Answer: not genetically modified

Context: Organic cotton is generally understood as cotton from plants not genetically modified and that is certified to be grown without the use of any synthetic agricultural chemicals, such as fertilizers or pesticides. Its production also promotes and enhances biodiversity and biological cycles. In the United States, organic cotton plantations are required to enforce the National Organic Program (NOP). This institution determines the allowed practices for pest control, growing, fertilizing, and handling of organic crops. As of 2007, 265,517 bales of organic cotton were produced in 24 countries, and worldwide production was growing at a rate of more than 50% per year.

Question: What are organic plants understood to be?


Answer: synthetic agricultural chemicals

Question: Without what are organic plants meant to be grown ?


Answer: fertilizers or pesticides

Question: What is meant by synthetic chemicals?


Answer: National Organic Program

Question: What group in the US determines the allowed practices in organic agriculture?


Answer: 265,517 bales

Question: How much organic cotton was produced worldwide in 2007?


Answer: boll weevil

Context: Historically, in North America, one of the most economically destructive pests in cotton production has been the boll weevil. Due to the US Department of Agriculture's highly successful Boll Weevil Eradication Program (BWEP), this pest has been eliminated from cotton in most of the United States. This program, along with the introduction of genetically engineered Bt cotton (which contains a bacterial gene that codes for a plant-produced protein that is toxic to a number of pests such as cotton bollworm and pink bollworm), has allowed a reduction in the use of synthetic insecticides.

Question: What insect is the most destructive pest in cotton growing in the US?


Answer: Boll Weevil Eradication Program

Question: What program has effectively eliminated the boll weevil in the US?


Answer: US Department of Agriculture

Question: What is the organization that instigated the Boll Weevil Eradication Program?


Answer: Bt cotton

Question: What form of cotton contains a genetically modified gene?


Answer: synthetic insecticides.

Question: On what does the use of Bt cotton reduce reliance?


Answer: mechanically

Context: Most cotton in the United States, Europe and Australia is harvested mechanically, either by a cotton picker, a machine that removes the cotton from the boll without damaging the cotton plant, or by a cotton stripper, which strips the entire boll off the plant. Cotton strippers are used in regions where it is too windy to grow picker varieties of cotton, and usually after application of a chemical defoliant or the natural defoliation that occurs after a freeze. Cotton is a perennial crop in the tropics, and without defoliation or freezing, the plant will continue to grow.

Question: How is most cotton harvested?


Answer: cotton picker

Question: What is the cotton harvesting machine that removes the boll with damaging the plant?


Answer: cotton stripper

Question: What machine strips off the entire head of the cotton plant?


Answer: windy

Question: What weather conditions mandate the planting of stripper types of cotton?


Answer: perennial

Question: What type of plant is cotton?


Answer: rayon

Context: The era of manufactured fibers began with the development of rayon in France in the 1890s. Rayon is derived from a natural cellulose and cannot be considered synthetic, but requires extensive processing in a manufacturing process, and led the less expensive replacement of more naturally derived materials. A succession of new synthetic fibers were introduced by the chemicals industry in the following decades. Acetate in fiber form was developed in 1924. Nylon, the first fiber synthesized entirely from petrochemicals, was introduced as a sewing thread by DuPont in 1936, followed by DuPont's acrylic in 1944. Some garments were created from fabrics based on these fibers, such as women's hosiery from nylon, but it was not until the introduction of polyester into the fiber marketplace in the early 1950s that the market for cotton came under threat. The rapid uptake of polyester garments in the 1960s caused economic hardship in cotton-exporting economies, especially in Central American countries, such as Nicaragua, where cotton production had boomed tenfold between 1950 and 1965 with the advent of cheap chemical pesticides. Cotton production recovered in the 1970s, but crashed to pre-1960 levels in the early 1990s.

Question: What was the first manufactured fiber?


Answer: 1890s

Question: When was rayon first made in France?


Answer: chemicals industry

Question: What type of industry produced a growing chain of synthetic fibers?


Answer: DuPont

Question: What company produced nylon and acrylic in the 1930s and 1940s?


Answer: Nylon

Question: What was manufactured completely from petrochemicals?


Answer: decline in market share

Context: Beginning as a self-help program in the mid-1960s, the Cotton Research and Promotion Program (CRPP) was organized by U.S. cotton producers in response to cotton's steady decline in market share. At that time, producers voted to set up a per-bale assessment system to fund the program, with built-in safeguards to protect their investments. With the passage of the Cotton Research and Promotion Act of 1966, the program joined forces and began battling synthetic competitors and re-establishing markets for cotton. Today, the success of this program has made cotton the best-selling fiber in the U.S. and one of the best-selling fibers in the world.[citation needed]

Question: What prompted a help program produced by cotton producers in the 1960s?


Answer: Cotton Research and Promotion Act

Question: What law was passed in 1966 to aid cotton producers?


Answer: synthetic competitors

Question: What type of competitors does the 1966 act help combat?


Answer: U.S.

Question: Where has the Cotton Research and Promotion Act made cotton the best selling fiber?


Answer: markets for cotton

Question: What did producers of cotton have to re-establish after the market declined?


Answer: textile products

Context: Cotton is used to make a number of textile products. These include terrycloth for highly absorbent bath towels and robes; denim for blue jeans; cambric, popularly used in the manufacture of blue work shirts (from which we get the term "blue-collar"); and corduroy, seersucker, and cotton twill. Socks, underwear, and most T-shirts are made from cotton. Bed sheets often are made from cotton. Cotton also is used to make yarn used in crochet and knitting. Fabric also can be made from recycled or recovered cotton that otherwise would be thrown away during the spinning, weaving, or cutting process. While many fabrics are made completely of cotton, some materials blend cotton with other fibers, including rayon and synthetic fibers such as polyester. It can either be used in knitted or woven fabrics, as it can be blended with elastine to make a stretchier thread for knitted fabrics, and apparel such as stretch jeans.

Question: For what is cotton used to make?


Answer: recycled or recovered cotton

Question: Besides new cotton fibers, what type of fibers can be used to make cotton products?


Answer: synthetic fibers

Question: With what is cotton often blended to make a new style of fabric?


Answer: knitted or woven

Question: What kinds of fabrics can be made from blended fibers?


Answer: crochet and knitting

Question: For what can cotton yarn be used?


Answer: cottonseed oil

Context: The cottonseed which remains after the cotton is ginned is used to produce cottonseed oil, which, after refining, can be consumed by humans like any other vegetable oil. The cottonseed meal that is left generally is fed to ruminant livestock; the gossypol remaining in the meal is toxic to monogastric animals. Cottonseed hulls can be added to dairy cattle rations for roughage. During the American slavery period, cotton root bark was used in folk remedies as an abortifacient, that is, to induce a miscarriage. Gossypol was one of the many substances found in all parts of the cotton plant and it was described by the scientists as 'poisonous pigment'. It also appears to inhibit the development of sperm or even restrict the mobility of the sperm. Also, it is thought to interfere with the menstrual cycle by restricting the release of certain hormones.

Question: For what is cottonseed used after it is separate from the fibers?


Answer: vegetable oil.

Question: What product is processed cottonseed oil?


Answer: ruminant livestock

Question: What is cottonseed meal used for feed?


Answer: roughage

Question: For what purpose are cottonseed hulls used in feed?


Answer: poisonous pigment

Question: As what did early scientists describe gossypol ?


Answer: Cotton linters

Context: Cotton linters are fine, silky fibers which adhere to the seeds of the cotton plant after ginning. These curly fibers typically are less than 1⁄8 inch (3.2 mm) long. The term also may apply to the longer textile fiber staple lint as well as the shorter fuzzy fibers from some upland species. Linters are traditionally used in the manufacture of paper and as a raw material in the manufacture of cellulose. In the UK, linters are referred to as "cotton wool". This can also be a refined product (absorbent cotton in U.S. usage) which has medical, cosmetic and many other practical uses. The first medical use of cotton wool was by Sampson Gamgee at the Queen's Hospital (later the General Hospital) in Birmingham, England.

Question: What part of the cotton plant is used for paper manufacture?


Answer: fine, silky fibers

Question: What do cotton linters look like?


Answer: cotton wool

Question: What are cotton linters called in the UK?


Answer: absorbent cotton

Question: What is cotton wool called in the US?


Answer: Sampson Gamgee

Question: What individual first used cotton wool medically?


Answer: Cotton lisle

Context: Cotton lisle is a finely-spun, tightly twisted type of cotton that is noted for being strong and durable. Lisle is composed of two strands that have each been twisted an extra twist per inch than ordinary yarns and combined to create a single thread. The yarn is spun so that it is compact and solid. This cotton is used mainly for underwear, stockings, and gloves. Colors applied to this yarn are noted for being more brilliant than colors applied to softer yarn. This type of thread was first made in the city of Lisle, France (now Lille), hence its name.

Question: What is a fine, tightly twisted type of cotton fabric?


Answer: strong and durable

Question: What is lisle considered to be as a fabric?


Answer: single thread

Question: What does extra twisting of lisle thread produce?


Answer: Lisle, France

Question: Where was the lisle thread originally made?


Answer: more brilliant

Question: How is color perceived to be for lisle in comparison to softer yarns?


Answer: China and India

Context: The largest producers of cotton, currently (2009), are China and India, with annual production of about 34 million bales and 33.4 million bales, respectively; most of this production is consumed by their respective textile industries. The largest exporters of raw cotton are the United States, with sales of $4.9 billion, and Africa, with sales of $2.1 billion. The total international trade is estimated to be $12 billion. Africa's share of the cotton trade has doubled since 1980. Neither area has a significant domestic textile industry, textile manufacturing having moved to developing nations in Eastern and South Asia such as India and China. In Africa, cotton is grown by numerous small holders. Dunavant Enterprises, based in Memphis, Tennessee, is the leading cotton broker in Africa, with hundreds of purchasing agents. It operates cotton gins in Uganda, Mozambique, and Zambia. In Zambia, it often offers loans for seed and expenses to the 180,000 small farmers who grow cotton for it, as well as advice on farming methods. Cargill also purchases cotton in Africa for export.

