That proverbial saying, "Ill news goes quick and far.
Evil news rides post, while good news baits.
The term baits was a traveling term meaning to stop for rest or refreshment, hence to travel slowly.
News travels fast in places where nothing much ever happens.
Eventually the story would spill over into the regular media.
Evil news fly faster still than good.
False news, when combined with social media, can wreak havoc thanks to its potential of reaching millions in a short span. The effects can be quite disturbing.
A Twitter update is simple and fast and gets the information and news, and it spreads it very quickly, and it can contain links so you can then link to this whole context of information.
The news of the discovery spread fast all over the country, and inquisitive enquiries mingled with congratulations from this moment became the daily programme.
These days, it takes only seconds - seconds - for a picture, a photo, to suddenly become an international headline.
Despite my best efforts, word that an American tourist was in town quickly made its way around Grozny. That I had come to Chechnya not for business or NGO work, but to see the sites and meet the people, was notable enough to be broadcast throughout the republic.