Gossip or Slander?

Gossip is spreading information about someone, generally that has not been confirmed to be true.

To slander is to make false statements about someone.

Is what we are sharing & reading online fitting in those categories? 

Are there confirming witnesses even in a news story?

He who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets,
Therefore do not associate with a gossip.

Proverbs 20:19 NASB

He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets,

But he who is trustworthy conceals a matter.

Proverbs 11:13 NASB

Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD,
But those who deal faithfully are His delight.
A prudent man conceals knowledge,
But the heart of fools proclaims folly.
Proverbs 12:22-23 NASB

Argue your case with your neighbor,
And do not reveal the secret of another,
Or he who hears it will reproach you,

And the evil report about you will not pass away.
Proverbs 25:9-10 NASB

The words of a whisperer are like dainty morsels, 

And they go down into the innermost parts of the body.

Proverbs 18:8 NASB

A trustworthy witness will not lie, 

But a false witness utters lies.

Proverbs 14:5 NASB

He who conceals a transgression seeks love, 

But he who repeats a matter separates intimate friends.

Proverbs 17:9 NASB

A perverse man spreads strife, 

And a slanderer separates intimate friends.

Proverbs 16:28 NASB

For lack of wood the fire goes out, 

And where there is no whisperer, contention quiets down.

Proverbs 26:20 NASB

Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause,
And do not deceive with your lips.

Do not say, “Thus I shall do to him as he has done to me;
I will render to the man according to his work.”
Proverbs 24:28-29 NASB

And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.

James 3:6 NASB

Here is an excellent message that deals with gossip:

How To Kill Your Neighbor by Mike Riccardi

“Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation"