RumourManagementManual1

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Rumour Management Manual:

a training guide

Introduc)on..............................................................................3

Objec)ves..................................................................................4

Methodology............................................................................5 Unit1...........................................................................................6

Unit2...........................................................................................7

Unit3...........................................................................................8

Unit4...........................................................................................10

Unit5...........................................................................................11

Unit6...........................................................................................13

FlipChart#1..............................................................................14

Handout#1................................................................................15

Notes...........................................................................................16

RumourManagementManual2

TableofContents!

Whyatrainingaboutrumours?

Rumourshavealwaysbeenbothablessinganda curseforjournalists.Ablessingbecauseevenifarumourisunfounded,itmay leadthemtoa goodstoryandacurseasrumours makethemfacedifficultchoices(publishornotpublish)thatputtheircredibilityatrisk.

InvesDgaDve,seriousjournalismseekstoverifyrumoursandreportonfactsonly.Unfortunately,shortagesof staff andresourcesmakeitoGenhard forjournaliststocheckeveryaspectsofarumour. Add the pressure of deadlines and the public’s strong appeDte for scandals and itbecomesmoreandmoretempDngforjournaliststorepeatrumours,evenif it istothenrefutethemlater.

IntheWest,withthehighincreaseinpersonalblogsandamateurnewswebsites,rumoursareblossomingandcandoalotofdamage,evenwhenreputablenewsagenciesclearlyprovethemwrong,therumouraboutPresidentObamanotbeinganAmericanciDzenisagoodexampleofit.ButinconflictsePngsrumourscandomuchmorethanruinareputaDonorchangetheoddsofanelecDon,infragilesocieDes,rumourscanbeextremelydangerous,Dppingagrouptowardsunnecessaryviolence,undoingmonthsoftrust‐buildingorpeacenegoDaDons.

Journalistsworking in conflict sePngsmust thereforebehighly consciousof the dangersofrumourreporDng.Inthisshortworkshop,weseek toexplainthemechanismsof rumoursandlay out strategies to best deal with them in a construcDve, responsible manner. Ideally,communiDesand governments officials should also receive similar training so that rumours,whether they aremaliciously spread or have emerged spontaneously, have less chances ofwreckinghavoc.

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Introduc)on

SpecificObjec)ves

This training guide has been designed to empower journalists to deal with rumours in anappropriatemannerthatwillimprovethecredibilityofthemedia,educatethepublicandasaresult,strengthendemocracy.

Learning Objec)ves: There arethreedisDnct, interrelated learning objecDves that inform theworkofthistraining.

Knowledge: Bytheendofthistraining,parDcipantswillbeableto:

• ExplainwhatarumourisanditspotenDallylethalconsequences

Skills: Bytheendofthistraining,parDcipantswillbeableto:

• Handlea rumourasajournalist, inaprofessionalmannerand inaway thatwillnotcauseviolenceorfurtherdamage

• Developstrategiestoreducetheriskoftheemergenceandspreadofrumours

A0tudes: Bytheendofthistraining,parDcipantswillbeableto:

• RecognisetheirroleandresponsibiliDesasjournalistsinaconflictsituaDonwhendealingwithrumours

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Objec)ves!

Méthodologie

Themethodologyforthetrainingguideisbasedonthefollowingadultlearningprinciples:

• Learningisself‐directed

• ItfillsanimmediateneedandishighlyparDcipatory

• LearningisexperienDal(parDcipantsandthetrainerlearnfromoneanother)

• TimeisallowedforreflecDonandcorrecDvefeedback

• A mutually respec]ul environment is created by parDcipants and trainer(s) to enhancelearning

• Theenvironmentandatmospherecreatedaresafefortheexchangeoflearning

Prepara)on

Here’salistofthingsnottoforgetwhenpreparingatraining:

• Inform the parDcipants about the following: the training programme; the framework andscheduleforthetraining;thelevelofthetraining;thenameofthefacilitator.

• Materialsnecessaryforthetraining:sufficientspace;alistofparDcipants;tables andchairsinthe formof aU ora circle; oneormoreboards; differentcolouredmarkers;sDckytapeforfixingpaperstothewalls;notebooksandpensfortheparDcipants;aprojector;loudspeakers;drinks;copiesofthehandoutsyou’llfindinthisguidebookandtrainingevaluaDonforms.

