How to Translate the Media

From Daily Kos, May, 2023 :

“. . . when a reporter relays information from “a source close to” someone important, we’re probably looking at a shopped story—one the source was explicitly asked to give to the media. When they say “who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly,” that just means the source doesn’t want their own name attached. And yes, “source close to ‘(newsmaker)’ can often just mean ‘(newsmaker)’ themselves.”