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.
28 Journalism Trivia Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated for 2024)
- Der Tagesspiegel and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung are daily newspapers published in what country?
Answer: Germany
- 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
- 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
- What international NGO with over 30,000 employees was founded in 1971 in the aftermath of the Biafra secession (Nigerian Civil War), by a small group of doctors and journalists?
Answer: Médecins Sans Frontières
- What Eastern European country has been under the repressive leadership of Alexander Lukashenko since its departure from the Soviet Union in 1994? They made headlines for hijacking the plane of a dissident journalist, Roman Protasevich, in mid-air.
Answer: Belarus
- Journalist Jamal Khashoggi made international headlines in the back half of 2018. For what US-based newspaper was Khashoggi a correspondent?
Answer: Washington Post
- Kit Kittredge is a Great Depression-era kid who dreams of being a journalist with the fictional Cincinnati Register newspaper, from what series of historical dolls for children?
Answer: American Girl
- What famous TV journalist, who anchored CBS Evening News from 1962 to 1981 and was known as "the most trusted man in America," attended his freshman year at University of Texas - Austin, before dropping out of school altogether?
Answer: Walter Cronkite
- Before joining CNN in 2001, what journalist was the host of the first two seasons of the ABC reality competition The Mole?
Answer: Anderson Cooper
- 2017's "The Post" dramatized the attempts of that paper to publish the Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force, a set of documents known commonly by what geometric, alliterative name?
Answer: Pentagon Papers
- What famed American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school helped publish Charles Fort's "The Book of the Damned" in 1919? This mans' debut novel was "Sister Carrie," published in 1900.
Answer: Theodore Dresier
- Started in 2017, “The Daily” is a podcast hosted by political journalist Michael Barbaro. The podcast highlights daily news reporting by what east coast newspaper with a global readership?
Answer: The New York Times
- At the age of 19, Thomas Edison worked as a telegrapher for what non-profit news organization best known among writers and journalists for its annual updates to its “Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law”?
Answer: The Associated Press
- BBC journalist Ben Hammersley coined the term “podcasting” in 2014 when he was writing an article about online radio. “Podcasting” is a portmanteau of “iPod” and ______?
Answer: Broadcasting
- In journalism lingo, the day’s most important story gets placed right at the top of the first page of the newspaper—a.k.a., “above the ______.”
Answer: Fold
- 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
- When Amazon selected northern Virginia as 1 of 2 locations for East Coast headquarters, the tech titan used what two-word phrase to describe the area? Journalists and citizens considered it a "neighborhood rebranding" from the area formerly known as Crystal City.
Answer: National Landing
- What two-word geographic term saw its first ever publication in print in 1971 when journalist Don Hoefler began publishing a series of articles entitled "______ ______, USA" in Electronic News newspaper?
Answer: Silicon Valley
- Sometimes considered the quintessential novel of the 1980s, what NYC-set satirical work centered on greed, racism, and social class through the lens of a lawyer, investment banker, and journalist? The book's title is a reference to an actual 1497 conflagration.
Answer: The Bonfire of the Vanities
- 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
- 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
- "The Year of Magical Thinking" and "Slouching Toward Bethlehem" are works by what Pulitzer-nominated, Sacramento-raised journalist?
Answer: Joan Didion
- 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
- 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
- Linguists Geoffrey K. Pullum and Glen Whitman wanted a word to describe "multi-use, customizable, instantly recognizable phrases or sentences that can be used in an entirely open array of different jokey variants by lazy journalists and writers." "X is the new Y," or "One Does Not Simply Walk Into X." In homage to an often repeated fact about the Inuit language, what word did they coin to name these phrasal templates?
Answer: Snowclones
- Based on the memoir of the same name by British journalist Lynn Barber, "An Education" was a 2009 film starring what English actress as a schoolgirl seduced by a con man?
Answer: Carey Mulligan
- "The Monster of ______: A True Story" is a 2008 true crime book about an Italian serial killer by American writer Douglas Preston and Italian journalist Mario Spezi. What city's name is missing from the title?
Answer: Florence
- Founded in 2017 by Craig Fuller and based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, what is the name of the company that offers both a SONAR product which offers real-time data points on the logistics industry and also publishes a media platform with dozens of full-time journalists covering the logistics (and specifically trucking) industry?
Answer: FreightWaves
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About the Author
Eli Robinson is the Chief Trivia Officer at Water Cooler Trivia. He was once in a Bruce Springsteen cover band called F Street Band.