Wires and syndication

Attribution terms explained

Last checked 6 November 2026 · 7 sources

Short answer

Attribution phrases tell the reader who supplied a fact. 'According to' names the source of a claim. 'As reported by' credits another outlet's reporting. Published codes treat attribution as a duty. The Washington Post says facts not produced by its own reporting must be attributed ¹. NPR says 'media reports' or 'sources say' is not good enough and asks staff to be specific ². The SPJ Code says never plagiarize and always attribute ³.

Post rule on other media: Attribution of material from other media must be total ¹
NPR rule: No verbatim material from another source without attribution ²
SPJ rule: Never plagiarize. Always attribute ³
German rule on unconfirmed claims: Unconfirmed reports, rumours and assumptions must be marked as such ⁴

Why attribution matters

The Washington Post says readers should be able to distinguish between what the reporter saw and what the reporter obtained from other sources ¹. That is the job attribution does. It shows whether a fact is first-hand, taken from a named person or document, or reused from another outlet.

Attribution is how a reader traces a claim back. ICD 206, the US intelligence sourcing directive, asks each citation to identify the originator of the information and to reference the most original source ⁵.

Common phrases and what they signal

Phrase	What it signals	Published rule
According to [named person or document]	The fact comes from that source, not from the reporter's own observation ¹	Facts and quotations not produced by the outlet's own reporting must be attributed ¹
As reported by [outlet]	The outlet is crediting another publication's reporting ¹	The Post's policy is to give credit to other publications ¹
Agency credit such as (AFP) or (dpa)	The text came from a news agency ²	No material from another source verbatim, or substantially so, without attribution ²
Sources say, or informed sources	The source is unnamed ¹	The Post asks for more descriptive wording ¹. NPR says sources say is not good enough ²
Media reports	The fact was seen in other outlets ²	NPR says to name the outlet ²
Unconfirmed, or could not be verified	The outlet has not confirmed the claim ⁴	German Press Code requires unconfirmed reports to be marked as such ⁴

Background and deep background

The Washington Post says information given on deep background can be published but not attributed, and its policy discourages the practice ¹. It says editors have an obligation to know the identity of unnamed sources used in a story ¹.

The SPJ Code says anonymity or confidentiality should be a last resort for sources with information of substantial public interest ³.

Attribution in interviews and quotes

Guideline 2.4 of the German Press Code says a verbatim interview is journalistically correct if it accurately reproduces what was said ⁴. If an interview from another outlet is quoted at length, the source must be named ⁴.

The UK Editors' Code says the press must distinguish clearly between comment, conjecture and fact ⁶. Attribution words help readers see which is which.

Attribution and news as property

Copying another outlet's news without credit has a legal history. In International News Service v. Associated Press, decided on 23 December 1918, the US Supreme Court held that news is quasi property as between competitors, and that taking a rival's news for profit could be unfair competition ⁷.

Common questions

What is the difference between 'according to' and 'as reported by'?

'According to' names the source of a claim. 'As reported by' credits another outlet's reporting. The Washington Post requires attribution for facts it did not report itself and gives credit to other publications ¹.

Is 'sources say' acceptable attribution?

NPR's ethics guidance says 'media reports' or 'sources say' is not good enough and asks staff to be specific ².

Does attribution make a claim true?

No. It shows where the claim came from. The German Press Code asks outlets to mark unconfirmed reports and rumours as such ⁴.

What does deep background mean?

At The Washington Post, deep background information can be published but not attributed, and the policy discourages its use ¹.

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Sources

Wire services and syndication explained
How the big news agencies are owned and governed, how members and clients reuse agency copy, and what published rules say about crediting it.
How to trace a story to its source
A step-by-step method for following a claim upstream through credits, agency copy, documents and file provenance, based on published rules.
Single-source and two-source rules
What published newsroom codes say about confirming facts with two independent sources, when one source is allowed, and how unconfirmed claims are treated.
Circular reporting explained
How one source can look like many, what newsroom guides and US intelligence reviews say about it, and the checks that published standards set out.