Rumour dissemination

RUMOUR DISSEMINATION: AN OCCUPATION FOR IDLE MINDS


According to BBC English dictionary, rumour can be described as “a piece of information that may or may not be true, but that people are talking about.” That is, if something is rumoured to be true, people are suggesting that it is true but they do not know for certain.

The way through which people live by the above phenomenon is really becoming a devastating scenario. There are several situations that could lead to the practices, such as idleness, enmity, rivalry, illiteracy, envy, to mention but a few.

Someone who is idle will have many things to say than to do. Therefore, idle people go a long way disseminating information which they are not too sure of thereby feeding their listeners’ minds with fallacies, because they have nothing better to do or to be occupied with. This dances to the tune of the popular citation that says, “An idle mind is a devil’s workshop.”

Also, someone’s enemy can pollute the minds of the populace by formulating a false information that can tarnish his/her image. And the recipients of such information will definitely have an intimation of it.

Thirdly, if two or more persons or organizations are in the same type of business/work, they are automatically rivals to each other; especially when their businesses are situated at the same location. Thus, any of them can come up with a propaganda that may be published or broadcast, to reduce the reputation of the other(s) so that they would be placed ahead of them. This routine is often used by the politicians to disqualify or discredit their antagonists.

Fourthly, the illiterate ones among the recipients of any propaganda will easily be convinced. This will enable the news to be more widely spread since any society must have a concentration of the illiterate or uneducated ones. On the contrary, the educated ones would like to take a second look at the information thereby creating avenue for thorough scrutiny; though some of them may be hired by the propagandists.

On the other hand, if you are being envied by some persons, your name will always be mentioned during most of their gatherings. They will say all sort of things about you including the fake/false ones that may stain your reputation. The funniest part of this idiosyncrasy is that, the people who fabricate/make such loathsome statements may not mean any harm; their intention or basic interest may be to prove to others that they know much about you. The fake news would be solely propagated by them. The art of ignorance! This set of people can be referred to as the men of the underworld. The aforementioned phenomenon often occurs between a star and his/her fans.

Any of the above factors that contributes to rumour dissemination can lead to gossip in all nooks and crannies of any given society. Gossip, which is one of the masses’ major occupations can also be referred to as a rumour which its content may or may not be true.

Going by the above stated facts, one can boldly consider the popular saying that says “In any rumour, there is an atom of truth” as an illusion, since one can easily propagate an information on a matter that had never existed. On this note, I urge us to rather agree on the fact that in any rumour, there must be a trace of truth; and not “atom of truth” as it’s widely noted. For instance, one who graduated from the same department with you in a certain university may propagate a rumour that you used to be a cheat in the examination hall. This may be a lie against you; apparently, there’s no any atom of truth behind it. But the trace of truth remains that you used to be his coursemate. This trace of truth is what would attract the attention of anyone who receives the information. The fact is that, some of the recipients of the rumour will automatically see it as a truth while some will definitely give it a second thought, which is the art of individual differences.

Please the actors of this scandal should desist from it and think of how to turn a new leave. Let’s always remember that, “what goes around comes around.” To the idle minds; according to the Holy Bible, Sirach 19: 6-9 says, “Avoid idle talk and you will avoid a lot of trouble. Never repeat what you hear and you will have no regrets. Don’t tell it to your friends or your enemies unless it would be sinful to keep it to yourself. Whoever hears you will take note of it, and sooner or later will hate you for it.”

Secondly, the recipient of any rumour should always be conscious of the fact that, in any rumour, there may not be any atom of truth; but there might be a trace of truth. Furthermore, Sirach 19:10, 13-16 says, “Have you heard a rumour? Let it die with you. Be brave! It won’t make you explode. If you hear that a friend has done something wrong, ask him about it; maybe it’s not true. If it is true, he won’t do it again. If you hear that a neighbour has said something he shouldn’t, ask him about it. Maybe he didn’t say it. If he did, he won’t say it again. If you hear something bad about a friend, ask him about it; it might be a lie. Don’t believe everything you hear. A person may say something carelessly and not really mean it. Everyone has sinned in this way at one time or another.”

Brethren, please it’s high time we threw this menace to the bush. Enough of these inconsequential bickering. Think about it!



COMR. FRED NWAOZOR

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