Question: In 2009 what were the largest producers of cotton?


Answer: largest exporters

Question: How do the US and Africa rank as exporters of cotton?


Answer: $12 billion

Question: What is the combined international trade in cotton?


Answer: Dunavant Enterprises

Question: What company is the top cotton broker in Africa?


Answer: Memphis, Tennessee

Question: Where is Dunavant Enterprises based?


Answer: 25,000

Context: The 25,000 cotton growers in the United States of America are heavily subsidized at the rate of $2 billion per year although China now provides the highest overall level of cotton sector support. The future of these subsidies is uncertain and has led to anticipatory expansion of cotton brokers' operations in Africa. Dunavant expanded in Africa by buying out local operations. This is only possible in former British colonies and Mozambique; former French colonies continue to maintain tight monopolies, inherited from their former colonialist masters, on cotton purchases at low fixed prices.

Question: How many subsidized cotton growers are in the US?


Answer: $2 billion per year

Question: What is the rate of subsidies of cotton growers in the US?


Answer: China

Question: What country provides the highest rate of support for cotton growers?


Answer: French

Question: Which former colonies still have tight monopolies on cotton brokering?


Answer: former British colonies

Question: Where in Africa is it possible to buy out brokerages in cotton?


Answer: heavily subsidized

Context: While Brazil was fighting the US through the WTO's Dispute Settlement Mechanism against a heavily subsidized cotton industry, a group of four least-developed African countries – Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Mali – also known as "Cotton-4" have been the leading protagonist for the reduction of US cotton subsidies through negotiations. The four introduced a "Sectoral Initiative in Favour of Cotton", presented by Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaoré during the Trade Negotiations Committee on 10 June 2003.

Question: What was Brazil's argument against the US cotton industry?


Answer: Cotton-4

Question: What are the African countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Mali referred to as in the cotton industry?


Answer: leading protagonist

Question: What has the Cotton-4 been in regards to the US cotton subsidies?


Answer: reduction

Question: What could the US do that would please the foreign cotton industry concerning cotton subsidies?


Answer: WTO's Dispute Settlement Mechanism

Question: What organization has Brazil tried to use to curb US cotton subsidies?


Answer: child

Context: In addition to concerns over subsidies, the cotton industries of some countries are criticized for employing child labor and damaging workers' health by exposure to pesticides used in production. The Environmental Justice Foundation has campaigned against the prevalent use of forced child and adult labor in cotton production in Uzbekistan, the world's third largest cotton exporter. The international production and trade situation has led to "fair trade" cotton clothing and footwear, joining a rapidly growing market for organic clothing, fair fashion or "ethical fashion". The fair trade system was initiated in 2005 with producers from Cameroon, Mali and Senegal.

Question: What type of labor have some countries come under fire for employing?


Answer: exposure to pesticides

Question: What usage that causes worker damage have some countries been reported doing?


Answer: Uzbekistan

Question: What country has been accused of forced child and adult labor?


Answer: third largest

Question: Where does Uzbekistan rank as a cotton exporter?


Answer: fair trade

Question: What system was started in 2005 to deal with organic and ethically produced products?


Answer: tetraploid cotton

Context: A public genome sequencing effort of cotton was initiated in 2007 by a consortium of public researchers. They agreed on a strategy to sequence the genome of cultivated, tetraploid cotton. "Tetraploid" means that cultivated cotton actually has two separate genomes within its nucleus, referred to as the A and D genomes. The sequencing consortium first agreed to sequence the D-genome relative of cultivated cotton (G. raimondii, a wild Central American cotton species) because of its small size and limited number of repetitive elements. It is nearly one-third the number of bases of tetraploid cotton (AD), and each chromosome is only present once.[clarification needed] The A genome of G. arboreum would be sequenced next. Its genome is roughly twice the size of G. raimondii's. Part of the difference in size between the two genomes is the amplification of retrotransposons (GORGE). Once both diploid genomes are assembled, then research could begin sequencing the actual genomes of cultivated cotton varieties. This strategy is out of necessity; if one were to sequence the tetraploid genome without model diploid genomes, the euchromatic DNA sequences of the AD genomes would co-assemble and the repetitive elements of AD genomes would assembly independently into A and D sequences respectively. Then there would be no way to untangle the mess of AD sequences without comparing them to their diploid counterparts.

Question: What is the final sequencing goal of sequencing diploid cotton genomes first ?


Answer: Tetraploid

Question: What type of cotton has two separate genomes within its nucleus?


Answer: 2007

Question: When did a group of researchers decide to sequence the genomic structure of tetraploid cotton?


Answer: diploid

Question: What type of genome must be sequenced first to prevent confusion before the tetraploid form?


Answer: diploid counterparts

Question: In order to understand the tetraploid forms, what must be used as a comparison in cotton gene sequencing?


Answer: Monsanto and Illumina

Context: The public sector effort continues with the goal to create a high-quality, draft genome sequence from reads generated by all sources. The public-sector effort has generated Sanger reads of BACs, fosmids, and plasmids as well as 454 reads. These later types of reads will be instrumental in assembling an initial draft of the D genome. In 2010, two companies (Monsanto and Illumina), completed enough Illumina sequencing to cover the D genome of G. raimondii about 50x. They announced that they would donate their raw reads to the public. This public relations effort gave them some recognition for sequencing the cotton genome. Once the D genome is assembled from all of this raw material, it will undoubtedly assist in the assembly of the AD genomes of cultivated varieties of cotton, but a lot of hard work remains.

Question: What companies finished much of the sequencing of the D genome?


Answer: 2010

Question: When was the sequencing of D genome of G. raimondii mostly completed?


Answer: donate

Question: What did Monsanto and Illumina say they would do with the research?


Answer: public relations

Question: What is the seeming result of donating genetic cotton sequencing to the public?


Answer: cultivated varieties

Question: What plants are the goal of sequencing wild forms of cotton?


Answer: data compression

Context: In signal processing, data compression, source coding, or bit-rate reduction involves encoding information using fewer bits than the original representation. Compression can be either lossy or lossless. Lossless compression reduces bits by identifying and eliminating statistical redundancy. No information is lost in lossless compression. Lossy compression reduces bits by identifying unnecessary information and removing it. The process of reducing the size of a data file is referred to as data compression. In the context of data transmission, it is called source coding (encoding done at the source of the data before it is stored or transmitted) in opposition to channel coding.

Question: What involves encoding information using fewer bits than the original representation?


Answer: Compression

Question: What can be either lossy or lossless?


Answer: Lossless compression

Question: What reduces bits by identifying and eliminating statistical redundancy?


Answer: data compression

Question: What is the process called of reducing the size of a data file?


Answer: source coding

Question: What is the process called of encoding at the source of the data before it's processed?


Answer: Compression

Context: Compression is useful because it helps reduce resource usage, such as data storage space or transmission capacity. Because compressed data must be decompressed to use, this extra processing imposes computational or other costs through decompression; this situation is far from being a free lunch. Data compression is subject to a space–time complexity trade-off. For instance, a compression scheme for video may require expensive hardware for the video to be decompressed fast enough to be viewed as it is being decompressed, and the option to decompress the video in full before watching it may be inconvenient or require additional storage. The design of data compression schemes involves trade-offs among various factors, including the degree of compression, the amount of distortion introduced (when using lossy data compression), and the computational resources required to compress and decompress the data.

Question: What helps reduce resource usage?


Answer: compressed data

Question: What must be decompressed?


Answer: Data compression

Question: What is subject to a space-time complexity trade off?


Answer: data compression

Question: What type of scheme involves trade offs among other things?


Answer: Lossless data compression algorithms

Context: Lossless data compression algorithms usually exploit statistical redundancy to represent data without losing any information, so that the process is reversible. Lossless compression is possible because most real-world data exhibits statistical redundancy. For example, an image may have areas of colour that do not change over several pixels; instead of coding "red pixel, red pixel, ..." the data may be encoded as "279 red pixels". This is a basic example of run-length encoding; there are many schemes to reduce file size by eliminating redundancy.

Question: What usually exploits statistical redundancy?


Answer: Lossless compression

Question: What represents statistical redundancy?


Answer: an image

Question: What may have colors that do not change over several pixels?


Answer: Lempel–Ziv (LZ)

Context: The Lempel–Ziv (LZ) compression methods are among the most popular algorithms for lossless storage. DEFLATE is a variation on LZ optimized for decompression speed and compression ratio, but compression can be slow. DEFLATE is used in PKZIP, Gzip and PNG. LZW (Lempel–Ziv–Welch) is used in GIF images. Also noteworthy is the LZR (Lempel-Ziv–Renau) algorithm, which serves as the basis for the Zip method.[citation needed] LZ methods use a table-based compression model where table entries are substituted for repeated strings of data. For most LZ methods, this table is generated dynamically from earlier data in the input. The table itself is often Huffman encoded (e.g. SHRI, LZX). Current LZ-based coding schemes that perform well are Brotli and LZX. LZX is used in Microsoft's CAB format.

Question: What compression methods are among the most popular?


Answer: DEFLATE

Question: What is used in PKZIP, Gzip and PNG?


Answer: LZR

Question: What serves as the basis of the Zip method?


Answer: Brotli

Question: What is a current LZ based coding scheme that does well?


Answer: LZX

Question: What is used in Microsoft's CAB format?


Answer: statistical estimates

Context: In a further refinement of the direct use of probabilistic modelling, statistical estimates can be coupled to an algorithm called arithmetic coding. Arithmetic coding is a more modern coding technique that uses the mathematical calculations of a finite-state machine to produce a string of encoded bits from a series of input data symbols. It can achieve superior compression to other techniques such as the better-known Huffman algorithm. It uses an internal memory state to avoid the need to perform a one-to-one mapping of individual input symbols to distinct representations that use an integer number of bits, and it clears out the internal memory only after encoding the entire string of data symbols. Arithmetic coding applies especially well to adaptive data compression tasks where the statistics vary and are context-dependent, as it can be easily coupled with an adaptive model of the probability distribution of the input data. An early example of the use of arithmetic coding was its use as an optional (but not widely used) feature of the JPEG image coding standard. It has since been applied in various other designs including H.264/MPEG-4 AVC and HEVC for video coding.

