History Main / NewsTravelsFast

'''Malory''': Pam! ([[["DefensiveWhat What?"]]]) What is wrong with you?\\

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'' has this by virtue of resident gossip Pam Poovey, and best exemplified in Season One's "Stage Two", when Malory is privately sharing news of a breast cancer diagnosis she received.
-->'''Malory''': The last thing I need is this spreading like... Pam, what the hell!?\\
'''Pam''': ''(Who's currently texting the news)'' I can't help it. It's like a disease. ''(Continues texting)''\\

'''Pam''': Hey! Do you not know what "disease" means!? Oh sorry, I forgot you might have...

* Averted in the 2014 update for ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress''. The game uses a system of conversations between NPCs to simulate the realistic spread of rumors, so if, for instance, you kill all the witnesses to your criminal activities before they leave the map, as well as everyone those witnesses spoke to in the meantime, the world will not find out about them.

->''"What happened down in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally, [[OpenSecret the whole school knows.]]"''

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* Occurs egregiously in the ''JimmyNeutron'' movie, when sightings of his dawn outing in a flying machine make the front page of that day's morning newspaper.
* In the SubStory ''Destination Tokyo'', we see how this sort of thing gets started: the captain asks for a particular chart. The man who fetches it shows the title to half-a-dozen men before passing it to the captain and they immediately scatter to tell everyone else. Before the captain can officially [[TitleDrop announce their destination]], a new edition of the unit paper is out and Japanese music is playing over the intercom.
* In one of the Sharpe films, the French tried to stir up disloyalty in Irish units on the continent by creating false reports of English atrocities on the Irish. Sharpe stops the plan by lampshading this trope - the reports were spread by smuggling in allegedly American newspapers, which were less than a week old according to the print dates. But during the Napoleonic Wars, crossing the Atlantic was a six week trip under ideal circumstances, meaning that for Americans to hear about the atrocities and send reports about them to soldiers in Spain, said atrocities would have had to be at least three months past, printed in papers nearly two months old.

* Although many fantasy series tend to underestimate how long it would take news to travel across a nation or nations, ''ASongOfIceAndFire'' often makes an effort to avert this. News and messages can take weeks or even months to pass back and forth, perhaps best illustrated with one section where several characters in a remote corner of the realm are trying to plan what to in a tight political situation without upsetting the fearsome leader of the most powerful faction in the kingdom. Said leader died several chapters earlier, and the news hasn't made it that far yet.

* Lampshaded in ''SesameStreet'': Telly created Texas Telly persona like 2 scenes ago when he meets Murray, who is ALREADY his biggest fan. "Whoa, news travel ''fast''".
* In an episode of ''EverybodyHatesChris'' where a girl kisses Chris on the cheek, he tells his friend to not tell anyone. Later, everyone at school knows. This is also parodied at the end of the episode when Chris tells his friend that him and the girl aren't in love and not to tell anyone, one second later (literally, as said by a caption) '''EVERYONE''' at school knows.

* In an early ''FoxTrot'' strip:

* ''BaldursGate'' and its sequel had a "reputation" system, which was more or less a KarmaMeter, except that your actual D&D ''alignment'' was a separate affair.

* ''ManaKhemiaAlchemistsOfAlrevis'' uses this as a gameplay element. There's an NPC that deals in rumors; you pay him to get a different rumor assigned to you. They have varying effects, ranging from cheaper item prices, to increasing all stats, to increasing item effectiveness. After doing specific things (fight 200 battles, get past part in storyline, get A's in class, and so forth), you unlock different rumors.

* Averted in the first ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' game. If you go to Korriban after [[spoiler:learning that you, the player, are Revan,]] and you try to tell this to a guard on the Sith academy, he won't believe you.

* Averted multiple times in the ''JakAndDaxter'' series. After Jak defeats the Metal Head leader at the end of ''JakIIRenegade'', no one in Spargus City knows who he is when he arrives there. And after he saves the world at the end of ''Jak3Wastelander'', people in Kras City only know him for his racing exploits.
* Similar to the ''Mana Khemia'' example above, in ''[[{{VideoGame/Persona2}} Persona 2]]'', you can hire a detective to spread rumors which change the world. As soon as you plunk down 3000 yen on the detective's desk, the rumor is spread city-wide and has come true, whatever it's about. However, news of plot events tends to spread much more gradually, averting this trope as well, and the savvy player can even guess a couple upcoming plot twists based on how the rumors of your own exploits get exaggerated and twisted in the retelling. It's extremely [[ParanoiaFuel paranoia-inducing]] to watch and wonder how it will play out.

* Played with in ''{{Doug}}''. After Roger uses Doug's borrowed press pass to publish a mean article, ''everyone but Doug'' knows about it, and he is mystified as to why everyone suddenly seems to hate him.

* In the infamous ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode ''Not All Dogs Go To Heaven'', once it's announced that Brian is an atheist, '''CARS''' are thrown through the house.

* In ''Disney/{{Pocahontas}} II'' the news of John Smith's [[spoiler:apparent]] death in the prologue somehow beats John Rolfe's ship across the Atlantic to Virginia, [[FridgeLogic despite the fact that news could only cross the ocean by ship in those days]]. In fairness, this is hardly the only way ''Pocahontas'' gave historical accuracy the finger.

