The truth will set you free

I have friends who spread every rumor they hear like it's the absolute truth. They never verify or fact-check their stories and they can't wait to tell somebody else about them.

It's not a new phenomenon at all; in fact we've been doing it forever. When somebody hears a piece of juicy gossip about someone, they just can't wait to tell somebody else. Obviously they never go to the person the gossip is about and verify that it's true because that would take all the fun out of it. This is how stories get started and lives are negatively affected and sometimes ruined because of these loose lips.

I understand why it happens. Many people live boring, uninteresting lives and spreading stories about others give their lives a little more meaning, at least temporarily. They start talking about others usually in junior high school and it carries right into adulthood. When they tell these stories that haven't been verified by anybody, they don't stop and think about the possible effect they'll have on the people they're talking about and their friends and families; they only think about themselves and how telling the story will make them feel a little more important that day.

It's such a terrible, destructive habit and one I dislike so much that I started asking people for verification when they would tell me things like that. Where did you hear that story, who told you, how do you know it's true, etc. and the answer is almost always the same. They heard it on the street or at the coffee shop and they haven't verified it with anyone that would know the accuracy of the story.

And when I started asking for verification, some people acted insulted, as if I was questioning their own personal integrity which, of course I was. I like a good news story as well as the next guy and much discussion has taken place the last couple of days over the former McCook attorney who's in trouble with the law again. But that story was verified by a news story on the front page of this paper accompanied by his photo so that made it officially true. The news media isn't ALWAYS right about the stories they publish, especially before all the information has been gathered, but that's who we've always trusted to tell us the truth and, for the most part, we still do.

But now, the difference between news and entertainment has been blurred because entertainers act and report like newsmen. So when Rush Limbaugh or Chris Matthews, or Ann Coulter or Rachel Maddow or others like them say something, we believe it to be true too and we pass it around just like a piece of gossip we've heard on the street. We do that not only because we believe the reporters, we also do it because it feeds our own bias by telling us what WE already believe. Because of that, I don't listen to talking heads on the radio or watch them on television anymore. I learned a long time ago to think critically and analytically so I choose to go to several objective sources in order to make up my mind about a position rather than one or two subjective sources that are telling lies.

That's what rumors, gossip and innuendos are you know. They're lies disguised as truth because somebody at coffee or on the street told us something we couldn't wait to repeat and we don't fact check it any more than the first person did.

I've seen lives torn apart and ruined by unfounded stories and rumors like this and I don't want to be a part of it so I will not repeat a story until I know it's true and won't associate with those who do.