Rumors

Rumors

Author: Jean-Noel Kapferer

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-07-12

Total Pages: 298

ISBN-13: 1351492489

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Rumors may be the oldest medium of mass communication of information or ideas. Even before there were newspapers, radio, or television, rumors communicated by word-of-mouth made and shattered reputations, and set off riots and wars. Yet contrary to predictions, rumors continue to thrive, in spite of and parallel to mass media. What accounts for the puzzling persistence and continuing significance of this little-studied social phenomenon? Jean-No;el Kapferer examines the theory and practice of rumors, focusing on specific areas such as entertainment, criminal behavior, business and finance, and politics. He describes the kinds of conditions that give birth to rumors, why we believe them, and the hidden messages they convey. Kapferer points out that rumors frequently serve useful social purposes and present rich examples. He speculates about how rumors can be controlled, changed, and prevented. Drawing upon contributions of disciplines ranging from psychology to history, and integrating the insights of Europeans with the latest work of American researchers, this is the most comprehensive examination of rumors, gossip, and urban legends yet published. Translated into nine languages, this edition was updated with advances in theory and research since the book's original French publication in 1987. Its brisk, accessible style makes the book of interest to psychologists, economists, political scientists, sociologists, and folklore analysts, as well as the general reader who is curious about the origins of this fascinating social phenomenon.


The President's Book of Secrets

The President's Book of Secrets

Author: David Priess

Publisher: PublicAffairs

Published: 2016-03-01

Total Pages: 401

ISBN-13: 1610395964

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Every president has had a unique and complicated relationship with the intelligence community. While some have been coolly distant, even adversarial, others have found their intelligence agencies to be among the most valuable instruments of policy and power. Since John F. Kennedy's presidency, this relationship has been distilled into a personalized daily report: a short summary of what the intelligence apparatus considers the most crucial information for the president to know that day about global threats and opportunities. This top-secret document is known as the President's Daily Brief, or, within national security circles, simply "the Book." Presidents have spent anywhere from a few moments (Richard Nixon) to a healthy part of their day (George W. Bush) consumed by its contents; some (Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush) consider it far and away the most important document they saw on a regular basis while commander in chief. The details of most PDBs are highly classified, and will remain so for many years. But the process by which the intelligence community develops and presents the Book is a fascinating look into the operation of power at the highest levels. David Priess, a former intelligence officer and daily briefer, has interviewed every living president and vice president as well as more than one hundred others intimately involved with the production and delivery of the president's book of secrets. He offers an unprecedented window into the decision making of every president from Kennedy to Obama, with many character-rich stories revealed here for the first time.


Tracking the Chupacabra

Tracking the Chupacabra

Author: Benjamin Radford

Publisher: UNM Press

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 0826350151

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This title explores the legend of the chupacabra, literally goat-sucker, a mythical being from Latin America.


Rumors and Rumor Control

Rumors and Rumor Control

Author: Allan J. Kimmel

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-05-13

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 1135647100

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This book offers a thorough examination of rumors and proposes strategies for organizations to use in combatting rumors that occur both internally and externally. Author Allan J. Kimmel explores the rumor phenomenon and distinguishes it as a distinct form of communication. He looks at psychological and social processes underlying rumor transmission to understand the circumstances under which people invent and circulate rumors. In addition, he examines how rumors are spread--both interpersonally and through mediated processes--and offers strategies for organizations to respond to rumors when they surface and methods for preventing their occurrence. Numerous examples are provided of actual rumor cases for which managers either successfully or unsuccessfully coped, including such companies as Procter & Gamble, McDonald's, Snapple, Pepsi-Cola, and Gerber. Intended to serve as a comprehensive compendium of strategies, this book was written with two objectives in mind. The first is to shed light on the often perplexing phenomenon of rumor by integrating disparate approaches from the behavioral sciences, marketing, and communication fields. The second is to offer a blueprint for going about the formidable tasks of attempting to prevent and neutralize rumors in business contexts. With these dual goals in mind--one theoretical, the other applied--this book will be of equal interest to both academics and managers in a wide range of professional contexts. In addition, it will guide organizational and marketing managers in their efforts to combat the potentially destructive consequences of rumors.


Field Manual on Intelligence Interrogations

Field Manual on Intelligence Interrogations

Author: Barry Leonard

Publisher: DIANE Publishing

Published: 2010-10

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 1437932460

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Contents of this U.S. Army Field Manual: (1) Military Intelligence Missions and Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield; (2) Composition and Structure; (3) The Interrogation Process; (4) Processing and Exploiting Captured Enemy Documents. Appendices: (A): Uniform Code of Military Justice Extract; (B) Questioning Guides; (C) S2 Tactical Questioning Guide and Battlefield Exploitation of Captured Enemy Documents and Equipment; (D) Protected Persons Rights Versus Security Needs; (E) Reports; (F) Command Language Program; (G) Individual and Collective Training. Glossary. Charts and tables.


