Rumor Mill

Some assumptions to make about the assumptions that people hearing a rumor are (for better or worse) entitled to make:

Rumors that are acknowledged as true should be assumed to be true, and the acknowledging party gains trust, though the trust-gain diminishes in proportion to the amount of time the rumor was extant but unaddressed.

Rumors that are denied without transparent supporting evidence should be assumed to be true, and the denying party loses trust .

Rumors that are not addressed should be assumed to be true, and the non-addressing party loses trust.

Rumors that are denied with transparent supporting evidence are may be assumed to be false, and the acknowledging party may gain trust, if examination of corroborating evidence addresses plausible levels of skepticism.