How Media Users Used Selective Processes When Viewing Content on the BP Oil Spill

                People who were for offshore drilling before the oil spill are the ones most likely affected by selective processes. The idea of selective processes is that if a person who is for something views some sort of media that is against that same thing, that person will being even more for that thing, only thinking up more reasons why said thing is good because of the media.

So people who were for offshore drilling, after watching television on the impact that it caused, would be even more for it. They would get more reasons why offshore drilling is good from these programs or websites, despite their opposite message. These people would be able to find proof and evidence supporting offshore drilling from media that is against it.

                What people retain is also similar to how they selectively process things. This means that people’s memories are also distorted, so when they recall certain events they are very likely to remember it how they want to and now how it actually happened. If someone who was against offshore drilling was asked to recap what had happened when the BP oil rig exploded, selective retention tells us that that person would most likely give a very negative recount of the events that took place which may even include some factual errors. More about selective retention and selective processes can be found here: http://www.communicationencyclopedia.com/public/tocnode?id=g9781405131995_yr2010_chunk_g978140513199524_ss28-1.