An incident involving multiple victims occurred during the evening rush hour yesterday.

[slackmaster]

Witnesses report seeing multiple suspects fleeing the scene on foot. According to sources, officials are investigating the situation. A former agent who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that interested parties are encouraged to contact local officials to share their concerns. A fellow from an institute told reporters that we can expect more such reports in coming months.

Authorities are monitoring the situation.

(This generic news story is intended as a general parody of the use of passive voice and diffusion of responsibility in news reports. Any resemblance to any actual news story, past or present, is purely coincidental.)

[HereSince1628]

1. Isn't passive voice about naming the 'agent' after the verb?

I see lots of pronouns without antecedents first. In active voice can't a pronoun be an agent doing the action of the verb?

I would have expected passive voice to look like this...

Fleeing of the scene was reported by witnesses. The situation was being investigated by officials. Sharing with officials was encouraged for the concerned. Expectations for more such reports were raised by a former agent.

[lapislzi]

2. Encouragement was offered to concerned parties who might wish to share information.

Anonymity was granted to a source. Statements were gathered.

Passive voice is eerily "agent-less."

[slackmaster]

3. The individual who first made the report could not be reached for comment

;-)

[HereSince1628]

4. Right, no agent