"Investigative, serious journalism seeks to verify rumours and report on facts only. Unfortunately, shortages of staff and resources make it often hard for journalists to check every aspects of a rumour. Add the pressure of deadlines and the publicfs strong appeDte for scandals and it becomes more and more tempDng for journalists to repeat rumours, even if it is to then refute them later. In the West, with the high increase in personal blogs and amateur news websites, rumours are blossoming and can do a lot of damage, even when reputable news agencies clearly prove them wrong, the rumour about President Obama not being an American citizen is a good example of it. But in conflict settngs rumours can do much more than ruin a reputation or change the odds of an election, in fragile societies, rumours can be extremely dangerous, tipping a group towards unnecessary violence, undoing months of trustbuilding or peace negotiations. Journalists working in conflict settngs must therefore be highly conscious of the dangers of rumour reporting. In this short workshop, we seek to explain the mechanisms of rumours and lay out strategies to best deal with them in a constructive, responsible manner. Ideally, communities and governments officials should also receive similar training so that rumours, whether they are maliciously spread or have emerged spontaneously, have less chances of wrecking havoc." (Introduction, page 3)