Question: What can be paired with an algorithm called arithmetic coding?


Answer: Arithmetic coding

Question: What can achieve superior compression?


Answer: Huffman algorithm

Question: What uses an internal memory state?


Answer: Lossy

Context: Lossy data compression is the converse of lossless data compression. In these schemes, some loss of information is acceptable. Dropping nonessential detail from the data source can save storage space. Lossy data compression schemes are designed by research on how people perceive the data in question. For example, the human eye is more sensitive to subtle variations in luminance than it is to the variations in color. JPEG image compression works in part by rounding off nonessential bits of information. There is a corresponding trade-off between preserving information and reducing size. A number of popular compression formats exploit these perceptual differences, including those used in music files, images, and video.

Question: What type of data compression is the converse of lossless date data compression?


Answer: Dropping nonessential detail from the data source

Question: What can save storage space?


Answer: JPEG image compression

Question: What helps by eliminating off nonessential bits of information?


Answer: audio compression

Context: In lossy audio compression, methods of psychoacoustics are used to remove non-audible (or less audible) components of the audio signal. Compression of human speech is often performed with even more specialized techniques; speech coding, or voice coding, is sometimes distinguished as a separate discipline from audio compression. Different audio and speech compression standards are listed under audio coding formats. Voice compression is used in internet telephony, for example, audio compression is used for CD ripping and is decoded by the audio players.

Question: What is used for CD ripping?


Answer: psychoacoustics

Question: What methods are used to remove non-audible components of audio signals?


Answer: human speech

Question: What compression is usually performed with even more specialized techniques?


Answer: Voice compression

Question: What is used in internet telephony?


Answer: audio compression

Question: What is encoded by audio players?


Answer: compression

Context: There is a close connection between machine learning and compression: a system that predicts the posterior probabilities of a sequence given its entire history can be used for optimal data compression (by using arithmetic coding on the output distribution) while an optimal compressor can be used for prediction (by finding the symbol that compresses best, given the previous history). This equivalence has been used as a justification for using data compression as a benchmark for "general intelligence."

Question: What is Machine learning closely related to?


Answer: optimal

Question: What type of compressor can be used for prediction?


Answer: data compression

Question: What has been used as a benchmark for "general intelligence"?


Answer: Data compression

Context: Data compression can be viewed as a special case of data differencing: Data differencing consists of producing a difference given a source and a target, with patching producing a target given a source and a difference, while data compression consists of producing a compressed file given a target, and decompression consists of producing a target given only a compressed file. Thus, one can consider data compression as data differencing with empty source data, the compressed file corresponding to a "difference from nothing." This is the same as considering absolute entropy (corresponding to data compression) as a special case of relative entropy (corresponding to data differencing) with no initial data.

Question: What can be looked at as a special case of data differencing?


Answer: Data differencing

Question: What is made up of producing a difference given a source and a target?


Answer: data compression

Question: What can classified as data differencing with empty source data?


Answer: Audio data compression

Context: Audio data compression, not to be confused with dynamic range compression, has the potential to reduce the transmission bandwidth and storage requirements of audio data. Audio compression algorithms are implemented in software as audio codecs. Lossy audio compression algorithms provide higher compression at the cost of fidelity and are used in numerous audio applications. These algorithms almost all rely on psychoacoustics to eliminate less audible or meaningful sounds, thereby reducing the space required to store or transmit them.

Question: What has the potential to reduce the transmission bandwidth and storage requirements of audio data?


Answer: Audio compression algorithms

Question: What is inserted in software as audio codecs?


Answer: Lossy

Question: What compression algorithms provide higher compression at the cost of fidelity?


Answer: Lossless audio compression

Context: Lossless audio compression produces a representation of digital data that decompress to an exact digital duplicate of the original audio stream, unlike playback from lossy compression techniques such as Vorbis and MP3. Compression ratios are around 50–60% of original size, which is similar to those for generic lossless data compression. Lossless compression is unable to attain high compression ratios due to the complexity of waveforms and the rapid changes in sound forms. Codecs like FLAC, Shorten and TTA use linear prediction to estimate the spectrum of the signal. Many of these algorithms use convolution with the filter [-1 1] to slightly whiten or flatten the spectrum, thereby allowing traditional lossless compression to work more efficiently. The process is reversed upon decompression.

Question: What produces a representation of digital data that decompresses?


Answer: Lossless

Question: What compression cannot attain high compression ratios?


Answer: Compression ratios

Question: What are around 50-60% of the original size?


Answer: Lossy

Context: Lossy audio compression is used in a wide range of applications. In addition to the direct applications (mp3 players or computers), digitally compressed audio streams are used in most video DVDs, digital television, streaming media on the internet, satellite and cable radio, and increasingly in terrestrial radio broadcasts. Lossy compression typically achieves far greater compression than lossless compression (data of 5 percent to 20 percent of the original stream, rather than 50 percent to 60 percent), by discarding less-critical data.

Question: What compression is used in a lot of applications?


Answer: digitally compressed audio streams

Question: What is used in most video DVDs?


Answer: Lossy

Question: What compression usually achieves far greater compression then lossless?


Answer: Equal-loudness contours

Context: To determine what information in an audio signal is perceptually irrelevant, most lossy compression algorithms use transforms such as the modified discrete cosine transform (MDCT) to convert time domain sampled waveforms into a transform domain. Once transformed, typically into the frequency domain, component frequencies can be allocated bits according to how audible they are. Audibility of spectral components calculated using the absolute threshold of hearing and the principles of simultaneous masking—the phenomenon wherein a signal is masked by another signal separated by frequency—and, in some cases, temporal masking—where a signal is masked by another signal separated by time. Equal-loudness contours may also be used to weight the perceptual importance of components. Models of the human ear-brain combination incorporating such effects are often called psychoacoustic models.

Question: What may be used to weight the importance of components?


Answer: Models of the human ear-brain

Question: What are often called psychoacoustic models?


Answer: temporal masking

Question: What is the process called when a signal is masked by another signal separated by time?


Answer: linear predictive coding

Context: Other types of lossy compressors, such as the linear predictive coding (LPC) used with speech, are source-based coders. These coders use a model of the sound's generator (such as the human vocal tract with LPC) to whiten the audio signal (i.e., flatten its spectrum) before quantization. LPC may be thought of as a basic perceptual coding technique: reconstruction of an audio signal using a linear predictor shapes the coder's quantization noise into the spectrum of the target signal, partially masking it.

Question: What is the coding called that is used with speech?


Answer: linear predictive coding

Question: What is thought of as a basic perceptual coding technique?


Answer: source-based coders

Question: What uses a model of the sound's generator?


Answer: Latency

Context: Latency results from the methods used to encode and decode the data. Some codecs will analyze a longer segment of the data to optimize efficiency, and then code it in a manner that requires a larger segment of data at one time to decode. (Often codecs create segments called a "frame" to create discrete data segments for encoding and decoding.) The inherent latency of the coding algorithm can be critical; for example, when there is a two-way transmission of data, such as with a telephone conversation, significant delays may seriously degrade the perceived quality.

Question: What results from methods used to encode and decode data?


Answer: codecs

Question: What analyzes a statement of data to boost performance?


Answer: codecs

Question: What creates segments called a "frame"?


Answer: latency

Context: In contrast to the speed of compression, which is proportional to the number of operations required by the algorithm, here latency refers to the number of samples that must be analysed before a block of audio is processed. In the minimum case, latency is zero samples (e.g., if the coder/decoder simply reduces the number of bits used to quantize the signal). Time domain algorithms such as LPC also often have low latencies, hence their popularity in speech coding for telephony. In algorithms such as MP3, however, a large number of samples have to be analyzed to implement a psychoacoustic model in the frequency domain, and latency is on the order of 23 ms (46 ms for two-way communication)).

Question: What refers to the number of samples that must be analysed before a block of audio is processed?


Answer: latency

Question: What has zero samples in a minimum case?


Answer: LPC

Question: What often has low latencies?


Answer: voltage

Context: If the data to be compressed is analog (such as a voltage that varies with time), quantization is employed to digitize it into numbers (normally integers). This is referred to as analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion. If the integers generated by quantization are 8 bits each, then the entire range of the analog signal is divided into 256 intervals and all the signal values within an interval are quantized to the same number. If 16-bit integers are generated, then the range of the analog signal is divided into 65,536 intervals.

Question: What varies with time?


Answer: data

Question: What has to be compressed in order to perform properly?


Answer: analog-to-digital

Question: What does "A/D" stand for?


Answer: literature compendium

Context: A literature compendium for a large variety of audio coding systems was published in the IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications (JSAC), February 1988. While there were some papers from before that time, this collection documented an entire variety of finished, working audio coders, nearly all of them using perceptual (i.e. masking) techniques and some kind of frequency analysis and back-end noiseless coding. Several of these papers remarked on the difficulty of obtaining good, clean digital audio for research purposes. Most, if not all, of the authors in the JSAC edition were also active in the MPEG-1 Audio committee.

Question: What was published in the IEEE Journal in 1988?


Answer: finished, working audio coders

Question: What did the literature compendium document?


Answer: MPEG-1 Audio committee

Question: Where were most of the authors in the JSAC edition?


Answer: Oscar Bonello

Context: The world's first commercial broadcast automation audio compression system was developed by Oscar Bonello, an engineering professor at the University of Buenos Aires. In 1983, using the psychoacoustic principle of the masking of critical bands first published in 1967, he started developing a practical application based on the recently developed IBM PC computer, and the broadcast automation system was launched in 1987 under the name Audicom. Twenty years later, almost all the radio stations in the world were using similar technology manufactured by a number of companies.

Question: Who developed the first commercial broadcast automation audio compression system?


Answer: Oscar Bonello

Question: Who was an engineering professor at the University of Buenos Aires?


Answer: broadcast automation system

Question: What was launched in 1987 under the name Audicom?


Answer: video compression algorithms

Context: The majority of video compression algorithms use lossy compression. Uncompressed video requires a very high data rate. Although lossless video compression codecs perform at a compression factor of 5-12, a typical MPEG-4 lossy compression video has a compression factor between 20 and 200. As in all lossy compression, there is a trade-off between video quality, cost of processing the compression and decompression, and system requirements. Highly compressed video may present visible or distracting artifacts.