• Wri_enevaluaDonattheendofthetraining:prepareabriefquesDonnaireaboutthetraininganddistribute itattheend.Itshouldbeanonymous, sothatparDcipantsfeelabletosharehonestopinionsaboutthetraining,theorganisaDonofthetraining,andtheworkdonebythefacilitator.

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Methodology!

Unit1

NotestoFacilitator

Time:30minutes

Resources:FlipChart(writeLearningobjecDvesonflipchart)

LearningAc)vi)esParDcipantsintroducethemselvesbrieflyandwhytheyareinthisworkshop.

Facilitatorsintroducethemselvesandgiveabriefoverviewof theworkshop aswellasallthenecessarylogisDcalinformaDon.

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Unit1!

Unit2

NotestoFacilitator

Time:30minutes

Resources:Flipchart

NOTE:LetparDcipantscomeupwithownanswersbutmakesurekeycharacterisDcsareincluded:

• TheinformaDongoesaroundthroughword‐of‐mouth• Theoriginalmessagegetssimplifiedasdetailsgetlostordistortedalongtheway• TheinformaDonisrepeatedwithoutverificaDonorconfirmaDonandinmany instances

exaggerated.• Whatpeoplecan’tremember,theyoGeninventtofillthegaps

LearningAc)vi)es

FacilitatorwhispersratherquicklyinthefirstparDcipant’sear:“You have great responsibiliDesasa journalistasthemedia canplay a crucial role in eitherstrengtheningdemocracyorcontribuDngtofearandviolence.Thefactthatyouareheretodayshowsthatyouhavechosentobeaforceforgood,thankyou”.

ThentheparDcipantmustrepeatthesentenceinhis/herneighbor’searandthemessagemustgoaroundthefullcircleunDlthelastparDcipantrepeatsitoutloud.QuesDonsor requeststorepeatthemessagearenotallowed.

Onceamessagehasbeen“delivered”,compareittooriginalone:whathappened?

Basedonthisquickexample,canyoupointoutthecharacterisDcsofarumour?

Ask:Canarumoureverbeagoodthing?Thinkaboutit,andwewill getbacktothisquesDonlater.

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Unit2

Unit3

Time:1hourand30minutes

Resources:flipchart–writeinadvanceonflipchartFlipChart#1

Notestofacilitator:

WhenyougooverFlipchart#1,condiDon#4isveryimportant:seeflipchart#1

Arumourwill takeholdonly if it resonateswiththecommunity,i.eitmeets theemo)onalneedsofthecommunity.

Example:People put a lot of hope in their new President and so stories start circulaDng thathehassupernaturalpowers.Therumourscapturethecommunity’s needtobelievethatthePresidentwillsomehowsolvealltheirproblems.

Most of the Dme however, the rumours will appeal to the darker side of the community,reflecDngtheirdeepestfears andprejudices.InDmesof trouble,itisaveryhumanreacDontowanttofindsomeonetoblameandbeangryat.

Example:Rumourscirculateaboutaminorityethnicgroupconspiringagainstthegovernment.Withspareresources,thisrumourgivespermissiontothecommunitytodiscriminateagainstthemwithoutfeelingguilty.

CondiDon#5fromFlipchart1:canbe“successful”onlyifothercondiDonsaremet.

Example:Amandropsdead,cominghomefromabar.Thisunfortunateincidentmaybeexploitedbyarivaloranenemytostartarumourthatthemanwaspoisonedbythebarowner.However,therumourwillprobably not go far if thepublic doesnot havea consciousneed tobelieve therumour.Formanypeopleinthecommunity,itiseasiertoblamesomeoneandsayitwaspoison,ratherthanacceptthatiftheydrinktoomuchfortoolong,theymaydiefromit.

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Unit3

So,canarumourbeagoodthing?

LetparDcipantsdiscussbutmakesurethefollowingpointismade:NotallrumourshavenegaDveorviolentconsequencesassomemaybeharmlessorevenhaveaposiDve outcome. But the existence of rumours is always a sign that other channels ofcommunicaDonhavebrokendownorarenottrusted.Evenwhenthemessage isposiDve (exPresident has super‐natural powers), a rumour is oGen the sign that people are not takingresponsibility for their lives. And democracy demands responsibleciDzens thatmakeraDonaldecisions.

LearningAc)vi)es:

Put parDcipants in groups of 3 or 4 and ask them to share among themselves examplesofrumourstheyhavecomeacross.

