Hello, I can't find the answer to these questions, What kinds of unwanted reactions might you get from readers of your messages whether it be negative, persuasive, or informative? Also, What steps would you take to ensure that the purpose of your message, informative, persuasive, or negative is conveyed to your readers. thanks

Question

A newspaper editor once told a conference I attended that more people READ with bias than reporters WRITE with bias. Of course, he himself was probably somewhat biased in his assessment, but I suspect that he was largely right.

When your readers don't accept or believe your message, that is an unwanted reaction. Each reader brings his/her own biases and beliefs to what s/he has read. The more strident the author's words, the more likely that s/he will encounter resistance from the readers.

Authors can try to avoid misunderstood messages by writing clearly and unambiguously. Avoid obvious prejudicial statements. Try to relate your message with your readers' experiences.

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clark, it would be more helpful for you if you posted what you considered an answer, or at least made an attempt at one first rather than just asking the board to do you homework. This also helps us to gauge how well you can work independently.
Having said that, let me make an attempt at a partial answer. The quesion of 'unwanted reaction' depends on the audience and purpose. I suppose the most undesirable reaction would be if you were ignored completely -especially if you were an advertiser using print media like newspapers/mags. After that, I suppose the next worst thing would be if you were misunderstood because your message was ambiguous or poorly written. A highly undesired reaction occurs if the message is inflamatory or provacative -as a certain editorial cartoon was considered earlier this year. As you see, there are several ways to answer this question.
As to what steps one might take, the better one understands the potential audience and how the message might be perceived, the more effective it is. At least this is the general premise. This is why advertisers spend a lot of money doing studies to figure out what works and what doesn't. The most common step I see in use now is the use of polls, especially ones given over cell phones and web-sites. Feedback is the real key to how well the message was conveyed. Do you think you could write a short paragraph using some of these ideas as starters?

I figured out what to write and submitted my work thanks,