Rumors

Rumors

Author: Mladen Dolar

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2024-11-05

Total Pages: 53

ISBN-13: 1509561714

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When Socrates was standing before the Athenian tribunal in 399 BC, he said in his defence that the opponents he feared most were the invisible ones, those who had been spreading rumors against him for years but none of whom were being brought to court – it was like fighting shadows. The moment was iconic: Socrates, the harbinger of logos and true knowledge, was eventually defeated by rumors and mendacious slander. Where does the strange power of rumors come from? Everyone knows that rumors are unfounded and based on thin air, but still they pass them on: rumors spread, and what appeared as a small breeze can grow into a mighty whirlwind and produce serious effects, ruin people’s lives and change the course of events. This book scrutinizes the mysterious power of rumors and seeks to analyse it philosophically, examining along the way some key moments of our cultural history concerning rumors, from Shakespeare and Cervantes to Gogol and Kafka. It also underlines the fact that, although rumors are as old as humankind, the advent of the internet and social media has raised the spreading of rumors to an entirely new level, to the point where we could speak of the rumorization of the social. The more communication there is, the more the social fabric threatens to fall apart – and the more urgent it becomes to find strategies to counteract this.


Rumors, Race and Riots

Rumors, Race and Riots

Author: Terry Ann Knopf

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-07-12

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13: 1351492454

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Are race-related rumors rooted in the personality traits of the individual? Are they a kind of "improvised news" for a community? Do they come and go at random or form definite, recognizable patterns? What role do the news media play in spreading rumors? These and other questions are treated in this classic study, now available in paperback with a new introduction by the author, of how and why rumors emerge in connection with racial disorders. Included is an examination and critique of the three major models of rumor formation: the psychological approach, emphasizing the emotional needs and drives of the individual; the functional approach, which views rumors as a form of "improvised news"; and the conspiratorial approach, which sees rumors as deliberately planted and not spontaneous. The author's "process model" of rumor formation is based on the premise that rumors cannot "cause" violence and that violence cannot "cause" rumors. Both are viewed as parts of the same process. Rumors are seen as just one of a series of determinants, each of which increases the likelihood of a collective outburst. Among the determinants examined are: conditions of stress; a rigid social structure supported by a racist ideology; and a hostile belief system (or negative set of generalized perceptions) held separately by different groups. Race-related rumors are functionally tied to the latter point and crystallize, confirm, and intensify these beliefs by linking them to actual events. Hundreds of pertinent rumors are documented from local newspapers and investigative accounts. An exhaustive, systematic inquiry is made into the series of disorders that occurred between 1967 and 1970. The role played by rumors during these disturbing times is examined and compared to earlier periods of unrest. Implications for public policy are explored along with a hard look at rumor-control centers. The influence of the police and other public officials as well as the news media are


Tales, Rumors, and Gossip

Tales, Rumors, and Gossip

Author: Gail de Vos

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 1996-04-15

Total Pages: 426

ISBN-13: 0313069875

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Explore the stories and themes that capture the imagination of young people today. A sampling of tales is organized into broad subject areas, such as contaminated food, threats to children, and satanic legends, and the tales are analyzed according to function, structure, and international variants. De Vos also discusses film and literary adaptions and offers suggestions for adapting tales for the junior high and high school curriculum. Explore the stories and themes that capture the imagination of young people today. After a fascinating overview and discussion of contemporary legends (commonly referred to as modern urban legends and often told as true), de Vos examines them in their relationship to rumors and gossip, ostension (acting out the legends), the role of the media in formulation and dissemination, and related tales (e.g., literary horror tales). A sampling of tales is organized into broad subject areas, such as contaminated food, threats to children, and satanic legends, and the legends are analyzed according to function, structure, and international variants. De Vos discusses some of the literary and visual adaptations in popular culture and offers suggestions for adapting tales for the junior high and high school curriculum. A fascinating professional book, this is a great resource to use with young adults.


Rumors of God Participant's Guide

Rumors of God Participant's Guide

Author: Darren Whitehead

Publisher: Thomas Nelson Inc

Published: 2012-06

Total Pages: 129

ISBN-13: 1401675328

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Rumors of God DVD-Based Study is a call to Christians seeking a vision of the life God is calling them to, one that transcends the shallowness of our culture. This DVD-based small group study will challenge group members to reject what is plausible and to cry out for God to bring what is possible in their lives and in the church.


Truth and Rumors

Truth and Rumors

Author: Bill Brioux

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2007-12-30

Total Pages: 213

ISBN-13: 0313084785

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When you first heard it, you couldn't believe it: Jerry Mathers, from TV's Leave It To Beaver, had been killed in Vietnam. Then word came that Abe Vigoda, the actor who played the curmudgeonly cop Fish on Barney Miller, was dead; and that Mikey, who would eat anything as the Life Cereal tyke, had eaten too many Pop Rocks and exploded. Besides exposing us to things we couldn't otherwise believe, television can convince us of things that never actually happened. But how did these outrageous TV legends get started? How did they spread from classrooms to boardrooms across North America and beyond? And, most important, what do these rumors, so quickly transformed into facts and common knowledge, reveal about our relationship to reality through the medium of television? Put in other words, what exactly is it that were doing when were dealing in these fabulous rumors—are we chasing after surprising truths or simply more incredible entertainment? To take one telling example: Jerry Mathers was not actually killed in Vietnam—but the basic sense of this lie wasn't far removed from the emotions factually expressed in the two-page spread of the faces of the dead in Time magazine. In the course of this compelling work—which is supplemented with interviews with many of the people implicated in these rumors—author Bill Brioux exposes the reality behind the many stories that currently circulate in our culture. Through these stories (both true and false), he sheds a revealing light on just what role these rumors play in contemporary society—and what role our society plays in regard to these rumors as well.