COMM 104Rumors, Gossip, and Urban Legends in Journalism
Communication · 4 units · Undergraduate upper division (100-199)
Study of the creative relationship between fact and fiction by using—through examples from 20th-century journalism—three distinct types of communication: rumor, gossip, and urban legend. Broadly speaking, rumor mimics news and is unverified communication about events. Gossip is reputation management disguised as lighthearted chitchat. Urban legends mimic documentary-type news while their actual function is to teach about hidden dangers lurking behind the apparently normal surface of reality. All three belong to the category of informal communication, also known as hearsay. Since mimicry and disguise are the main way rumor, gossip, and urban legends appear credibly factual, study provides students with analytic tools to identify then analyze these distinct but widespread types of communication.
Letter grading.
When it runs
- Fall 2025
- Fall 2026
Scheduled, not typical — from UCLA’s Schedule of Classes, which publishes Fall 2025 through Spring 2027 and nothing before it.
Requisites
UCLA lists no requisites for this course.
Requires
Everything that has to come before this course, not just the courses named in the requisite above.
Nothing — this is an entry point.
Unlocks
What this course is a requisite for, and what those courses lead to in turn.
No course in the catalog lists this as a requisite.