Question: What all mostly use lossy compression?


Answer: Uncompressed video

Question: What requires a high data rate?


Answer: Highly compressed video

Question: What may present visible or distracting artifacts?


Answer: video

Context: Some video compression schemes typically operate on square-shaped groups of neighboring pixels, often called macroblocks. These pixel groups or blocks of pixels are compared from one frame to the next, and the video compression codec sends only the differences within those blocks. In areas of video with more motion, the compression must encode more data to keep up with the larger number of pixels that are changing. Commonly during explosions, flames, flocks of animals, and in some panning shots, the high-frequency detail leads to quality decreases or to increases in the variable bitrate.

Question: What compression typically operate on square-shaped groups of pixels?


Answer: macroblocks

Question: What only sends the differences within those pixels and blocks?


Answer: variable bitrate

Question: What does high-frequency detail lead to?


Answer: Video data

Context: Video data may be represented as a series of still image frames. The sequence of frames contains spatial and temporal redundancy that video compression algorithms attempt to eliminate or code in a smaller size. Similarities can be encoded by only storing differences between frames, or by using perceptual features of human vision. For example, small differences in color are more difficult to perceive than are changes in brightness. Compression algorithms can average a color across these similar areas to reduce space, in a manner similar to those used in JPEG image compression. Some of these methods are inherently lossy while others may preserve all relevant information from the original, uncompressed video.

Question: What may be represented as a series of still image frames?


Answer: Compression algorithms

Question: What can average a color across similar areas to reduce space?


Answer: color

Question: What is hard to tell with smaller differences involved?


Answer: longer command

Context: The most powerful used method works by comparing each frame in the video with the previous one. If the frame contains areas where nothing has moved, the system simply issues a short command that copies that part of the previous frame, bit-for-bit, into the next one. If sections of the frame move in a simple manner, the compressor emits a (slightly longer) command that tells the decompressor to shift, rotate, lighten, or darken the copy. This longer command still remains much shorter than intraframe compression. Interframe compression works well for programs that will simply be played back by the viewer, but can cause problems if the video sequence needs to be edited.

Question: What still remains much shorter than intraframe compression?


Answer: the system simply issues a short command

Question: What happens when a frame contains areas where nothing has moved?


Answer: video

Question: What is a sequence that can be edited?


Answer: interframe compression

Context: Because interframe compression copies data from one frame to another, if the original frame is simply cut out (or lost in transmission), the following frames cannot be reconstructed properly. Some video formats, such as DV, compress each frame independently using intraframe compression. Making 'cuts' in intraframe-compressed video is almost as easy as editing uncompressed video: one finds the beginning and ending of each frame, and simply copies bit-for-bit each frame that one wants to keep, and discards the frames one doesn't want. Another difference between intraframe and interframe compression is that, with intraframe systems, each frame uses a similar amount of data. In most interframe systems, certain frames (such as "I frames" in MPEG-2) aren't allowed to copy data from other frames, so they require much more data than other frames nearby.

Question: What copies data from one frame to another?


Answer: DV

Question: What is a type of video format?


Answer: Making 'cuts'

Question: What is almost as easy as editing uncompressed video?


Answer: discrete cosine transform

Context: Today, nearly all commonly used video compression methods (e.g., those in standards approved by the ITU-T or ISO) apply a discrete cosine transform (DCT) for spatial redundancy reduction. The DCT that is widely used in this regard was introduced by N. Ahmed, T. Natarajan and K. R. Rao in 1974. Other methods, such as fractal compression, matching pursuit and the use of a discrete wavelet transform (DWT) have been the subject of some research, but are typically not used in practical products (except for the use of wavelet coding as still-image coders without motion compensation). Interest in fractal compression seems to be waning, due to recent theoretical analysis showing a comparative lack of effectiveness of such methods.

Question: What do all commonly used video compression methods use?


Answer: spatial redundancy reduction

Question: What does a DCT do?


Answer: fractal compression

Question: What is not used in practical products?


Answer: Genetics

Context: Genetics compression algorithms are the latest generation of lossless algorithms that compress data (typically sequences of nucleotides) using both conventional compression algorithms and genetic algorithms adapted to the specific datatype. In 2012, a team of scientists from Johns Hopkins University published a genetic compression algorithm that does not use a reference genome for compression. HAPZIPPER was tailored for HapMap data and achieves over 20-fold compression (95% reduction in file size), providing 2- to 4-fold better compression and in much faster time than the leading general-purpose compression utilities. For this, Chanda, Elhaik, and Bader introduced MAF based encoding (MAFE), which reduces the heterogeneity of the dataset by sorting SNPs by their minor allele frequency, thus homogenizing the dataset. Other algorithms in 2009 and 2013 (DNAZip and GenomeZip) have compression ratios of up to 1200-fold—allowing 6 billion basepair diploid human genomes to be stored in 2.5 megabytes (relative to a reference genome or averaged over many genomes).

Question: What are the latest generation of lossless algorithms?


Answer: MAFE

Question: What encoding reduces the heterogeneity of a dataset by sorting SNPs?


Answer: DNAZip and GenomeZip

Question: What two algorithms have compression ratios of up to 1200-fold?


Answer: Daily Mail

Context: The Sun had the largest circulation of any daily newspaper in the United Kingdom, but in late 2013 slipped to second largest Saturday newspaper behind the Daily Mail. It had an average daily circulation of 2.2 million copies in March 2014. Between July and December 2013 the paper had an average daily readership of approximately 5.5 million, with approximately 31% of those falling into the ABC1 demographic and 68% in the C2DE demographic. Approximately 41% of readers are women. The Sun has been involved in many controversies in its history, including its coverage of the 1989 Hillsborough football stadium disaster. Regional editions of the newspaper for Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are published in Glasgow (The Scottish Sun), Belfast (The Sun) and Dublin (The Irish Sun) respectively.

Question: Which newspaper overtook The Sun as largest Saturday UK newspaper?


Answer: 2.2 million copies

Question: What was the sun's circulation per day in March 2014?


Answer: C2DE demographic

Question: What was the largest demographic for readers of The Sun?


Answer: Approximately 41%

Question: What is the percentage of The Sun readers who are women?


Answer: 1989 Hillsborough football stadium disaster

Question: What is one controversial event covered by The Sun?


Answer: News of the World

Context: On 26 February 2012, The Sun on Sunday was launched to replace the closed News of the World, employing some of its former journalists. In late 2013, it was given a new look, with a new typeface. The average circulation for The Sun on Sunday in March 2014 was 1,686,840; but in May 2015 The Mail on Sunday sold more copies for the first time, an average of 28,650 over those of its rival: 1,497,855 to 1,469,195. Roy Greenslade issued some caveats over the May 2015 figures, but believes the weekday Daily Mail will overtake The Sun in circulation during 2016.

Question: Which newspaper did the The Sun on Sunday take the place of?


Answer: 2013

Question: In what year was The Sun's look changed?


Answer: 1,686,840

Question: What was the circulation of The Sun on Sunday in March 2014?


Answer: May 2015

Question: When did the Sunday Mail overtake The Sun in sales numbers?


Answer: during 2016

Question: When is the weekly Mail forecast to pass The Sun in terms of circulation?


Answer: Cecil King from Mark Abrams of Sussex University

Context: Research commissioned by Cecil King from Mark Abrams of Sussex University, The Newspaper Reading Public of Tomorrow, identified demographic changes which suggested reasons why the Herald might be in decline. The new paper was intended to add a readership of 'social radicals' to the Herald's 'political radicals'. Launched with an advertising budget of £400,000 the brash new paper "burst forth with tremendous energy", according to The Times. Its initial print run of 3.5 million was attributed to 'curiosity' and the 'advantage of novelty', and had declined to the previous circulation of the Daily Herald (1.2 million) within a few weeks.

Question: Who ordered research on the Herald?


Answer: demographic changes

Question: What was named as a potential reason for the Herald's decline?


Answer: 'social radicals'

Question: What type of people was the new paper supposed to attract?


Answer: £400,000

Question: What was the advertising budget of the new paper?


Answer: 3.5 million

Question: What was the number of papers in the first print run of the Times?


Answer: fewer redundancies

Context: Seizing the opportunity to increase his presence on Fleet Street, he made an agreement with the print unions, promising fewer redundancies if he acquired the newspaper. He assured IPC that he would publish a "straightforward, honest newspaper" which would continue to support Labour. IPC, under pressure from the unions, rejected Maxwell's offer, and Murdoch bought the paper for £800,000, to be paid in instalments. He would later remark: "I am constantly amazed at the ease with which I entered British newspapers."

Question: What did the prospective owner of the paper promise?


Answer: a "straightforward, honest newspaper"

Question: How did the prospective publisher describe the newspaper he would produce?


Answer: Labour

Question: Which party would the newspaper endorse?


Answer: £800,000

Question: What was the price paid for the newspaper?


Answer: Maxwell's offer

Question: Whose offer to buy the paper was turned down?


Answer: editor

Context: Murdoch found he had such a rapport with Larry Lamb over lunch that other potential recruits as editor were not interviewed and Lamb was appointed as the first editor of the new Sun. He was scathing in his opinion of the Mirror, where he had recently been employed as a senior sub-editor, and shared Murdoch's view that a paper's quality was best measured by its sales, and he regarded the Mirror as overstaffed, and primarily aimed at an ageing readership. Lamb hastily recruited a staff of about 125 reporters, who were mostly selected for their availability rather than their ability.

Question: What position did Larry Lamb take with the Sun?


Answer: scathing

Question: What type of view did Lamb have of the Mirror?


Answer: its sales

Question: What did Lamb and Murdoch believe to be the best indicator of newspaper quality?


Answer: senior sub-editor

Question: What position did Lamb formerly hold at the Mirror?


Answer: about 125

Question: How many reporters did Lamb hire for the Mirror's initial staff?


