Free post office exchange of newspapers among editors/publishers
2. Bulk purchase of copies of favored newspapers by the federal government
3. Cheap postal rates for publishers to mail newspapers to subscribers
4. Government printing contracts to favored publishers

Question 5
What was NOT an aspect of the Penny Press?

1. Vivid, colorful illustrations frequently splashed across the front page
2. Dependence of advertising instead of subscription
3. An appeal to average New Yorkers
4. Emphasis on crime and human interest stories

Question 6
What was NOT one of the technical innovations associated with the explosive growth of American newspapers at steadily dropping prices in the 19th century?

1. Offset printing
2. Rotary presses
3. Stereotyping

Question 7
What was the role of the federal government in the development of the telegraph?

1. There was no role. Private investors funded the development of the telegraph.
2. The US Postal system developed the early system as an ancillary to the traditional mail delivery.
3. Congress gave Samuel Morse a large grant to develop a prototype line between Washington and Baltimore.
4. Congress extended Morse’s patent of the telegraph beyond the standard limit in order to give him a greater incentive.

Question 8
Who was Theodore Vail?

1. The inventor of the telephone
2. The top AT&T executive
3. The Postmaster General in 1844
4. The top Western Union executive.

Question 9
What is the Kronos Effect?

1. None of these answers are correct.
2. The technical issue that prevented the construction of undersea telegraph cables for several decades.
3. The theory better known as “creative destruction” that argues that economic growth is achieved by the emergence of new technologies, energy sources or methods that destroy existing systems.
4. The tendency of dominant communication companies to take over and thus eliminate new technologies that threaten their dominance.

Question 10
Which was NOT one of the international news agencies that divided the world among themselves in 1870?

1. Reuter
2. Tass
3. Wolff
4. Havas