but why greg?? i mean why spread bs rumours they loose the people's faith and trust and as far as i know thats all a newspaper really has to its name if it wants to be successful like the guardian or the new york times etc. its disgusting , we too have those tabloids and i always wondered who the hell bothers to read this crap.
The cynic thinks that credibility gets thrown out the window so why bother. But the majority of the readers, and the majority of the money the paper makes, are in it for the entertainment.
You can try to blame the media for it, and there's some blame to go around. But people love animal stories on their TV news. They like the sensationalism of some hyped-up falsehood that gets a rile and reaction out of them. They look for urban legends to pass along, as the less interesting and more real stories often get left behind. Human nature demonstrates that this is a desired product, so in some ways they give the people what they want.
It's enough to make anyone cynical about humanity. But gossip is as old and innately human as the first mother-in-law.