Don't Be A Sucker- Rumor Mill Cheat-sheet
I've been covering Mac news for over two-and-a-half years, and I've been keeping a close eye on the rumor mill for at least twice that long. While I'm certainly not the most experienced reporter in the field– especially when compared to some industry veterans, I have a pretty good grasp on how to stay sane in a system which is constantly throwing information at me.
Recently, especially the past 6 months or so, I've noticed a dramatic increase in the number of sites purporting to have solid information about upcoming announcements. Naturally, most of the rumors turn out to be false. What surprises me though is how many of the big-name experienced news sites pick up on these stories. It's obviously impossible to fact-check a rumor, but that doesn't mean one can't carefully examine a story before hitting the publish button. These are a few of the things I consider before deciding whether to put my faith in and publish a rumor:
Common Sense - Does the info sound too good to be true? If it does, it probably is.
Strategy - How well does the information jive with Apple's current product-line and business strategy?
History - Has Apple done anything like this in the past? Have we heard previous rumors about this?
Detail - How much detail does the story provide? Am I presented with hard data, or just broad generalizations.
Source - Does the site say where they got the information, or does it just seem to have appeared out-of-the-blue?
Site - This is the most important factor. Is this the first time this site has published this kind of information? If not, how reliable have they been in the past? Are they big enough to be the site-of-choice for would-be tipsters? Look for the original source of the information, not just who is re-reporting it.
These six simple criterion can make weeding through the rumor cruft tremendously more easy, and has the added bonus of making you sound smarter when you discuss the information with others.
Keep your wits about you, and happy rumor-mongering!
