cottage industry as a metaphor

[chopin7]

Hello

It's a documentary about Haiti democracy.
The vice president of Institution Republican International
is defending their representative in Haiti from some attacks made
by US ambassador in Haiti. And he says,
"I think some people probably don’t know Stanley Lucas (the guy in question)
terribly well. There is something of a cottage industry that’s sort of built
around what he has or hasn’t done. Perceptions, rumors, whisperings."

What could be this "cottage industry" here?
Or just the things he says afterwards "perceptions, rumors etc....

 

[Loob]

I think you'll find this definition and this previous thread helpful.

 

[heypresto]

I think he means what you suggest. The perceptions, rumours, whisperings etc have helped create what one might call a 'mythology' about Stanley Lucas.

 

[chopin7]

Thank you, Loob and Heypresto.

 

[coolbrowne]

I do agree that the final fragment (" Perceptions, rumors, whisperings") points to some kind of myth:

...what one might call a 'mythology' about...

However, that is not the meaning of the expression "cottage industry" in this specific idiomatic use (rather than metaphor). In this case "cottage industry" is a derogatory term meaning: a pretext or scheme that has the effect (intentional or not) of keeping someone (or a group of people) busy and, by implication, relevant, valuable, and so on.

Regards

 

[Myridon]

People spend so much time gossiping about him that it is like a job that they do from their homes.

 

[Loob]

... In this case "cottage industry" is a derogatory term meaning: a pretext or scheme that has the effect (intentional or not) of keeping someone (or a group of people) busy and, by implication, relevant, valuable, and so on....

Yes, that's how I see it too, coolbrowne.

I also felt it was derogatory in the thread I linked to in post 2 (cottage industry), but others didn't agree.