Definition of Scandal

Scandal is a widely publicized incident involving allegations of wrong-doing, disgrace, or moral outrage. A scandal may be based on reality, or the product of false allegations, or a mixture of both.

Some scandals are broken by a whistle-blower revealing wrongdoing within an organization or a group. Falsely alleged scandals can lead to a witch-hunt against the innocent. Sometimes an attempt to cover up a scandal ignites a greater scandal when the cover-up fails. Classes of scandals include:

• political scandals
• sex scandals
• academic scandals
• sporting scandals (especially Olympic Games scandals)

The United States in the 1950s was swept by a wave of quiz show scandals. Another major type of scandal is a corporate scandal, especially corporate accounting scandals. A wave of corporate accounting scandals swept United States companies in 2002 (see accounting scandals of 2002).

Lists of scandals

• Academic scandal
• Corporate scandal (includes accounting and mutual fund scandals)
• Journalism scandals
• Political scandal
• List of scandals of the Roman Catholic Church
• Christian televangelist scandals
• Sex scandal
• List of sporting scandals
• List of scandals with "-gate" suffix

Do you agree that we as a culture have a voracious appetite for the details of a scandal and a short term memory for those details once the scandal has past?