From the video (basically the first thing said):
It just came to me from Ben Riggs … I’m going to read it exactly as I received it: Multiple independent sources with knowledge of the situation say that the team in charge of production and distribution of physical DND books was laid off in December 2023. So that’s the previous round of cuts. Now I’m not a journalist, but Ben is, so I consider that solid.
Not everything that some specific person said is automatically true. However, a specific quoted statement made by an identified qualified source is, in fact, a citation. Now we know who (allegedly) said it, and we can get on into a conversation about whether they actually said that, or whether they’re qualified, or what other qualified people say about it or bring other sources to bear etc.
What would you say is a citation, if not who said it, why they’re qualified, and what they said?
citation noun [C] (EXAMPLE): a word or piece of writing taken from a written work.
I guess it depends if they were taking a quote from published work?
To read their comment generously as I did initially, calling it a “quote of hearsay” is calling the validity of the citation so far removed from being trustworthy it doesn’t deserve the word. Granted, it would be doing this without explicitly stating so or supporting it with any evidence or arguments.
To be honest, I’m not convinced by this source. We don’t know who made the claim, we know a guy that wrote a DnD book a year and a half ago told a youtuber they exist and said it. That’s a step or two removed from where I would trust it.
