Conclusion

Abstract

It is time that we put aside our old ideas about gossip. Clearly, it is much more than just the nasty small talk of women over the back fence. Everyone gossips, men and women alike. And much of what they say is positive and flattering. Even in newspaper columns and tabloids with a reputation for spreading the dirt, one finds little in the way of nasty or vicious content. Certainly, there are gossip reporters who have made mistakes, printed errors, and acted unethically. But even among the most notorious and powerful of the professional gossips, cases of unethical revelation and distortion have been the exception to the rule.