Reported Forms in the News

Every Macedonian statement about the past makes a choice. The aorist presents an event as something the speaker vouches for; the l-form presents it as reported, inferred or doubted (see аорист наспроти л-форма). Journalists use this choice with care, because it shows readers what the outlet itself stands behind.

1. Confirmed facts: the aorist. Events the newsroom has confirmed are told in the aorist: Владата вчера донесе одлука за повисоки пензии. (Yesterday the government decided on higher pensions.)

2. Statements: a reporting verb. Statements are attributed with изјави дека (stated that), соопшти (announced), информира (informed), рече (said) or објасни (explained). News writing often puts the attribution last, so the news comes first: Новиот закон ќе стапи на сила во јануари, изјави министерот. Inside a дека clause, a present or future stays as the speaker said it (see директен и индиректен говор): Министерот изјави дека цените ќе се намалат. A past event in the reported clause is often given as an l-form: Таа објасни дека го добила писмото во понеделник. (She explained that she had received the letter on Monday.)

3. Unconfirmed details: the l-form with a source. When the outlet passes on what others claim, it uses l-forms and names the source with според, or marks the distance with наводно:

• Според изворите, министерот поднел оставка. (According to sources, the minister has resigned.)
• Пожарот, наводно, бил предизвикан од невнимание. (The fire was allegedly caused by carelessness.)

Police reports work the same way. The police pass on what a citizen reported, so the event is in the l-form and the source ends the sentence: Жител на Битола пријавил дека непознат сторител му украл велосипед, соопшти МВР. (A resident of Bitola reported that an unknown person had stolen his bicycle, the Interior Ministry said.)

4. Why the source matters. An l-form on its own only says that the information is not the writer's own. It can mean I was told, but it can also mean I doubt it (see дубитатив: наводно бил). A bare Министерот ја прекршил процедурата. can therefore read as an insinuation. Naming the source keeps the report neutral: Министерот ја прекршил процедурата, тврди опозицијата. (The minister broke the procedure, the opposition claims.)