Answer: Sex

Context: Sex was used as an important element in the content and marketing the paper from the start, which Lamb believed was the most important part of his readers' lives. The first topless Page 3 model appeared on 17 November 1970, German-born Stephanie Rahn; she was tagged as a "Birthday Suit Girl" to mark the first anniversary of the relaunched Sun. A topless Page 3 model gradually became a regular fixture, and with increasingly risqué poses. Both feminists and many cultural conservatives saw the pictures as pornographic and misogynistic. Lamb expressed some regret at introducing the feature, although denied it was sexist. A Conservative council in Sowerby Bridge, Yorkshire, was the first to ban the paper from its public library, shortly after Page 3 began, because of its excessive sexual content. This decision was reversed after a sustained campaign by the newspaper itself lasting 16 months, and the election of a Labour-led council in 1971.

Question: What did Lamb employ as an important theme from the beginning of the paper?


Answer: 17 November 1970

Question: When did the first Page 3 model appear topless?


Answer: Stephanie Rahn

Question: Who was the first Page 3 topless model?


Answer: A Conservative council in Sowerby Bridge, Yorkshire

Question: Who was the first to prohibit the paper from being in its library?


Answer: 1971

Question: When was the library ban reversed?


Answer: nominally Labour

Context: Politically, The Sun in the early Murdoch years, remained nominally Labour. It supported the Labour Party led by Harold Wilson in the 1970 General Election, with the headline "Why It Must Be Labour" but by February 1974 it was calling for a vote for the Conservative Party led by Edward Heath while suggesting that it might support a Labour Party led by James Callaghan or Roy Jenkins. In the October election an editorial asserted: "ALL our instincts are left rather than right and we would vote for any able politician who would describe himself as a Social Democrat."

Question: What were the Sun's political leanings early on under Murdoch?


Answer: Harold Wilson

Question: Who led the Labour Party in the 1970 General Election?


Answer: Edward Heath

Question: Who did the Sun support in 1974?


Answer: James Callaghan or Roy Jenkins

Question: Who would the Sun consider supporting from the Labour Party in 1974?


Answer: any able politician who would describe himself as a Social Democrat

Question: What type of politician did a Sun editorial state that it would support in October 1974?


Answer: Bernard Shrimsley

Context: The editor, Larry Lamb, was originally from a Labour background, with a socialist upbringing while his temporary replacement Bernard Shrimsley (1972–75) was a middle-class uncommitted Conservative. An extensive advertising campaign on the ITV network in this period, voiced by actor Christopher Timothy, may have helped The Sun to overtake the Daily Mirror's circulation in 1978. Despite the industrial relations of the 1970s – the so-called "Spanish practices" of the print unions – The Sun was very profitable, enabling Murdoch to expand his operations to the United States from 1973.

Question: Who temporarily replaced Larry Lamb?


Answer: middle-class uncommitted Conservative.

Question: What was Shrimsley's political background?


Answer: Christopher Timothy

Question: Who lent his voice to a campaign that aided The Sun in passing the Daily Mirror in 1978?


Answer: United States

Question: Where did Murdoch begin expanding?


Answer: 1973

Question: When did Murdoch begin expanding into the U.S?


Answer: The Daily Star

Context: The Daily Star had been launched in 1978 by Express Newspaper, and by 1981 had begun to affect sales of The Sun. Bingo was introduced as a marketing tool and a 2p drop in cover price removed the Daily Star's competitive advantage opening a new circulation battle which resulted in The Sun neutralising the threat of the new paper. The new editor of The Sun, Kelvin MacKenzie, took up his post in 1981 just after these developments, and "changed the British tabloid concept more profoundly than [Larry] Lamb did", according to Bruce Page, MacKenzie The paper became "more outrageous, opinionated and irreverent than anything ever produced in Britain".

Question: What newspaper was founded by Express Newspaper?


Answer: 1981

Question: By what year had The Daily Star started impacting The Sun's sales?


Answer: Bingo was introduced as a marketing tool and a 2p drop in cover price

Question: What helped the Sun overcome the Daily Star's challenge?


Answer: Kelvin MacKenzie

Question: Who became editor of the Sun in 1981?


Answer: changed the British tabloid concept more profoundly than [Larry] Lamb did"

Question: What impact was Mackenzie said to have?


Answer: a British missile

Context: On 1 May, The Sun claimed to have 'sponsored' a British missile. Under the headline "Stick This Up Your Junta: A Sun missile for Galtieri’s gauchos", the newspaper published a photograph of a missile, (actually a Polaris missile stock shot from the Ministry of Defence) which had a large Sun logo printed on its side with the caption "Here It Comes, Senors..." underneath. The paper explained that it was 'sponsoring' the missile by contributing to the eventual victory party on HMS Invincible when the war ended. In copy written by Wendy Henry, the paper said that the missile would shortly be used against Argentinian forces. Despite this, it was not well received by the troops and copies of The Sun were soon burnt. Tony Snow, The Sun journalist on HMS Invincible who had 'signed' the missile, reported a few days later that it had hit an Argentinian target.

Question: What did The Sun state that had it taken sponsorship of?


Answer: "Here It Comes, Senors..."

Question: What did the wording on the side of The Sun missile state?


Answer: Argentinian forces

Question: Who did The Sun state that the missile would be used against?


Answer: it was not well received

Question: How did troops react to the missile?


Answer: Tony Snow

Question: What was the name of The Sun journalist who reported on the missile?


Answer: "GOTCHA"

Context: One of the paper's best known front pages, published on 4 May 1982, commemorated the torpedoing of the Argentine ship the General Belgrano by running the story under the headline "GOTCHA". At MacKenzie's insistence, and against the wishes of Murdoch (the mogul was present because almost all the journalists were on strike), the headline was changed for later editions after the extent of Argentinian casualties became known. John Shirley, a reporter for The Sunday Times, witnessed copies of this edition of The Sun being thrown overboard by sailors and marines on HMS Fearless.

Question: What was the Sun's headline on 4 May 1982?


Answer: the General Belgrano

Question: Which Argentine ship was torpedoed?


Answer: the extent of Argentinian casualties became known

Question: Why did The Sun change the wording of the headline?


Answer: John Shirley

Question: Which reporter saw copies of The Sun being thrown into the ocean?


Answer: HMS Fearless

Question: What ship were copies of The Sun thrown from?


Answer: HMS Sheffield

Context: After HMS Sheffield was wrecked by an Argentinian attack, The Sun was heavily criticised and even mocked for its coverage of the war in The Daily Mirror and The Guardian, and the wider media queried the veracity of official information and worried about the number of casualties, The Sun gave its response. "There are traitors in our midst", wrote leader writer Ronald Spark on 7 May, accusing commentators on Daily Mirror and The Guardian, plus the BBC's defence correspondent Peter Snow, of "treason" for aspects of their coverage.

Question: Which ship was the target of Argentinian aggression?


Answer: The Daily Mirror and The Guardian

Question: Which newspapers were highly critical of The Sun's war reporting?


Answer: Ronald Spark

Question: Who was lead writer of The Sun?


Answer: Peter Snow

Question: Who was the BBC's defense correspondent?


Answer: treason

Question: What was the accusation leveled by Ronald Spark against The Daily Mirror, The Guardian, and BBC?


Answer: Michael Foot

Context: These years included what was called "spectacularly malicious coverage" of the Labour Party by The Sun and other newspapers. During the general election of 1983 The Sun ran a front page featuring an unflattering photograph of Michael Foot, then aged almost 70, claiming he was unfit to be Prime Minister on grounds of his age, appearance and policies, alongside the headline "Do You Really Want This Old Fool To Run Britain?" A year later, in 1984, The Sun made clear its enthusiastic support for the re-election of Ronald Reagan as president in the USA. Reagan was two weeks off his 74th birthday when he started his second term, in January 1985.

Question: Who did The Sun say was not fit to be Prime Minister in 1983?


Answer: Labour Party

Question: Which party was The Sun accused of covering maliciously?


Answer: Ronald Reagan

Question: Who did The Sun support in the 1984 U.S. presidential election?


Answer: 74

Question: How old would Ronald Reagan turn soon after he began his second term as U.S. president?


Answer: "Do You Really Want This Old Fool To Run Britain?"

Question: What did the headline read that was run with Michael Foot's photo?


Answer: the police and the Thatcher government

Context: The Sun, during the Miners' strike of 1984–85, supported the police and the Thatcher government against the striking NUM miners, and in particular the union's president, Arthur Scargill. On 23 May 1984, The Sun prepared a front page with the headline "Mine Führer" and a photograph of Scargill with his arm in the air, a pose which made him look as though he was giving a Nazi salute. The print workers at The Sun refused to print it. The Sun strongly supported the April 1986 bombing of Libya by the US, which was launched from British bases. Several civilians were killed during the bombing. Their leader was "Right Ron, Right Maggie". That year, Labour MP Clare Short attempted in vain to persuade Parliament to outlaw the pictures on Page Three and gained opprobrium from the newspaper for her stand.

Question: Who did The Sun support in the 1984-85 Miners' strike?


Answer: Arthur Scargill

Question: Who was president of the Miners' union?


Answer: giving a Nazi salute

Question: What did a picture of Scargill have him appear to be doing?


Answer: strongly supported the April 1986 bombing

Question: How did The Sun feel about the American bombing of Libya in 1986?


Answer: Clare Short

Question: Who was Labour M.P. in 1986?


Answer: "snobs" who want to "impose their tastes on everyone else"

Context: Murdoch has responded to some of the arguments against the newspaper by saying that critics are "snobs" who want to "impose their tastes on everyone else", while MacKenzie claims the same critics are people who, if they ever had a "popular idea", would have to "go and lie down in a dark room for half an hour". Both have pointed to the huge commercial success of the Sun in this period and its establishment as Britain's top-selling newspaper, claiming that they are "giving the public what they want". This conclusion is disputed by critics. John Pilger has said that a late-1970s edition of the Daily Mirror, which replaced the usual celebrity and domestic political news items with an entire issue devoted to his own front-line reporting of the genocide in Pol Pot's Cambodia, not only outsold The Sun on the day it was issued but became the only edition of the Daily Mirror to ever sell every single copy issued throughout the country, something never achieved by The Sun.