Appointanotetakerforeachgroupandoncetheyhavesharedtheirstorieswithintheirsmallgroupaskthemtodiscuss:WhatarethecommonaliDesbetweenthedifferentstories?WhatdotheyseeascondiDonsnecessaryforrumourstospread?

Haveeachgroup reportback and then show Flipchart #1and go over eachpoint, asking forcomments.GoovercondiDon#4and#5inmoredetails(seenotes).

Askagain:canarumoureverbeagoodthing?(seenotes)

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Unit3

Unit4

Time:1hour

Resources:flipchart

NotestoFacilitator

NOTEforcondiDon#1fromFlipchart1:

JournalistscannotdomuchaboutthefactthatthegeneralpopulaDonisunder‐educatedbutitcanmakesurethatthey takeevery opportunitypresentedtoexplainimportant concepts.Forinstance, when reporDng on jusDceissues, includeaparagraph onhow the jusDce system issupposedtobeindependentfromtheexecuDvebranch inademocracy.OrwhenreporDngonHIV/AIDS,remindreaders,evenifverybriefly,onhowonecancatch–ornotcatch–HIV/AIDS.

LearningAc)vi)es:

Whenfacedwithrumourswhatcanjournalistsdo?

StartwithcondiDon#1:what strategiescan youusetodealwith the factthat your readers/listenersorviewersaremostlyunder‐educated?

DiscusswithparDcipantsasa largegroup(seenote) andthencreate4smallgroupstodiscussCondiDon#2,3,4,5

• DoesthiscondiDonexistinthecommunityyouworkin?• WhatwouldyourrolebeasajournalistfacedwiththesecondiDons?• Whatstrategiescanyouputinplacetominimisetheriskofspreadingrumours?

Haveeachgroupreportback.

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Unit4

Unit5

Time:2hours

Resources:flipchartpaper,scenario#1,2,3wri_enonseparatepiecesofpaper

NotesforFacilitator:

When you debrief the groups, let the other parDcipantsgive their feedback first, encouragediscussion.Attheend,makesurethefollowingkeylearningpointshavebeenincluded:• Havea largenetwork of people you know all across the country so you can check facts

quickly:fromgovernmentofficials,tocommunityleadersandarmyofficers• GivesamplesofreacDonstogiveanuancedpicture:noteveryonefeelsthesamewayabout

anissue• GivebackgroundinformaDon,findoutthehistoryoftheissuesyoureporton• Askgovernmentofficialstocomment,help them“managethecrisis”andunderstandhow

importantitisthattheycommunicatewiththecommunity• DiscusstheconsequencesofpotenDalscenarios:ifthecommunityactsontherumour,what

mayhappen?• Take responsibility as a journalist to alwaysbe honest,andpresent thetruth. Aim tobe

objecDve.

LearningAc)vi)es:

Sowehavereviewedthedifferentstrategiesthatyoucanputinplacetodealwithrumoursingeneral.Let’snowseehowtobestrespondtoacrisissituaDon.

Create3groupsandgivethemeachonescenario.TellthemtheyhavetodevelopaplanonhowtocollectalltheinformaDontheyneed,andwillbeallocatedanhourtopresentthestory:• Whoaretheygoingtocall?• WhatquesDonsaretheygoingtoask?• Whatwilltheyincludeintheirstory?• WhataddiDonalstepswilltheytake?

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Unit5

Scenario#1ItiselecDonDmeandagroupclosetooneofthepoliDcalparDesis claimingthatthePresidenDalcandidateoftherivalpartydoesnotdeservehisWarMedalofHonor,thatheliedaboutbeingahero,andtookcreditforsomethinghedidnotdo.

Scenario#2Peoplearesaying thatrefugeesaregePngbiggerallowances thanwidowsdo. TherumouriscirculaDng fastandtherehavebeenalready incidents of angrymobsa_acking refugeecampsalready.

Scenario#3TheexactlocaDonofthecountry’sNorthernborderhasbeenindisputeformanyyears.ItissaidthatthePresidentof theneighboring country isbuyinguparmsandtrainingmiliDasto a_acksoonandpushtheborderbackby35kilometers.Itisbelievedthatimportantgasreservesmaylaybefoundunderground.

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Unit5

UNIT6

Time:30minutes

Resources:flipchart,HandOut#1

LearningAc)vi)es

Inpairs,askparDcipantstodiscuss:• Whatwerethekeylearningpointsforyouinthisworkshop?• Whatinsightsdidyougainaboutyourroleasajournalist?• Whatwillyoudodifferentlyfromtodayasaresultofthisworkshop?

