Growing up, I was always just someone who paid attention to things that happened around me.
Or, at least I tried to as long as my nose wasn’t buried in a book.
Between the low rumblings of air conditioners and scratching pencils, I could hear about three different conversations at once in class.
In high school, the rumor mill flowed effortlessly between one class to the next until lunch became a free-for-all of loud noise that rivaled computer speaker feedback – or the annoying synthesizer start for surround sound systems in theaters.
In college, I decided that if the person or persons speaking were loud enough to hear over my internal monologue then it wasn’t eavesdropping and therefore, I was just a fly on the wall getting the
juiciest gossip that I had no reason to retain.
Personally, I’ve never cared for gossip or put much stock in peddling drama for the sake of entertainment.
In my younger years, I spent plenty of time overhearing my grandmother’s conversations with her sisters or friends where they spent most of their time catching up and spreading the latest “chisme” about someone they knew.
While it was mostly done over the landline phone then, there were a few kitchen table-side Spanish conversations where I struggled to translate the unfamiliar words between what seemed like cackles instead of laughs.
Sometimes those gab fests reminded me far too much of hens clucking in a hen house.
I only ever stayed around long enough to either help get something from a cabinet or the garage while swiping a snack and drink before heading back outside to avoid any other unwanted chores or requests.
Still, as I grew older, listening to gossip always reminded me of chickens squabbling and I couldn’t ever see much use in it.
Since I started working in the newspaper business, I can see how some of it could be useful now.
Despite that, I’m always listening carefully to whatever conversations are happening around me and always look for the possible kernel of truth amidst the gossip.
After all, when you know and understand the speaker, situation and content of the conversation then you can figure out if it’s just garbage or something worthwhile to pursue for solid evidence.
The only issue is that real journalists don’t run with gossip or rumors without the facts to back them up.
And in my experience, those suspicions and conspiracies don’t hold water when they’re put to the test.
Too many people seem to take the rumor mill’s churning as gospel and live for the drama it creates.
Honestly, it just reminds me of the madness that tabloids peddle for the sake of entertainment.
I think it should be treated in the same vein, too – ridiculed for its outlandish claims and fictitious accounts that are aimed to hurt individuals and businesses while “allegedly” providing mediocre factoids.
I really hate when the word “allegedly” is weaponized for the sake of gossip to generate money for haphazard and sloppy investigation skills that masquerade as journalism.
Of the many scholarly definitions relating to journalism, I’ve always liked the following one best - writing characterized by a direct presentation of facts or description of events without an attempt at interpretation.
That’s real journalism, folks!
Or, as Joe Friday from Dragnet said, “just the facts.”