What a disgusting thing, this is your yellow press. Like flies, here and there, Rumors are spreading from house to house, And toothless old women are spreading them to their minds, V. Vysotsky . A song about rumors. No wonder the proverb says that “the earth is full of rumors.” Most likely, rumors themselves, as a phenomenon, are a historically conditioned, cultural heritage of all peoples of the world. And each of us, at one time or another, has been a participant in the process of transmitting “hot news”. So, we are all not without sin. And yet, raising this topic, I would like to pay attention not to the rumors themselves, but to their consumers. I don’t travel on public transport very often, but when I do, my favorite activity is observing. How many different types, characters, relationships, actions, etc. can be seen in just one square meter of a train or bus. For a psychologist, this is a part of professional training; you just need to take advantage of it. And just on one of these trips, I noted to myself how “greedily” and with pleasure some people read the news of the so-called “yellow press”. In itself, reading on public transport is not a new phenomenon, although, unfortunately, it is already almost archaic, since all kinds of gadgets are in our hands, in our ears and even in our mouths, and it is not clear where we will put them in years from now. twenty five. So, watching what is happening, I am frightened by what can happen to the psyche of a person who regularly consumes such news. From the point of view of advertising psychology, the presentation of news is impeccable. Large and bright pictures, provocative names, highlighted accents, “screaming” slogans, as they say, everything is for the consumer. But if we evaluate the essence of the publications themselves, we will see: violence, hypocrisy, “dirt” and vices. Who becomes the beneficiary here? state, advertiser, consumer? Several times I witnessed how the coffin with the late artist and the title of the article were published on the spread of the page about how there was a line lined up for his diamonds, or about a murder with a severed head. Unfortunately, there are such examples on television. In general, I don’t even want to list them, but someone is enjoying it, savoring every letter. What is this, some kind of relaxation, an image of fantasy, open-mindedness, lack of sharp impressions, callousness of soul, or something else. Let's try to figure this out together. According to well-known psychological definitions, rumors are “a mass phenomenon of interpersonal exchange of distorted, emotionally charged information. Most often, rumors arise in the absence of complete and reliable information on any issue that interests people.” (Platonov K.K. A brief dictionary of the system of psychological concepts. - M.: Higher School, 1984. - P. 133.) In the classification of rumors, there are two terms that interest us. “Scarecrow hearing and aggressive hearing.” The names themselves contain a semantic message. The functions of such rumors are: adaptation and removal of uncertainty, compensation for missing information, orientation and regulation of behavior, general awareness and reduction of social significance. The paradox is that the more violence is shown and talked about, the more we become accustomed to these ideas. I propose to support dialogue on this topic. I don't have a ready answer. I wonder what we'll end up with. Thank you.