La voix de l'auteur et les voix rapportées

Unité CE-05 · campagne 3 · qui affirme quoi.

A press article is a chorus: the author's voice braided with quoted ministers, unions, studies, spokespersons. B2 questions constantly probe one distinction — what does the author assert, versus what do they merely report?

Three attribution devices to read like traffic signs:

1. Selon / d'après + source. The claim belongs to the source, full stop. Selon la direction, la fusion ne changera rien commits the direction, not the journalist. An unmarked sentence nearby (le calendrier, lui, n'a jamais varié) — that one the author owns.
2. Le conditionnel de distance. L'entreprise aurait dissimulé les résultats — the conditional flags unverified information. It is neither affirmation nor denial; it is journalistic caution, and exam options offering "the author affirms" or "the author denies" are both wrong.
3. Reporting verbs carry stance. Affirmer is neutral; prétendre plants doubt (prétendre, ce n'est pas prouver); se féliciter de marks the quoted speaker's satisfaction, not the author's. The verb chosen to introduce a voice is the author's quiet commentary on it.

Reflex: for every claim in a question, ask qui le dit ? before asking est-ce vrai ?. The four passages below mix all three devices.

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