In defence of rumours

The whole world loves a legend. The immediacy of the Internet allows us to build castles in the air, fill them with imaginary exhibits, throw open the doors and invite the public to parade through them. By the time the hot air inflating the castle subsides, its architect has had his 15 minutes of fame and the public is far less interested in the deflated tatters of a concept than in the memory of the legend that was promised.

The Chinese comprehend the power of the Internet.

Georgina Guedes, Journalist, ITWeb

Lord Vetinari, a character in Terry Pratchett`s Discworld books, said: "It amazes me how the news you have so neatly fits the space available. No little gaps anywhere. And every day something happens that is important enough to be at the top of the first page, too. How strange..."

Last week, we were issued dire warnings of an impending hacking competition. Of course, every reporter was compelled to report on such a threat, and soon, the Internet was abuzz with official announcements, hoax criers and general furore. The competition did take place, mostly small sites were targeted and the Internet didn`t grind to a halt as predicted.

Ironically, the most well known site that was affected was shut down, not because of the attentions of hackers, but because of the number of people logging on to find out about the progress of the competition.

Perhaps, as some are stating, the extra security measures in the wake of the warnings deterred hackers from targeting big name sites. Perhaps the media served its function, in much the same way as the Y2K hype meant that programmers eradicated bugs as the millennium approached, no planes spiralled out of control and no nuclear power stations unleashed a dreaded mushroom cloud. Or perhaps it was all just a storm in a teacup and the threat was only given strength by the interest it attracted.

The Chinese comprehend the power of the Internet. Any of China`s growing band of Internet users who mentioned anything about SARS in outgoing e-mails were denied communications services, and it was reported that 117 people were arrested for spreading "SARS-related rumours". This has sparked concerns that publicity surrounding a recurring outbreak in winter (a very real possibility) will be more successfully suppressed by the government than the last one.

Unsubstantiated rumours, errant e-mails, true words spoken in jest are all grist to the media mill. Journalists keep their ears to the ground, or their Internet connection always on, in the hopes of catching that one little unsubstantiated rumour that could lead to the next Watergate.

Without rumours to pursue, every cover up would be successful, the corrupt dealings of government would continue unencumbered and the next SARS outbreak could remain unknown to business travellers and tourists alike.

I know which scenario I prefer.