Question: How did Murdoch describe critics of his newspaper?


Answer: they are "giving the public what they want"

Question: What did Murdoch and Mackenzie say in defense of The Sun?


Answer: John Pilger

Question: Who is one critic of The Sun?


Answer: the genocide in Pol Pot's Cambodia

Question: What was the focus of Pilger's reporting in one issue of The Daily Mirror?


Answer: the only edition of the Daily Mirror to ever sell every single copy issued throughout the country

Question: What distinction does one single edition of The Daily Mirror hold?


Answer: Clifford and Angela Levin

Context: According to Max Clifford: Read All About It, written by Clifford and Angela Levin, La Salle invented the story out of frustration with Starr who had been working on a book with McCaffrey. She contacted an acquaintance who worked for The Sun in Manchester. The story reportedly delighted MacKenzie, who was keen to run it, and Max Clifford, who had been Starr's public relations agent. Starr had to be persuaded that the apparent revelation would not damage him; the attention helped to revive his career. In his 2001 autobiography Unwrapped, Starr wrote that the incident was a complete fabrication: "I have never eaten or even nibbled a live hamster, gerbil, guinea pig, mouse, shrew, vole or any other small mammal."

Question: Who wrote Max Clifford: Read All About It?


Answer: Starr

Question: Who was writing a book with McCaffrey?


Answer: Max Clifford

Question: Who was previously Starr's public relations agent?


Answer: the attention helped to revive his career

Question: How did attention from the story impact Starr's career?


Answer: Unwrapped

Question: What was the name of Starr's autobiography?


Answer: 17

Context: Eventually resulting in 17 libel writs in total, The Sun ran a series of false stories about the pop musician Elton John from 25 February 1987. They began with an invented account of the singer having sexual relationships with rent boys. The singer-songwriter was abroad on the day indicated in the story, as former Sun journalist John Blake, recently poached by the Daily Mirror, soon discovered. After further stories, in September 1987, The Sun accused John of having his Rottweiler guard dogs voice boxes surgically removed. In November, the Daily Mirror found their rival's only source for the rent boy story and he admitted it was a totally fictitious concoction created for money. The inaccurate story about his dogs, actually Alsatians, put pressure on The Sun, and John received £1 million in an out of court settlement, then the largest damages payment in British history. The Sun ran a front-page apology on 12 December 1988, under the banner headline "SORRY, ELTON". In May 1987 gay men were offered free one-way airline tickets to Norway to leave Britain for good: "Fly Away Gays - And We Will Pay" was the paper's headline. Gay Church of England clergymen were described in one headline in November 1987 as "Pulpit poofs".

Question: How many libel writs did The Sun get for their coverage of Elton John?


Answer: rent boys

Question: Who did The Sun allege that Elton John had sex with?


Answer: John Blake

Question: What journalist did The Daily Mirror wrest from The Sun?


Answer: Rottweiler

Question: What breed of dog did The Sun mistakenly report that Elton John owned?


Answer: Norway

Question: Where did The Sun offer to fly gay men in 1987?


Answer: the sexuality of male pop stars

Context: Television personality Piers Morgan, a former editor of the Daily Mirror and of The Sun's Bizarre pop column, has said that during the late 1980s, at Kelvin MacKenzie's behest, he was ordered to speculate on the sexuality of male pop stars for a feature headlined "The Poofs of Pop". He also recalls MacKenzie headlining a January 1989 story about the first same-sex kiss on the BBC television soap opera EastEnders "EastBenders", describing the kiss between Colin Russell and Guido Smith as "a homosexual love scene between yuppie poofs ... when millions of children were watching".

Question: What did Piers Morgan offer opinions about in a late 1980s column?


Answer: Daily Mirror and of The Sun

Question: Which papers did Morgan serve as editor of?


Answer: EastEnders

Question: Which BBC show's homosexual kiss did The Sun report on?


Answer: Colin Russell and Guido Smith

Question: Who shared the first homosexual kiss on EastEnders?


Answer: Bizarre pop column

Question: Which column did Piers Morgan edit at The Sun?


Answer: "STRAIGHT SEX CANNOT GIVE YOU AIDS – OFFICIAL."

Context: On 17 November 1989, The Sun headlined a page 2 news story titled "STRAIGHT SEX CANNOT GIVE YOU AIDS – OFFICIAL." The Sun favourably cited the opinions of Lord Kilbracken, a member of the All Parliamentary Group on AIDS. Lord Kilbracken said that only one person out of the 2,372 individuals with HIV/AIDS mentioned in a specific Department of Health report was not a member of a "high risk group", such as homosexuals and recreational drug users. The Sun also ran an editorial further arguing that "At last the truth can be told... the risk of catching AIDS if you are heterosexual is "statistically invisible". In other words, impossible. So now we know – everything else is homosexual propaganda." Although many other British press services covered Lord Kilbracken's public comments, none of them made the argument that the Sun did in its editorial and none of them presented Lord Kilbracken's ideas without context or criticism.

Question: What was the headline for a page 2 Sun story on 17 November 1989?


Answer: Lord Kilbracken

Question: Whose opinion did The Sun trust in their AIDS reporting?


Answer: homosexuals and recreational drug users

Question: Which groups were classified as being at a high risk for AIDS?


Answer: All Parliamentary Group on AIDS

Question: With which group was Lord Kilbracken associated?


Answer: none of them presented Lord Kilbracken's ideas without context or criticism

Question: How did other news outlets report on Lord Kilbracken's words?


Answer: The Sun and Lord Kilbracken cherry-picked the results from one specific study while ignoring other data reports on HIV infection and not just AIDS infection

Context: Critics stated that both The Sun and Lord Kilbracken cherry-picked the results from one specific study while ignoring other data reports on HIV infection and not just AIDS infection, which the critics viewed as unethical politicisation of a medical issue. Lord Kilbracken himself criticised The Sun's editorial and the headline of its news story; he stated that while he thought that gay people were more at risk of developing AIDS it was still wrong to imply that no one else could catch the disease. The Press Council condemned The Sun for committing what it called a "gross distortion". The Sun later ran an apology, which they ran on Page 28. Journalist David Randall argued in the textbook The Universal Journalist that The Sun's story was one of the worst cases of journalistic malpractice in recent history, putting its own readers in harm's way.

Question: What did critics believe about The Sun and Lord Kilbracken's ideas on AIDS?


Answer: Lord Kilbracken himself criticised The Sun's editorial and the headline of its news story

Question: What did Lord Kilbracken think of The Sun's editorial?


Answer: The Press Council

Question: Who criticized The Sun for its reporting on AIDS and HIV?


Answer: The Sun's story was one of the worst cases of journalistic malpractice in recent history

Question: What did David Randall say about the Sun's AIDS story?


Answer: The Universal Journalist

Question: In what textbook did David Randall write his opinion?


Answer: picked the pockets of crushed victims

Context: Under a front page headline "The Truth", the paper printed allegations provided to them that some fans picked the pockets of crushed victims, that others urinated on members of the emergency services as they tried to help and that some even assaulted a police constable "whilst he was administering the kiss of life to a patient." Despite the headline, written by Kelvin MacKenzie, the story was based on allegations either by unnamed and unattributable sources, or hearsay accounts of what named individuals had said – a fact made clear to MacKenzie by Harry Arnold, the reporter who wrote the story.

Question: What did the paper report that some fans did?


Answer: a police constable

Question: Who was reported to have been assaulted while trying to help a patient?


Answer: Kelvin MacKenzie

Question: Who wrote the headline "The Truth"?


Answer: Harry Arnold

Question: Who wrote the actual story?


Answer: allegations either by unnamed and unattributable sources, or hearsay accounts of what named individuals had said

Question: What was the story based on?


Answer: Liverpool

Context: The front page caused outrage in Liverpool, where the paper lost more than three-quarters of its estimated 55,000 daily sales and still sells poorly in the city more than 25 years later (around 12,000). It is unavailable in many parts of the city, as many newsagents refuse to stock it. It was revealed in a documentary called Alexei Sayle's Liverpool, aired in September 2008, that many Liverpudlians will not even take the newspaper for free, and those who do may simply burn or tear it up. Liverpudlians refer to the paper as 'The Scum' with campaigners believing it handicapped their fight for justice.

Question: Where did The sun lose a large portion of its daily sales as a result of the front page?


Answer: around 12,000

Question: What were the estimated daily sales in Liverpool 25 years later?


Answer: Alexei Sayle's Liverpool

Question: What documentary aired in 2008?


Answer: simply burn or tear it up

Question: What do many Liverpool residents do with the paper even if given to them free?


Answer: The Scum'

Question: What name have Liverpool residents given to The Sun?


Answer: Wayne Rooney

Context: On 7 July 2004, in response to verbal attacks in Liverpool on Wayne Rooney, just before his transfer from Everton to Manchester United, who had sold his life story to The Sun, the paper devoted a full-page editorial to an apology for the "awful error" of its Hillsborough coverage and argued that Rooney (who was still only three years old at the time of Hillsborough) should not be punished for its "past sins". In January 2005, The Sun's managing editor Graham Dudman admitting the Hillsborough coverage was "the worst mistake in our history", added: "What we did was a terrible mistake. It was a terrible, insensitive, horrible article, with a dreadful headline; but what we'd also say is: we have apologised for it, and the entire senior team here now is completely different from the team that put the paper out in 1989."

Question: Which footballer was verbally attacked in Liverpool?


Answer: Manchester United

Question: What team did Rooney transfer to?


Answer: three years old

Question: What was Rooney's age at the time of the Hillsborough disaster?


Answer: Graham Dudman

Question: Who was managing editor of The Sun in 2005?


Answer: "the worst mistake in our history"

Question: How did Dudman describe The Sun's Hillsborough coverage?


Answer: November 1990

Context: The Sun remained loyal to Thatcher right up to her resignation in November 1990, despite the party's fall in popularity over the previous year following the introduction of the Poll tax (officially known as the Community Charge). This change to the way local government is funded was vociferously supported by the newspaper, despite widespread opposition, (some from Conservative MPs), which is seen as having contributed to Thatcher's own downfall. The tax was quickly repealed by her successor John Major, whom The Sun initially supported enthusiastically, believing he was a radical Thatcherite – despite the economy having entered recession at this time.

