Coverage of political candidates on the "big three" networks has been broken up into shorter pieces and as a result is much less in-depth. The average sound bite dropped from 42 seconds in 1968 to 7.3 seconds in 2000. As a result, politicians often turn to cable TV, early morning news shows, prime time "news magazine shows," and other sources to get more extensive coverage.

In strong contrast to many other countries, American newspapers are primarily oriented to the local market and the local audience, and there is typically more local than national news inside. There are a few widely read national newspapers, such as the New York Times and the Washington Post, but these are the exception rather than the norm.

The media plays the role of gatekeeper because it can influence what subjects become national political issues and for how long. As scorekeepers, the national media helps keep track of the progress of various candidates in elections. As watchdogs, the media pays close attention to the politicians that they are interested in, and will expose corruption (as in the Watergate Scandal).

Salient is defined as the most noticeable or important. A salient issue is one that is topmost on people's mind. An example would be the economy during times of recession.

Since its invention, television has become the easiest accessible and most prevalent source of information. Additionally, 24 hour news networks provide the easiest means for people to acquire political information.

The most important impact of television is the agenda setting. News networks can choose what stories get the top of the hour and how much time to spend on them.

As early as 5 years old, young people start to assimilate and have affective feelings on political subjects provided by their interactions with their parents and family. This process continues until they form their own political worldview.

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.