Sunday, April 3, 2011

Authorities and Officials

From today's Wapo:  " Authorities discovered highly radioactive water leaking from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant....."   "....the concrete was unable to set because the water washed it away, authorities said...."
From the AP: "...officials said it will take several months to bring the crisis under control..."

 I've noticed that reporters often refer to "authorities" and "officials" as sources for their stories.  Is it really that hard to identify the person/people who are the sources of information?  Not necessarily by name - but at least by a description of their position: tell us who these "authorities" and "officials" are, rather than dropping in the generic terms.  Every time I read these words, my first thought is: lazy reporting.

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