Reporters have always kept an eye on other reporters. But in the Internet age of instant publishing, what if watching your competitor becomes your whole story?

The tale of the Brazilian lottery winner is an example of how rumors in one immigrant corner of one American city can quickly reverberate thousands of miles and a hemisphere away.

New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg injected himself into the presidential campaign, forcefully denouncing what he called a “whisper campaign” linking Senator Barack Obama to Islam.