Rajash Rawal and Paul Nixon
institutions and individuals to manage their own image via structured information outputs. Rumour rebuttal is a key component of a successful campaign. This paper questions the root of our information sources. Social media has allowed rumour and gossip to take on new lives. Information can be spread( globally) at the click of a mouse. The danger, of course, is that there is no form of journalistic ethics or( Campbell, 2012) standards applied to such communication and this leads to a rise in misinformation( Berinsky, 2013). Journalists are forever on the hunt for a novel and exciting story, and increasingly instead of relying on first hand sources they are recycling rumours, innuendo and unsubstantiated report form online social media sources and the journalist’ s verification of the story is debatable. We aim to explore the impact this has on government and democracy and stress the important of due diligence by journalists and society alike. Misinformation is a political tool like any other, and it ' s use must be carefully considered by all.
2. Background
Emotion is a centrepiece to politics. Without emotion, connection and involvement, albeit on a mainly passive level, politics would be insignificant as it relies on the passionate cry of idea and opinion to be forwarded in the advancement of whatever cause. Political scandals can have a negative effect upon trust in a political system( Castells, 2007) and it would seem likely that the emergence of social networks are only increasing the potential for those scandals to spread more quickly and more widely than ever before. Politicians thus need to counter the negativity centering around notions of trust in the political systems, and indeed in themselves as individuals, and re‐engage people in the political process around an agenda based upon notions of individualism and emotionality( Hendriks, 2009). Politicians thus need to engender the build‐up of emotion and the expression of such emotion in order to mobilise society in pursuance of a particular political outcome. What we have witnessed over the last few years is that the manner of this mobilization has changed and the tools used to stimulate have developed with this trend. An example of this is the growing impact of the entertainment industry on politics and the infiltration of media actors in politics( one need only consider the rise of Reagan, Berlusconi, Schwarzenegger, Campbell, etc. as examples)( Street, 2001).
Rumour or political gossip has been with us throughout history, with commentaries upon political actors taking the form of graffiti in early societies and can be evidenced at such sites as the Roman ruins of Pompeii The most apposite way to define them is to use Sunstein’ s definition as“ claims of fact ‐ about people, groups, events, and institutions‐ that have not been shown to be true, but that move from one person to another and hence have credibility not because direct evidence is known to support them but because other people seem to believe them.”( 2009, p. 6) As Berinsky notes“ the lines between true information and misinformation becomes blurred. Second, rumours are not mere fringe beliefs. They acquire their power through widespread social transmission and repetition.”( 2013, p. 3) Individuals process the same information differently( Chong & Druckman, J. N, 2007) It is also useful to note that the framing of such messages not only have an immediate impact on an individual but can also have an effect, indeed a potentially significant one, on the way in which those individuals interpret further information upon the topic and also impact upon their interpretation of information on subsequent differing topics( Pan, Z & Kosicki, G. M, 1993)
Politicians seek endorsement and support. The Internet age has multiplied their reach and scope in such a way that the boundaries of policy, personality and persona have become blurred. Indeed one could blame the personalization of politics( Stanyer, 2007) as being responsible for making us consider our political actors becoming media stars( Combs, 1984). Given Combs forwarded this argument in 1984 one can imagine how much this has been extended knowing that US President Barack Obama has some 35,081,476 likes on his official Facebook page.( Obama, 2013)
As a consequence, political gossip has also grown in its influence and impact. Gossip is a form of interaction“ that in most societies variously provokes scorn, derision and contempt”( Besnier, 2009, p. 2) but also generates enormous interest. It is here where the quandary lays for political actors. On the prowl for media attention politicians seek to be part of what people are talking about and want their actions to be on everyone’ s lips. However, gossip is difficult to manage and has a long reach which can affect important events and determine biographies is such a way in that careers can be propelled or jettisoned( Besnier, 2009). A recent example of government action on online rumours has been the shutting down of many online blogs and the restricting of online comments by individuals taken by the Chinese government( Guardian, 2012)
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