Editor's Letter March 2010
There are so many rumors going on about me in New Orleans it would take up my entire magazine to address them all and, to tell you the truth, I’m exhausted. So I decided to publish the definitions of Rumor, Innuendo and Hearsay, for your consideration. In the future if you hear something about me please don’t hesitate to stop by my office at 1901 Royal Street in the Marigny Triangle to discuss the matter further if for nothing more then to keep me in the loop and a good laugh. I have nothing to hide nor am I afraid of the malicious intent of their lies.
A rumor is often viewed as “an unverified account or explanation of events circulating from person to person and pertaining to an object, event, or issue in public concern.” However, a review of the research on rumor conducted by Pendleton in 1998 found that research across sociology, psychology, and communication studies had widely varying definitions of rumor. Thus, rumor is a concept that lacks a particular definition in the social sciences. But most theories hold that rumor involves some kind of a statement whose veracity is not quickly or ever confirmed. In addition, some scholars have identified rumor as a subset of propaganda, another notoriously difficult concept to define. A pioneer of propaganda studies, Harold Lasswell, defined propaganda in 1927 as referring “solely to the control of opinion by significant symbols, or … by stories, rumors, reports, pictures, and other forms of social communication.” Rumors are also often discussed with regard to “misinformation” and “disinformation” (the former often seen as simply false and the latter seen as deliberately false).
An innuendo is, according to the Advanced Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, “an indirect remark about somebody or something, usually suggesting something bad, mean or rude; the use of remarks like this: innuendoes about her private life or the song is full of sexual innuendo.” The word is often used to express disapproval.
Hearsay is information gathered by one person from another concerning some event, condition, or thing of which the first person had no direct experience. When submitted as evidence, such statements are called hearsay evidence. As a legal term, it can also have a narrower meaning—the use of such information as evidence to prove the truth of what is asserted. Such use of hearsay evidence in court is generally not allowed.
In the words of a famous African-American, “Stop Hatin’!” It’s time for local arts culture leaders and followers to rebuild New Orleans and not practice the same vile tactics that keep us divided. It’s time for a change!
Best Regards,
Terrence Sanders
Editor in Chief & Publisher
P.S. The following are a part of the solution and not the problem: the new mayor, the Super Bowl Champion Saints, Hollywood South, Prospect.2, Big Brother & Sister programs, support Mom & Pops, buy local, the St. Claude Arts District, Broadway South, Turnstile Magazine, Children’s Museum, Healthy Fast Food Restaurants, River Walk development, Higher Pay and incentives for Law Enforcement and Teachers, Farmers Markets, Neighborhood Watch, the Ogden, Louisiana Philharmonic, Joan Mitchell Foundation, Canary, community centers, the Healing Center, AA & NA meetings, the reopening Charity Hospital, a decline in teenage pregnancy and crime, the expansion and remodeling of the Canal Place Cinema, Recycling, rehabilitation centers for the city’s homeless, new and improved roads, and new safe schools.
We are the future and we will change the world one person at a time, starting with ourselves.
