RE: Rumor Control

[thansen@moscow.com]

Greetings Visionaires -

Another way to start a rumor is to appear as the person trying to stop it.

Comments like, "It is absolutely untrue that . . . "

Although the implied rumor may not have any substance at all, the above comment 
puts the claimant in a perceived position of denial (denying that something is 
true when somebody may have commented earlier that it was true), thus giving 
the rumor a false sense of substance.  

Take care,

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

> So...if I understand you correctly, you don't
> believe that Mr. London's comment was slander?
> Do you think Bucer's runs by itself? It's owned
> by people with names. It's not an impersonal
> vending machine that drops cups in to a slot.
>  
> Hey Auntie...you might feel more sympathetic
> if it was your establishment.
>  
> LucyZoe
>  
>  
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Joan Opyr [mailto:auntiestablishment@hotmail.com] 
> Sent: Wednesday, September 18, 2002 1:19 PM
> To: Vision2020 Moscow
> Subject: Re: Rumor Control
> 
> 
> I won't repeat either Lucy's or Doug's messages as I'm not sure what the
> law is regarding second party slander.  I do think, however, that
> there's a difference between asking whether or not some discriminatory
> event took place at a local coffee house and asking when so-and-so
> stopped beating his wife.  Go figure.
>  
> As they used to say on Hee-Haw, "We're not ones to go 'round spreading
> rumors, so you'd better be sure and listen close the first time."
>  
> Sincerely,
>  
> Joan Opyr, AKA . . .
> 
> Auntie Establishment 
> Serving Idaho's liberal elite since 1993
> 
>   _____  
> 
> Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download :
> http://explorer.msn.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 


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