I have a question on the SAT preparation quiz.

On this pic it is the question I answered wrong, and I still can't figure out why. I do not understand why are "pronounced" and "recognized" are not at least equally appropriate. In the following sentence "This is the most prominent yardstick that the media, politicians and the public consider when they try to assess how a country is performing." GDP is "the most prominent yardstick in the media" because it is "pronounced" by the media, and that is why it is "recognized". Both of those words can be put right instead of "prominent", but "pronounced" is even more appropriate, since the voice is the function of the media. From the other hand, I can see why "prominent" as an adjective is closer to "recognized", rather than to "pronounced", but not for this particular context!

I think I may misinterpret something as a non-native English speaker.