[originaltext] You ask me to explain to you how I find out what is happening

You ask me to explain to you how I find out what is happening? Well, news can be something the authorities want you to know, or something they would rather keep secret. An announcement of a government success, a denial of a failure, or, a secret scandal that nobody really wants you to talk about. If the authorities want to tell the world some good news, they issue statements, communiques, and call press conferences. Or, politicians make speeches. Local newspapers, radio and television help to alert foreign correspondents to what is going on. And by making contacts with local officials, journalists can ask for more information or explanations to help them write their stories. Unless the correspondent is an eyewitness, it’s rare to trust any single source. Officials have a policy to defend, opposition politicians want to attack it. Rumor and gossip can also confuse the situation. So, you have to check information as much as possible, using common sense and experience as final checks to help establish just what’s likely to be the truth, or close to it.