Is reporting a possible theft gossiping?
Question:
This is complicated so I’ll sum it up for you: I play a sport and there is a guy who runs the state championship tournament. Our team and a few local teams in the area think he’s been possibly pocketing money from us because of recent events that have gone down. Anyway, we don’t know if he’s pocketing the money, but there is some evidence to back up this point. Is telling people (these people are within our sports program ) that he might’ve been stealing money gossiping? Is it gossiping to say that he has been stealing money since we have proof to back up these claims? Granted, they aren’t proven to be true or false. I’d also like to add that we aren’t just telling this to everyone, and it is staying within the sports team, coaches, etc.
Answer:
Gossiping is talking about another person to make them look bad. The gossiper has no interest in helping the person or correcting the situation. In fact, gossipers choose to talk to people who can't do anything about the situation. The gossiper's intention is to cause strife or to make themselves look better by tearing another person down. See What Is a Gossip?
In this case, you have a possible crime taking place (theft). You need to report it to someone with the authority to investigate it. Thus, go to your coach or someone higher. Tell him this is what we know, we aren't certain, but it appears that this person is pocketing funds. Then ask who is the best person to bring this situation to so that it can be properly checked?
While it makes the person running the tournament look bad, you are not doing it because you don't like the person or trying to ruin his reputation. You are trying to protect your league and keep people from being defrauded of their money.
