The real impact of rumors

A blog on CNN had a post about "celebrity death rumors that often swirl around cyberspace." The author of the post had to check out a rumor on Twitter that actor James Avery had died.
The actor was reached by phone.
"Did you see that on Twitter?" he asked. "I don't even know where it came from. Pissed me off, I know that. I mean, really, they're going to take away what little career I have left. My mother was scared....
..It's yet another example of how the echo chamber of the Internet can magnify falsehoods and innuendos, and a reminder of the real impact rumors have on people's lives.
http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2010/06/08/james-avery-is-alive-and-well-thank-you-very-much/?hpt=Sbin

One week after former Vice President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, dropped their separation bombshell, friends of the family quietly confirmed to PEOPLE on Wednesday that the eldest of the couple's four children, daughter Karenna Gore Schiff, is separated from her husband of 12 years.
A friend of the couple said,"It's amicable and they are in counseling. They are not divorced."
...But the two friends who spoke to PEOPLE said they wanted to be frank about the state of the Schiffs' marriage to head off any misinformation or rumor-mongering as people scrounge around the Gore family's private life.
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20392406,00.html

The following is an excerpt from an article titled Shemiras Halashon: Standing Guard by Rabbi Yosef Levinson.
Although speaking lashon hara does not cause bodily harm, often the 'victim' suffers more than if he had been physically abused. Cuts and bruises heal, but the humiliation and shame from lashon hara can leave deep emotional scars that might never heal. In addition, one is oblivious to the scope of damage his words can cause. A gunshot cannot kill out of the gun's range but lashon hara can travel and cause havoc throughout the world. A word spoken in Melbourne could cause someone in Eretz Yisrael to lose a job. A thoughtless conversation in Yerushalayim could break up a shidduch (marriage match) in Chicago, and a letter written in New York could cause humiliation and embarrassment in London.
Read full article: http://www.shemayisrael.co.il/threeweeks/guard.htm