Question: When did Margaret Thatcher leave office?


Answer: Poll tax

Question: What is another name for the Community Charge?


Answer: John Major

Question: Who took over for Thatcher?


Answer: Conservative MPs

Question: Who opposed the poll tax?


Answer: was vociferously supported by the newspaper

Question: How did The Sun feel about the Poll tax?


Answer: Thatcherite policies

Context: Despite its initial opposition to the closures, until 1997, the newspaper repeatedly called for the implementation of further Thatcherite policies, such as Royal Mail privatisation,[verification needed] and social security cutbacks, with leaders such as "Peter Lilley is right, we can't carry on like this",[verification needed] The paper showed hostility to the EU and approval of public spending cuts, tax cuts, and promotion of right-wing ministers to the cabinet, with leaders such as "More of the Redwood, not Deadwood".

Question: What types of policies did The Sun support?


Answer: Royal Mail privatisation

Question: What is an example of a Thatcherite policy?


Answer: The paper showed hostility

Question: What was The Sun's stance toward the EU?


Answer: promotion of right-wing ministers to the cabinet

Question: What's another thing the paper showed hostility to?


Answer: opposition

Question: What was The Sun's initial stance toward the closures?


Answer: Labour party

Context: The Sun switched support to the Labour party on 18 March 1997, six weeks before the General Election victory which saw the New Labour leader Tony Blair become Prime Minister with a large parliamentary majority, despite the paper having attacked Blair and New Labour up to a month earlier. Its front page headline read THE SUN BACKS BLAIR and its front page editorial made clear that while it still opposed some New Labour policies, such as the Minimum Wage and Devolution, it believed Blair to be "the breath of fresh air this great country needs". John Major's Conservatives, it said, were "tired, divided and rudderless". Blair, who had radically altered his party's image and policies, noting the influence the paper could have over its readers' political thinking, had courted it (and Murdoch) for some time by granting exclusive interviews and writing columns.

Question: Who did The Sun declare political endorsement of in 1997?


Answer: Tony Blair

Question: Who became Prime Minister in 1997?


Answer: Minimum Wage and Devolution

Question: Which New Labour policies did The Sun oppose?


Answer: "tired, divided and rudderless"

Question: How did The Sun describe John Major's Conservatives?


Answer: Blair

Question: Who greatly changed the image of the Labour party?


Answer: not to join the European Exchange Rate Mechanism

Context: In exchange for Rupert Murdoch's support, Blair agreed not to join the European Exchange Rate Mechanism – which John Major had withdrawn the country from in September 1992 after barely two years. Cabinet Minister Peter Mandelson was "outed" by Matthew Parris (a former Sun columnist) on BBC TV's Newsnight in November 1998. Misjudging public response, The Sun's editor David Yelland demanded to know in a front page editorial whether Britain was governed by a "gay mafia" of a "closed world of men with a mutual self-interest". Three days later the paper apologised in another editorial which said The Sun would never again reveal a person's sexuality unless it could be defended on the grounds of "overwhelming public interest".

Question: What did Blair agree to in order to get the support of Rupert Murdoch?


Answer: Peter Mandelson

Question: Who was Cabinet Minister in 1998?


Answer: Peter Mandelson was "outed" by Matthew Parris

Question: What happened on BBC's Newsnight in 1998?


Answer: David Yelland

Question: Who was editor of The Sun in 1998?


Answer: The Sun would never again reveal a person's sexuality unless it could be defended on the grounds of "overwhelming public interest"

Question: What did The Sun say its policy about revealing an individual's sexuality would be moving forward?


Answer: racism

Context: In 2003 the paper was accused of racism by the Government over its criticisms of what it perceived as the "open door" policy on immigration. The attacks came from the Prime Minister's press spokesman Alastair Campbell and the Home Secretary David Blunkett (later a Sun columnist). The paper rebutted the claim, believing that it was not racist to suggest that a "tide" of unchecked illegal immigrants was increasing the risk of terrorist attacks and infectious diseases. It did not help its argument by publishing a front page story on 4 July 2003, under the headline "Swan Bake", which claimed that asylum seekers were slaughtering and eating swans. It later proved to have no basis in fact. Subsequently The Sun published a follow-up headlined "Now they're after our fish!". Following a Press Complaints Commission adjudication a "clarification" was eventually printed, on page 41. In 2005 The Sun published photographs of Prince Harry sporting a Nazi costume to a fancy dress party. The photographs caused outrage across the world and Clarence House was forced to issue a statement in response apologising for any offence or embarrassment caused.

Question: What allegation did the government level against The Sun in 2003?


Answer: Prime Minister's press spokesman Alastair Campbell and the Home Secretary David Blunkett

Question: Who specifically leveled the allegations against The Sun?


Answer: asylum seekers were slaughtering and eating swans

Question: What did a 4 July 2003 front page story claim?


Answer: immigration

Question: From which issue did claims that The Sun was racist stem?


Answer: Prince Harry

Question: Who did The Sun print pictures of in a Nazi outfit in 2005?


Answer: Blair and Labour

Context: Despite being a persistent critic of some of the government's policies, the paper supported Labour in both subsequent elections the party won. For the 2005 general election, The Sun backed Blair and Labour for a third consecutive election win and vowed to give him "one last chance" to fulfil his promises, despite berating him for several weaknesses including a failure to control immigration. However, it did speak of its hope that the Conservatives (led by Michael Howard) would one day be fit for a return to government. This election (Blair had declared it would be his last as prime minister) resulted in Labour's third successive win but with a much reduced majority.

Question: Who did The Sun endorse in the 2005 general election?


Answer: failure to control immigration

Question: What is one of the weaknesses The Sun thought Blair possessed?


Answer: Michael Howard

Question: Who was leading the Conservatives at this time?


Answer: it would be his last as prime minister

Question: What did Blair state about the 2005 election?


Answer: Labour's third successive win

Question: What was the result of the 2005 election?


Answer: mental health

Context: On 22 September 2003 the newspaper appeared to misjudge the public mood surrounding mental health, as well as its affection for former world heavyweight champion boxer Frank Bruno, who had been admitted to hospital, when the headline "Bonkers Bruno Locked Up" appeared on the front page of early editions. The adverse reaction, once the paper had hit the streets on the evening of 21 September, led to the headline being changed for the paper's second edition to the more sympathetic "Sad Bruno In Mental Home".

Question: What was the subject of the front page on 22 September 2003?


Answer: Frank Bruno

Question: Who was featured in the article on mental health?


Answer: Bonkers Bruno Locked Up

Question: What was the original headline on 22 September 2003?


Answer: Sad Bruno In Mental Home

Question: What was the headline changed to after public backlash?


Answer: had been admitted to hospital

Question: What had happened to Frank Bruno to spur the publishing of a story about him?


Answer: French and Germans

Context: The Sun has been openly antagonistic towards other European nations, particularly the French and Germans. During the 1980s and 1990s, the nationalities were routinely described in copy and headlines as "frogs", "krauts" or "hun". As the paper is opposed to the EU it has referred to foreign leaders who it deemed hostile to the UK in unflattering terms. Former President Jacques Chirac of France, for instance, was branded "le Worm". An unflattering picture of German chancellor Angela Merkel, taken from the rear, bore the headline "I'm Big in the Bumdestag" (17 April 2006).

Question: Which two nations has The Sun been very antagonistic towards?


Answer: "frogs", "krauts" or "hun"

Question: What names were used by The Sun to characterize the French and Germans?


Answer: opposed

Question: What is the paper's stance on the EU?


Answer: le Worm

Question: How was French president Jacques Chirac described by The Sun?


Answer: Angela Merkel

Question: Which German chancellor was criticized by The Sun?


Answer: a British Muslim internet forum

Context: On 7 January 2009, The Sun ran an exclusive front page story claiming that participants in a discussion on Ummah.com, a British Muslim internet forum, had made a "hate hit list" of British Jews to be targeted by extremists over the Gaza War. It was claimed that "Those listed [on the forum] should treat it very seriously. Expect a hate campaign and intimidation by 20 or 30 thugs." The UK magazine Private Eye claimed that Glen Jenvey, a man quoted by The Sun as a terrorism expert, who had been posting to the forum under the pseudonym "Abuislam", was the only forum member promoting a hate campaign while other members promoted peaceful advocacy, such as writing 'polite letters'. The story has since been removed from The Sun's website following complaints to the UK's Press Complaints Commission.

Question: What type of forum was the subject of a January 2009 front page story in The Sun?


Answer: a "hate hit list" of British Jews

Question: Who was said to be targeted in The Sun's front page story?


Answer: Private Eye

Question: What magazine refuted the claims made by The Sun in its article about the forum?


Answer: Glen Jenvey

Question: According to Private Eye who was the only forum member expressing wishes for a hate campaign?


Answer: UK's Press Complaints Commission

Question: Complaints to which body led to The Sun removing the story from its website?


Answer: Granada Television in Manchester

Context: On 9 December 2010, The Sun published a front-page story claiming that terrorist group Al-Qaeda had threatened a terrorist attack on Granada Television in Manchester to disrupt the episode of the soap opera Coronation Street to be transmitted live that evening. The paper cited unnamed sources, claiming "cops are throwing a ring of steel around tonight's live episode of Coronation Street over fears it has been targeted by Al-Qaeda." Later that morning, however, Greater Manchester Police categorically denied having "been made aware of any threat from Al-Qaeda or any other proscribed organisation." The Sun published a small correction on 28 December, admitting "that while cast and crew were subject to full body searches, there was no specific threat from Al-Qaeda as we reported." The apology had been negotiated by the Press Complaints Commission. For the day following the 2011 Norway attacks The Sun produced an early edition blaming the massacre on al-Qaeda. Later the perpetrator was revealed to be Anders Behring Breivik, a Norwegian nationalist.

Question: What was the claimed target of a terrorist attack according to a late 2010 Sun front page story?


Answer: Coronation Street

Question: What was the television program that would have been affected by the attack?


Answer: categorically denied having "been made aware of any threat from Al-Qaeda or any other proscribed organisation."