Givepairs 10minutestodiscuss.Thenask themtosharesomeofwhatcameup in thelargergroup,andwritetheiranswersontheflipchart.

Asawayofrecapping,distributeHandOut#1

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Unit6

Condi)onsneededforarumourtospread:

1. lackofeducaDon:anuneducatedpublicwillbemoregullibleandless

likelytochecktheinformaDon(butrumoursexistalsoineducated

countries)

2. lackoftransparency:whenexplanaDonsarenotgiven,thepublic

startsinvenDng,usuallyassumingtheworst

3. lackofcredibilityofthemedia:thecommunitydoesnottrustthe

informaDongiventhroughtheofficialchannelsandsolooksforother

sourcesofinformaDon

4. strongemoDons:therumourcapturesthemoodandemoDonalneeds

ofthecommunity

5. hiddenagenda:anindividualorgroupmaytakeadvantageofan

incidenttospreadamaliciousrumourthatadvancestheiragenda

and/orharmstheircompeDDon.

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Flip Chart #1

Action Consequences Final Outcome

Professional Journalists

Useeveryopportunitytoeducatehisorherreaders.

Publiccanbe_erunderstandtheissuesintheircontext.

CiDzensarebe_erequippedtomakedecisions.

HoldelectedofficialsandpoliDciansaccountableforwhattheysayanddo.

ElectedofficialsandpoliDcianshavetobehavewellandexplainhowdecisionsaretaken.

TrustinthedemocraDcsystemincreases.

InvesDgaterumours,butpublishonlyverifiedstoriessothecommunitycandisDnguishbetweenfactsandrumours.

Communityiswellinformedandcanmakebe_erdecisions.

Credibilityofthemediaisenhanced.

ThroughinformalconversaDons,journalistsgaugethecommunity’smood,putincidentsinperspecDveandanalyzeunderlyingcauses.

Thepublicisbe_erplacedtoobjecDvelyanalyzeevents.

PotenDalforviolencedecreases.

Journalistsalwaysask:Who benefits from this rumour?andinvesDgatewhetherfactswerepurposelymanipulated.

Hiddenagendasareexposed. MediaplaysitsroleinthedemocraDcsystem,prevenDngabuseofpower.

Unprofessional Journalists

Reportonjustthestoryathand,withoutgivinganycontextorexplanaDon.

Readers’reacDonsareatDmesbasedonfalseassumpDons.

InformaDonisdistorted,createsdisrupDonandpossiblyviolence.

Actasthemouthpieceofthegovernmentorsomespecialinterests.

ElectedofficialsandpoliDcianscanmanipulatethemediatosuittheiragenda.

Themedialosescredibility.

Repeatrumoursasnews,withoutverifyingthefactsorpuPngtheinformaDonintocontext

Communityis“leGinthedark”andmuchmorepronetomanipulaDonandemoDonaloutburstsofviolence.

Democracyandtheruleoflawareweakened.

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Handout #1

SearchforCommonGround

Foundedin1982,SearchforCommonGroundworkstotransformthewaytheworlddealswithconflict‐awayfromadversarialapproachesandtowardscollaboraDveproblemsolving.WeworkwithlocalpartnerstofindculturallyappropriatemeanstostrengthensocieDes'capacitytodealwithconflictsconstrucDvely:tounderstandthedifferencesandactonthecommonaliDes.

RadioforPeacebuildingAfrica

SearchforCommonGround’sRadioforPeacebuildingAfricaisarapidlygrowingprojectworkingin20Africancountriestoincreasetheknowledgeandskillsofradiobroadcasters,parDcularlyyouthradiobroadcasters,infairandbalancedreporDng.TheprojectaimstoimprovethecommunicaDonflowbetweengovernmentofficials,policymakers,thepressandcivilsociety.FormoreinformaDon,visitourwebsiteat:<hZp://www.radiopeaceafrica.org>.

Acknowledgments

SearchforCommonGroundwould liketothankDesiréNdagijimanawhoiniDatedtheconceptfor this training guidewhileworking with SFCG in Burundi at Studio Ijambo, Eva Dalak whohelpedtodeveloptheideafurther, SostheneNsimbainSFCGDRCwhotranslated thismanualintoFrench,andCaroleFramptonforhertranslaDonandeditorialwork. WewouldalsoliketoexpressourappreciaDontotheFinnishMinistryofForeignAffairsfortheirconDnuedsupport.

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Notes