17 Journalism Trivia Questions (Ranked from Easiest to Hardest)

Journalism is a vital and dynamic field that plays a critical role in shaping public opinion, holding power to account, and informing the masses. From investigative reporting to news analysis and commentary, journalism encompasses a wide range of practices and perspectives that are essential to a functioning democracy. Trivia questions about journalism can provide a fun and engaging way to test your knowledge and deepen your appreciation for this important and impactful field.

Whether you're a seasoned journalist or just starting to explore the world of news and media, journalism trivia questions offer a glimpse into the rich history and culture of this dynamic field. From the basics of ethical reporting to the major events and stories that have shaped the industry, these questions can challenge you on your knowledge of journalism history, theory, and practice.

17 Journalism Trivia Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated for 2024)

1. Der Tagesspiegel and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung are daily newspapers published in what country?
   
   Answer: Germany
   
   
2. In 2015 and 2016, what "ghostly" mattress company tried its hand at journalism by launching Van Winkle's, an online news site about topics related to sleep?
   
   Answer: Casper
   
   
3. What New York based podcast launched in 2002 and is hosted by Jad Abumrad, Lulu Miller, and Latif Nasser? Featuring long-form storytelling and journalism, its one word name sound like a place where scientific experiments on radio are conducted.
   
   Answer: Radiolab
   
   
4. Which musical term refers to the area a reporter is assigned to cover—be it a physical location (e.g., a city) or topic (e.g., politics)?
   
   Answer: Beat
   
   
5. The largest news agencies in the world are the Associated Press, Reuters, and AFP, an agency headquartered in what European nation?
   
   Answer: France
   
   
6. What writer and educator, born into slavery in Mississippi, famously exposed the horrors of lynching to American readers during her groundbreaking career in Memphis journalism?
   
   Answer: Ida B. Wells
   
   
7. Before she died under somewhat mysterious circumstances while doing investigative journalism on the assassination of JFK, Dorothy Kilgallen was a regular face in American homes because she was regular panelist on what game show that ran from 1950 to 1967?
   
   Answer: What's My Line?
   
   
8. What female journalist was known for pioneering the field of investigative journalism by going undercover in a mental institution for the New York World newspaper, and also for her record-breaking trip around the world in 72 days?
   
   Answer: Nellie Bly
   
   
9. What Louisville native got his start in the world of writing and journalism with a 1970 magazine article titled "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved?"
   
   Answer: Hunter S. Thompson
   
   
10. What Richmond native was known for his work in "New Journalism," including such titles as "The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby" and "The Right Stuff," as well as his novel, "Bonfire of the Vanities"?
    
    Answer: Tom Wolfe
    
    
11. Which violent term is used to describe scrapping a completed story instead of publishing it as planned?
    
    Answer: Kill
    
    
12. Considered one of the innovators of creative nonfiction via New Journalism, what American author's best-known work "The Executioner's Song" won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for fiction? This "postal" author also ran in the Democratic primary for NYC's mayoral race of 1969 with a platform including the secession of New York City as the 51st US state.
    
    Answer: Norman Mailer
    
    
13. What renowned non-fiction author and journalist detailed the horrific crimes committed by Mormon Fundamentalist brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty in "Under the Banner of Heaven?"
    
    Answer: Jon Krakauer
    
    
14. Which squirrely term describes the paragraph (or “graf”) that comes after a lede and sums up a story?
    
    Answer: Nut
    
    
15. What New York newspaper was owned by William Randolph Hearst, frequently engaging in yellow journalism in its rivalry against Joseph Pulitzer's New York World?
    
    Answer: New York Journal
    
    
16. What machine, invented in 1886 by Ottmar Merganthaler, made multiple daily editions of a paper possible by increasing the speed and accuracy with which type could be set? Starting in the 1970s and 1980s, these machines have been replaced by phototypesetting and digital typesetting.
    
    Answer: Linotype
    
    
17. Born in Cambridgeport, MA, the first full-time American female book reviewer in journalism wrote "Woman in the Nineteenth Century" which is often considered the first major feminist work in the United States. Who was this native New Englander?
    
    Answer: Margaret Fuller
    

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