* In ''CityOfHeroes'', the civilians walking around often talk about your exploits, sometimes mere seconds after you perform them. This includes civilians in [[TimeTravel ancient Rome]].

* Averted in the 2014 update for DwarfFortress. The game uses a system of conversations between NPCs to simulate the realistic spread of rumors, so if, for instance, you kill all the witnesses to your criminal activities before they leave the map, as well as everyone those witnesses spoke to in the meantime, the world will not find out about them.

** Averted in the 2014 update for DwarfFortress. The game uses a system of conversations between NPCs to simulate the realistic spread of rumors, so if, for instance, you kill all the witnesses to your criminal activities before they leave the map, as well as everyone those witnesses spoke to in the meantime, the world will not find out about them.

* In the third generation of ''{{Pokemon}}'', there's a guy in Dewford Town who wants to know a trendy phrase. If you succeed in creating this amazing new phrase, everyone in the house above him will know, a picture about it will have been painted, a town event for it will be being planned, and there is licensed merchandise for it. All in the two seconds it takes for you to walk into the house.
** In the fourth generation (HeartGold/SoulSilver, specifically), a certain character will call you about having cleared the radio tower of Team Rocket almost as soon as you finish.

** In {{Fallout 2}}'s PlayableEpilogue, even if you immediately get in your [[CoolCar Highwayman]] after coming ashore and haul ass to New Reno or Vault City, everyone in town is already singing your praises for defeating the Enclave (though perhaps a bit justified since there's some [[BreakingTheFourthWall fourth-wall breaking involved.]])

** In {{Fallout 2}}'s PlayableEpilogue, even if you immediately get in your [[CoolCar Highwayman]] after coming ashore and haul ass to New Reno or Vault City, everyone in town is singing your praises for defeating the Enclave (though perhaps a bit justified since there's some [[BreakingTheFourthWall fourth-wall breaking involved.]])

** When Grampa was responsible for ruining the forming of a football team, the everyone in Springfield hates him, even the church says it in their sign, and some firemen threw him in a burning building.

** It probably doesn't get any straighter then this: you cannot sell stolen goods at all. Even if the store is on the ''other plane of existance'' from the crime scene you'll stll receive an "I don't receive stolen goods" reply. Such level of awareness makes you suspect a case of HiveMind. Or a remarkably efficient law enforcement system with instant and widespread notification aboyt crimes...Oh, who am I kidding, of course it's HiveMind!

* Major events in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' are talked about by [=NPCs=]. For instance, if NCR President Aaron Kimball is assassinated, or if the train from Camp [=McCarran=] to the Strip is destroyed. This even occurs if you kill or disable Mr. House, something ''absolutely nobody'' but you could ''possibly'' know about, since House doesn't really talk to anybody but you and nobody else is allowed in his sanctum sanctorum.

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* In ''HalfLife'' the scientists and guards all seem to know Gordon. They all know about the player's exploits, what has happened, and that he needs to reach the Lambda Complex to avert the catastrophe, even while there are aliens and government soldiers crawling all over, and that they've spent the entire day cowering in a supply closet or some such place.

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* In a variation, in ''MassEffect'' series completing a sidequest will seemingly immediatly create the intended effect even when this shouldn't be in any way possible. For example, in ''MassEffect3'' you can find a salarian scientist discussing the possibility of cloning extinct Kakliosaurus as mounts for toxic environment, and if you bring him a skull of the creature, he will comment on the success of the project the next time you speak with him, even if it's only seconds later.

->''"What happened down in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally, [[OpenSecret the whole school knows.]]"''

When the hero accomplishes a task or a goal (or in the other direction, does something embarrassing or messes up badly), everyone he encounters will have known about it already and will praise/chastise the hero for what he did. Originally a [[VideoGameTropes video game trope]], but seen in other media.

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** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', when you speak to a guard after doing something that gives them a new line of dialogue, they'll say the new line before anything else. So, for example, you can be made Harbinger of the Companions in a little sea cave, and arrive at the nearest town before the Companions with you (the only ones who witnessed you being made Harbinger) get there, and the first guard will ''still'' greet you as Harbinger of the Companions.

** It probably doesn't get any straighter then this: you cannot sell stolen goods at all. Even if the store is on the ''other plane of existance'' from the crime scene you'll stll receive an "I don't receive stolen goods" reply. Such level of awareness makes you suspect a case of HiveMind. Or a remarkably efficient law enforcement system with instant and widespread notification aboyt crimes...Oh, who am I kidding, of course it's HiveMind!

* ''ManaKhemiaAlchemistsOfAlrevis'' uses this as a gameplay element. There's an NPC that deals in rumors; you pay him to get a different rumor assigned to you. They have varying effects, ranging from cheaper item prices, to increasing all stats, to increasing item effectiveness. After doing specific things (fight 200 battles, get past part in storyline, get A's in class, and so forth), you unlock different rumors.

* {{Lampshaded}} in the first ''VideoGame/HarryPotter'' computer game. After catching the Remembrall and being made Gryffindor Seeker, the next part of the game involves you going to visit Hagrid. One of the first things he greets you with is, "Congratulations on making the Quidditch team! Word travels fast around Hogwarts."


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