Random sampling refers to a survey in which everyone has an equal possibility of being selected. It is considered a tenet of reliable survey methodology because it ensures as little bias will be inherent in the survey as is possible. The best example shown here is dialing random numbers that end with the number nine, this is entirely random and the only real bias it can generate is “people who own phones.” Dialing random numbers that begin with the number nine will select people based on area code; going to a high-end supermarket will select wealthier people; going to a football stadium will obviously select sports fans; calling people on thanksgiving will generate slightly different results than a normal day because people will be in unusual moods, either positively or negatively, and this example makes no mention of how the numbers are selected so would be poor survey practice.

The majority of Americans get their news from television media, so we can rule out two of these answer choices. We can also firmly state that the credibility of the New York Times has been higher in the past, as it was recently rocked by a scandal when one of its regular contributors admitted he had fabricated news stories. Finally, although print media readership is declining, to claim that it is now obsolete is an extreme stretch. The only statement here that it is mostly accurate is that talk radio is primarily controlled by conservative voices. Talk radio emerged in the 1980s and 1990s and mixes partisan interviews with political commentary. It is usually conservative, but not exclusively.

There are three types of news stories that differ significantly in the opportunity for media bias. Routine stories about events that are regularly covered by many reporters are least likely to be biased because they tend to involve a simple accounting of events. For example, the President's trip to Martha's Vineyard for vacation is most likely to be a routine story. 

The Associated Press was formed at a time when "yellow journalism" was rampant. Because the AP was a subscription service that provided short, telegraphed stories to newspaper editors across the country, it had to be as neutral as possible in its reporting to attract a large subscriber base. This financially incentivized at least one form of journalism that was objective, as opposed to sensationalist.

An Issue Advocacy Ad is an advertisement that generally airs during an election campaign, but does not focus on encouraging support for one candidate over another. Instead, it seeks to gain awareness for the issues and encourage voters to consider the issue as a whole as more relevant than they might otherwise.

The equal-time rule establishes that all broadcast stations must allow equal opportunity to all political parties to air campaign advertisements. The rule first appeared in the Radio Broadcast Act of 1927.

While the internet makes it easier to take quick opinion polls, these polls are often highly unreliable because the pollsters are not able to take good samples, and the samples are self-selecting in that they consist of people who use the internet, navigate to the particular site, are willing to spend time to take the poll, etc. While the internet has provided many avenues for exploring public opinion, most of these are related to the collection of hard data (like internet usage), as opposed to effective or accurate opinion polling.

The Equal Time Rule holds that all publicly broadcast news stations that sell advertising to to one political candidate must sell equal time to that person's opponents.

Having an adversarial press in America means that, at least on a national level, the press is suspicious of public officials and will happily break embarrassing stories about them. The press' main interest is in writing stories that will allow them to sell newspapers, advertising, etc, rather than in promoting specific agenda items.