Question: What did the Manchester police say about these claimed attacks?


Answer: the Press Complaints Commission

Question: Who negotiated an apology from The Sun for its misreporting of this story?


Answer: Anders Behring Breivik,

Question: Who was responsible for the 2011 Norway attacks?


Answer: January 2008

Context: In January 2008 the Wapping presses printed The Sun for the last time and London printing was transferred to Waltham Cross in the Borough of Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, where News International had built what is claimed to be the largest printing centre in Europe with 12 presses. The site also produces The Times and Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, Wall Street Journal Europe (also now a Murdoch newspaper), London's Evening Standard and local papers. Northern printing had earlier been switched to a new plant at Knowsley on Merseyside and the Scottish Sun to another new plant at Motherwell near Glasgow. The three print centres represent a £600 million investment by NI and allowed all the titles to be produced with every page in full colour from 2008. The Waltham Cross plant is capable of producing one million copies an hour of a 120-page tabloid newspaper.

Question: When was The Sun printed on the Wapping presses for the last time?


Answer: Waltham Cross in the Borough of Broxbourne in Hertfordshire

Question: Where was London printing of The Sun moved to?


Answer: 12

Question: How many presses were there at the new printing facility?


Answer: Knowsley on Merseyside

Question: Where had northern printing been moved to?


Answer: £600 million

Question: How much had been invested in the new printing locations?


Answer: Gordon Brown

Context: Politically, the paper's stance was less clear under Prime Minister Gordon Brown who succeeded Blair in June 2007. Its editorials were critical of many of Brown's policies and often more supportive of those of Conservative leader David Cameron. Rupert Murdoch, head of The Sun's parent company News Corporation, speaking at a 2007 meeting with the House of Lords Select Committee on Communications, which was investigating media ownership and the news, said that he acts as a "traditional proprietor". This means he exercises editorial control on major issues such as which political party to back in a general election or which policy to adopt on Europe.

Question: Who followed Tony Blair as Prime Minister?


Answer: David Cameron

Question: Who was the Conservative leader that The Sun often supported?


Answer: News Corporation

Question: What is the name of the company that operates The Sun?


Answer: media ownership and the news

Question: What was the House of Lords Select Committee on Communications investigating in 2007?


Answer: which political party to back in a general election or which policy to adopt on Europe

Question: On which issues did Murdoch claim he exerted editorial control?


Answer: James Murdoch and Rebekah Wade

Context: During the campaign for the United Kingdom general election, 2010, The Independent ran ads declaring that "Rupert Murdoch won't decide this election – you will." In response James Murdoch and Rebekah Wade "appeared unannounced and uninvited on the editorial floor" of the Independent, and had an energetic conversation with its editor Simon Kelner. Several days later the Independent reported The Sun's failure to report its own YouGov poll result which said that "if people thought Mr Clegg's party had a significant chance of winning the election" the Liberal Democrats would win 49% of the vote, and with it a landslide majority.

Question: Who showed up on the editorial floor of the Independent?


Answer: Simon Kelner

Question: Who was the editor of the Independent?


Answer: its own YouGov poll result

Question: What did The Sun neglect to report concerning the upcoming election?


Answer: Rupert Murdoch

Question: Who did the Independent state wouldn't decide the election?


Answer: 2010

Question: What year was the United Kingdom general election?


Answer: David Cameron

Context: On election day (6 May 2010), The Sun urged its readers to vote for David Cameron's "modern and positive" Conservatives in order to save Britain from "disaster" which the paper thought the country would face if the Labour government was re-elected. The election ended in the first hung parliament after an election for 36 years, with the Tories gaining the most seats and votes but being 20 seats short of an overall majority. They finally came to power on 11 May when Gordon Brown stepped down as prime minister, paving the way for David Cameron to become prime minister by forming a coalition with the Liberal Democrats.

Question: Who did The Sun advocate for the 2010 election?


Answer: disaster

Question: What did The Sun fear would result from election of the Labour Party?


Answer: hung parliament

Question: What was the outcome of the general election?


Answer: Tories

Question: Which party came to power after the election?


Answer: Liberal Democrats

Question: Who did David Cameron align with in order to become Prime Minister?


Answer: as part of a probe in which journalists paid police officers for information

Context: On 28 January 2012, police arrested four current and former staff members of The Sun, as part of a probe in which journalists paid police officers for information; a police officer was also arrested in the probe. The Sun staffers arrested were crime editor Mike Sullivan, head of news Chris Pharo, former deputy editor Fergus Shanahan, and former managing editor Graham Dudman, who since became a columnist and media writer. All five arrested were held on suspicion of corruption. Police also searched the offices of News International, the publishers of The Sun, as part of a continuing investigation into the News of the World scandal.

Question: Why were former Sun staff members put in police custody in early 2012?


Answer: suspicion of corruption

Question: What was the charge against those arrested?


Answer: the News of the World scandal

Question: What greater scandal was this investigation a part of?


Answer: crime editor Mike Sullivan, head of news Chris Pharo, former deputy editor Fergus Shanahan, and former managing editor Graham Dudman

Question: Which Sun staffers were arrested?


Answer: columnist and media writer

Question: What role had Graham Dudman taken after serving as The Sun managing editor?


Answer: David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband

Context: The main party leaders, David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband, were all depicted holding a copy of the special issue in publicity material. Miliband's decision to pose with a copy of The Sun received a strong response. Organisations representing the relatives of Hillsborough victims described Miliband's action as an "absolute disgrace" and he faced criticism too from Liverpool Labour MPs and the city's Labour Mayor, Joe Anderson. A statement was issued on 13 June explaining that Miliband "was promoting England's bid to win the World Cup", although "he understands the anger that is felt towards the Sun over Hillsborough by many people in Merseyside and he is sorry to those who feel offended."

Question: Who were the main leaders of the ruling party?


Answer: Liverpool Labour MPs and the city's Labour Mayor, Joe Anderson

Question: Who criticized Milliband for posing with a copy of The Sun showing the Hillsborough disaster?


Answer: promoting England's bid to win the World Cup

Question: How did Milliband explain posing with this newspaper?


Answer: Joe Anderson

Question: Who was the Labour Mayour of Liverpool?


Answer: anger

Question: What emotion did many people feel over The Sun's coverage of Hillsborough?


Answer: Tulisa Contostavlos

Context: On 2 June 2013, The Sun on Sunday ran a front page story on singer-songwriter Tulisa Contostavlos. The front page read: "Tulisa's cocaine deal shame"; this story was written by The Sun On Sunday's undercover reporter Mahzer Mahmood, who had previously worked for the News of the World. It was claimed that Tulisa introduced three film producers (actually Mahmood and two other Sun journalists) to a drug dealer and set up a £800 deal. The subterfuge involved conning the singer into believing that she was being considered for a role in an £8 million Bollywood film.

Question: Who was the subject of an early June 2013 front page story?


Answer: Mahzer Mahmood

Question: Who wrote the story on Tulisa Contostavlos?


Answer: that Tulisa introduced three film producers (actually Mahmood and two other Sun journalists) to a drug dealer and set up a £800 deal

Question: What was the main allegation in The Sun's story on Contostavlos?


Answer: that she was being considered for a role in an £8 million Bollywood film

Question: What did The Sun reporters make Contostavlos believe?


Answer: Tulisa's cocaine deal shame

Question: What was the title of the front page story on Contostavlos?


Answer: collapsed

Context: At her subsequent trial, the case against Tulisa collapsed at Southwark Crown Court in July 2014, with the judge commenting that there were "strong grounds" to believe that Mahmood had lied at a pre-trial hearing and tried to manipulate evidence against the co-defendant Tulisa. Tulisa was cleared of supplying Class A drugs. After these events, The Sun released a statement saying that the newspaper "takes the Judge's remarks very seriously. Mahmood has been suspended pending an immediate internal investigation."

Question: How did the case against Tulisa fare?


Answer: Mahmood had lied at a pre-trial hearing and tried to manipulate evidence against the co-defendant Tulisa

Question: What did the judge in the case state?


Answer: Class A drugs

Question: What type of drugs was Tulisa accused of supplying?


Answer: suspended

Question: What action did The Sun take against Mahmood?


Answer: July 2014

Question: When was the case against Tulisa tried?


Answer: conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office

Context: In October 2014, the trial of six senior staff and journalists at The Sun newspaper began. All six were charged with conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office. They included The Sun's head of news Chris Pharo, who faced six charges, while ex-managing editor Graham Dudman and ex-Sun deputy news editor Ben O'Driscoll were accused of four charges each. Thames Valley district reporter Jamie Pyatt and picture editor John Edwards were charged with three counts each, while ex-reporter John Troup was accused of two counts. The trial related to illegal payments allegedly made to public officials, with prosecutors saying the men conspired to pay officials from 2002–11, including police, prison officers and soldiers. They were accused of buying confidential information about the Royal Family, public figures and prison inmates. They all denied the charges. On 16 January 2015, Troup and Edwards were cleared by the jury of all charges against them. The jury also partially cleared O'Driscoll and Dudman but continued deliberating over other counts faced by them, as well as the charges against Pharo and Pyatt. On 21 January 2015, the jury told the court that it was unable to reach unanimous verdicts on any of the outstanding charges and was told by the judge, Richard Marks, that he would accept majority verdicts. Shortly afterwards, one of the jurors sent a note to the judge and was discharged. The judge told the remaining 11 jurors that their colleague had been "feeling unwell and feeling under a great deal of pressure and stress from the situation you are in", and that under the circumstances he was prepared to accept majority verdicts of "11 to zero or 10 to 1". On 22 January 2015, the jury was discharged after failing to reach verdicts on the outstanding charges. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced that it would seek a retrial.

Question: What were Sun staff accused of in a 2014 trial?


Answer: illegal payments allegedly made to public officials

Question: What was at issue in the 2014 trial?


Answer: the Royal Family, public figures and prison inmates

Question: Who were The Sun staffers accused of buying information about?


Answer: Richard Marks

Question: Who was the judge in this particular case?


Answer: failing to reach verdicts on the outstanding charges

Question: What was the outcome of the jury's deliberation in the trial?