NOISE

1
NOISE

• That which interferes with mass communication

2
Channel Noise

• External interference
• The message doesnt make it through as sent.
• Examples
• Big globs of pudding are somehow spilled onto
  your newspaper and smear the text.
• A rat eats through your cable line right in the
  middle of South Park so you dont get to hear the
  Chefs last words.

3
Semantic Noise

• You can clearly hear the message but cant
  understand it.
• Examples
• As Martha Stewart is about to share her prize
  winning bunt cake recipe, she suddenly begins
  talking in Serbian. If you dont know Serbian,
  you will never, ever make a quality bunt cake.
• Dr. Phil tells a distraught woman she has
  Psychobresiosis . . . And he doesnt explain what
  that means.

4
Psychological Noise

• The receiver (audience member) internally
  distorts the message to fit either preconceived
  ideas or to block out unpleasant information or
  ideas.
• There are three ways this occurs.

5
The Three Types of Pscyhological Noise

• Selective Exposure
• Selective Perception
• Selective Retention

6
Selective Exposure

• Ge tend to expose ourselves to information that
  reinforces rather than contradicts our beliefs or
  opinions.
• Example People who think there are WMDs in Iraq
  wont listen to National Public Radio or Air
  America where that notion is debunked. Likewise,
  people who believe there are no WMDs in Iraq
  wont ordinarily tune in to the Fox News Network.

7
Selective Perception

• We tend to ignore what we dont believe, or
  distort the message in our minds to make the
  message fit what we believe.
• Example Some religious people are seeing a
  pro-Christian message in the book and film The Da
  Vinci Code which claims Christ had a wife, kids
  and a killer mortgage.
• People who question church teachings think The Da
  Vinci Code shows how the church distorted history
  and demeans females.

8
Selective Retention

• A person remembers what they want to remember,
  that which fits with ingrained prejudices.
• This can end up in a kind of institutional
  memory. Many histories of the San Francisco
  Earthquake of 1906 cite the bravery and fortitude
  of the citizens but ignore the darker truths
  that Chinese and other minorities were harrassed,
  victimized, even murdered that thievery was
  common that unscrupulous merchants drastically
  overpriced goods.