Attribution: who says so?

A headline that names its source tells you whose claim you are reading.

Attribution means saying where a piece of information came from: “police said”, “according to the ministry”, “the court held”. It tells you whose claim you are reading.

Compare two headlines about one event. “Three dead in clash, say police” tells you the number came from the police. “Three dead in clash” gives the same number as a plain fact, with no source in view. Neither is wrong in itself, but they ask different things of you. The first invites you to ask how the police know. The second asks you to trust the outlet.

Attribution can be vague, too: “sources say”, “officials said”, “it is learnt”. Unnamed sources are sometimes the only way news comes out, but you can’t check them yourself. All you have to go on is the outlet that chose to rely on them.

Headlines are short, so the source is often the first thing cut. The report beneath may name it in its opening line. Before you decide that a headline states something as fact, open the link and read the first paragraph.