Rumours and speculation: there is always a lot of that going around. Just this week, we "learned" of a major acquisition that was swiftly denied by one of the parties.
The company was very co-operative in dealing with our requests for information - and the staff understood our obligation to follow up on the rumour. Sometimes, people are less accommodating, either ignoring our enquiries or even getting angry about the questions. And other times, they hide the truth, denying something which later is confirmed.
But, hopefully, most players in this industry realise that we're all in this for the long haul, and honesty is the best policy. In some cases, companies have revealed details to us 'off the record' with a request that we hold back until they're ready to officially confirm it, which, of course, we do. It's all part of the give and take of professional relationships.
So, if you hear something that you think we should follow up, please let us know.