The Global Grapevine: Why Rumors of Terrorism, Immigration and Trade Matter

摘要

The European Commission has for nearly 20 years maintained a web page and an active public-relations effort to counteract what they call 'Euromyths' - 'scare stories based on hearsay, rumours and half-truths, many of which have been repeated so often that they have become accepted truths within the public and media consdousness', and which have a real impact on public attitudes towards the EU. The article by Huma Yusuf in this issue of Survival discusses the even more serious consequences of press-mediated rumour and conspiracy in Pakistan. Yet there has long been a disconnect between systematic, interdisdplinary academic research (going back more than three decades) and political or media perceptions and conceptions of rumours and 'urban myths'.