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02/8 2011

How To Start An Internet Rumor In Five Easy Parts (Gruden, Reid, Media, Etc)

Posted by Dan Levy.

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Today’s show starts with a brief conversation about the insane numbers the NFL gets on TV (more on that later today) before focusing most of the conversation on this ridiculous and unfounded, yet wildly discussed, rumor that Jon Gruden was going to replace Andy Reid as head coach of the Eagles.

This is not the first — and certainly won’t be the last — internet rumor that has turned into somewhat of a breaking news story, in that the news being broken is that there is, in fact, no story.

In fact…that’s an interesting choice of words, I suppose. Fact, as it seems, has very little to do with any of these rumors. Let’s get to the list (note, we talk about all of this in the show that’s linked above so I’m not sure if you should read this first or listen first, but please…do both.)

Part One: Create Rumor


A rumor can come from anywhere and only needs a modicum of believability to spread. If Kyle Eckel’s Facebook page — or a random Philly blog nobody had ever heard of until yesterday — said that Bill Cowher was in Philly to take Andy Reid’s job, nobody would believe it. But Jon Gruden has been the far hotter name this season, and the fact that Gruden coached in Philadelphia, under Reid, makes this somewhat plausible for people to spread.

It helped, this time, that the rumor was started in two unique places, both on Facebook (where people could Like, share or link) and a random blog you’ve probably never heard of (where people could also link). The source on Philly2Philly’s post could have actually been Kyle Eckel’s Facebook page, but since it just says “a source” we’re left to believe it’s anyone from a member of the Eagles to a flight attendant who overheard something as Gruden got off the plane. If he, in fact, actually did get off a plane.

We assume it’s two sources, and two sources begets further investigation.

Part Two: Find People To Perpetuate Rumor

Someone will always spread a rumor, if only to speculate on its veracity. That happened when a random producer at SNY, a TV station in Missouri and the Eagles blog Bleed Green (another site I’ve honestly never read before yesterday) took this and ran with it. Sure, everyone was still just speculating, but the original story went from one or two places to at least five, including Twitter.

Consider the rumor perpetuated.

Part Three: Get Rumor Circulating On Major Sites, In Google News

This is how a small internet rumor turns into a national story. And yes, this time it has to do with Bleacher Report. It’s funny, because B/R was actually debunking the story, but by using the headline: Philadelphia Eagles: John Gruden In Town…to Take Eagles Head Coaching Job? they sure as heck ending up doing the opposite. The story, while trying to debunk the rumor, did more damage with that headline than any of the Facebook updates or tweets or horrible rumor-spreading blog posts that came before it.

And it’s easy to crush B/R for spreading yet another rumor, but this isn’t just them. Content houses and other major sites sometimes do a disservice by debunking a rumor, thereby giving it more attention than it had in the first place. Remember the rumor last year that the Flyers were in disarray because a player was sleeping with another player’s wife or girlfriend or whatever? It was a stupid rumor on a stupid Philly-area blog and it would have stayed there until it ended up being debunked…on Puck Daddy.

I don’t mean to call out just Wyshynski for doing this. Everyone does it. Deadspin did more to spread a similar rumor about the Villanova basketball team last year than they ever did to debunk it. How about the recent Syracuse point-shaving scandal that was spread around many different sports sites…just in an effort to debunk?

“Report: Despite internet rumors, this man did not beat his wife 400 times last year!”

“Wait, that man was accused of beating his wife? 400 times?!?! I know they’re saying it’s not true, but something has to be going on there, right? I mean, I saw it on five sites…AND FACEBOOK.”

So, yes, in this case, the questionable headline by a Bleacher Reporter did more damage than good, but this is not a B/R problem alone. This is a Google problem and an internet problem and a…


Part Four: Get The Mainstream Media Involved

This is a two-part process and extremely important for any rumor to get all the way to step five. Sure, Yahoo or Deadspin are technically mainstream, but I’m talking more about the local newspapers of record having — as of today — more than half a dozen stories about the rumor, first researching it then debunking it then commenting on the process by which it spread.

The stories about how irresponsible it is to send members of the “real” media on a wild goose chase are just as much a part of this as the blog posts and Facebook updates that started it. Here’s a thought for the media complaining about tracking down this story: just don’t do it.

You have your sources. You trust your sources. Why jump when Facebook tells you to? Why jump when a random blog you’ve never heard of tells you to? Don’t blame “the internet.” Blame your editors for making you track down a story that’s not actually a story.

And yet, the MSM involvement inevitably leads to…

Part Five: The Official Statement

I read in at least five places last night and this morning that MSM outlets weren’t going to cover the story until the Eagles put out a statement and they felt they had to. Certainly the team could have ignored this, but the smart thing to do was officially debunk it, even if that meant making the story WAY bigger than it ever was before the statement.

It’ll be over tomorrow, thanks to the Eagles, but it also became a national news story the day after the Super Bowl, in part, because of their reaction.

We can blame the rumor mongers for making something up and starting this ball rolling, but the Eagles didn’t put out a statement to Philly2Philly. The Eagles didn’t post a comment on Kyle Eckel’s Facebook page. And with that, the difficult question of when to believe a rumor and whether or not it’s good journalism to publicly debunk a small whisper, thereby turning it into a shout in the process, may never be answered.

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Posted on February 8, 2011 at 9:50AM

 

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  1. Jack Pierce
    02/8 2011

    It used to all be word of mouth, you know. In the footy world, all it took was one person to say “Oh, did you hear so-and-so is going to be transferred in?” and that’s all it took. Now it’s done with agents and “rumors” columns and journos willing to trade in the muck, but it’s all the same thing. Make something up, sell some papers, get a few more page views, and who cares whether it’s true or not.