Gossip can range from minor information and harmless amusement on down to the poisonous creature that destroys reputations and careers. It is easy to say "Never, ever, gossip" but such strictures probably go against human nature. We like "news" - there's a special joy in being one of the first to hear it - and a hard truth is that those who take themselves completely out of the gossip pipeline quickly find that their informal information sources have dried up.
I once supervised an office that had liaison officers in all of the departments. We made a big deal of training those officers and they were indeed vital when sensitive matters arose but they also served as a valuable back-channel for distributing and receiving information in a manner that put no one on the spot. They could be a focus group, listening post, early warning system, and advisor all rolled into one.
It is a rare veteran of office politics who can't reach the precise person in a department who will have the true story behind the official one.
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