<Ol> <Li> A crisis of verification . - A crisis of verification is perhaps the most salient and politically dangerous aspect of rumor . Berenson (1952) defines rumor as a kind of persuasive message involving a proposition that lacks' secure standards of evidence' (Pendleton 1998). </Li> <Li> A context of public uncertainty or anxiety about a political group, figure, or cause, which the rumor bomb overcomes or transfers onto an opponent . </Li> <Li> A clearly partisan even if an anonymous source (e.g. "an unnamed advisor to the president"), which seeks to profit politically from the rumor bomb's diffusion . </Li> <Li> A rapid diffusion via highly developed electronically mediated societies where news travels fast . </Li> </Ol> <Li> A crisis of verification . - A crisis of verification is perhaps the most salient and politically dangerous aspect of rumor . Berenson (1952) defines rumor as a kind of persuasive message involving a proposition that lacks' secure standards of evidence' (Pendleton 1998). </Li> <Li> A context of public uncertainty or anxiety about a political group, figure, or cause, which the rumor bomb overcomes or transfers onto an opponent . </Li> <Li> A clearly partisan even if an anonymous source (e.g. "an unnamed advisor to the president"), which seeks to profit politically from the rumor bomb's diffusion . </Li>

What are the three main characteristics of a rumor