The Facts About Gossip

The ordinary meaning of 'gossip' is "idle, often ill-natured talk about the affairs of other people". It may also mean "informal writing about persons and social happenings".

It is in the second sense that we speak of the gossip writer or the gossip columnist of a newspaper. A gossip writer's intention is not to malign the subject of his gossip. The subject he chooses to write about is often a well-known person; say, a prominent politician, a cinema star, a popular social worker or a famous sportsperson. His intention is not to wound the feelings of his subject by writing lies about him, but to raise a good laugh at the expense of this demigod by exposing the foibles and failings to which he is liable. A gossip writer trades in truth, not lies. Of course he brings out, after careful observation and investigation, certain little known facts about the public hero. The facts thus brought about may result in the hero's coming down a few pegs in the eye of the general public or even tarnishing his reputation to a certain extent. The gossip writer's remarks are not expected to constitute libel or to be defamatory; he will in his own interest be armed with the facts. He will not let himself be hauled over the coals in a court of law for writing something juicy in the gossip column for his readers' entertainment.

But gossip in the first sense is of a different hue. This kind of gossip is often indulged in by people when they meet. Women are more inclined to loose talk than men; there are many among men, too, for whom gossip is a pastime. With many, both men and women, gossip is an exchange of news and views about others. More often than not, there is no malice in such idle talk. Perhaps it serves a very useful purpose in cementing the social relationship between the persons indulging in gossip.

Harmless idle talk about the affairs of others may be treated as a pastime, and even as an expression of some people's interest in others. Gossip to be harmless should be free from malice; it should be communication of news based on facts and facts alone, and without bias or slant. It should be free from mischief, and should be born of pure and unsullied interest in others.

Unfortunately, malicious gossip, too, is an entertainment to the persons indulging in it. Their intention is to malign the subject of their gossip. They do not come out with facts as they are: whatever they say is twisted or distorted, and are not facts. For instance, they will make out an innocent friendship between two members of the opposite sex working in the same school or office to be some kind of immoral or even promiscuous relationship by giving a slant to the facts. They practice "suppression very, suggestion false". Or, more clearly put, what they say is misrepresentation not involving direct lies but suppression of truth by concealment of facts that ought to be made known.

Malicious gossip sometimes leads to tragic situations. Genuine social and marital relationships have foundered on the rock of gossip. Malicious gossip, ill-natured loose talk, is not entertainment. No one should derive delight from gossip. Healthy interest in one's fellowmen is good; any talk concerning the affairs of others is good only when they are based on facts and facts alone.