From unknown sources

As dubious as it is in terms of transparency, the use of unknown sources for news stories has long been part of media tradition. These founts of information (or gossip) may refer to aides who decline to be identified, sources knowledgeable on one side of an issue, or maybe anonymous personalities hovering about — so what else did he tell you when you were discussing how fruitcakes can be stored for two years?

Now media routinely feature overheard conversations. It is no longer necessary for a subject to be part of the discussion group to merit media legitimacy. In the case of eavesdropper, the report is based on a bystander’s observations as she hovers over the dining table to check if everybody’s mango juice has been refilled. (Try the pasta, Sir. It’s the chef’s specialty.)

The “fly on the wall” narrative is a staple of tabloid news. The term must have come from the unnoticed insect that is ignored, just a mere speck in the landscape, not at all necessitating those in a confidential discussion to even lower their voices. Valets, bodyguards, nurses, and drivers along with others of the serving classes catering to public figures reap financial rewards from revelations of events they are accidental witnesses to. A TV star’s maintenance man or a princess’s horse trainer can provide shrieking headlines — she was nibbling his ears while he was on the phone with his wife! (There’s always an exclamation point here.) Interviewing a fly on the wall can be tricky. So, Mr. Fly, where were you when this negotiation on protection fees was taking place?

I was on to the wall near the curtain and could catch random words. They were talking in whispers. But I could catch some words and have supplied missing verbs, direct objects and modifiers. I also saw the bags piled on one side.

Mr. Fly may be asked directly if he knows the person who received the bags shown on the cameras. His reply is noncommittal — who does not know these characters? But has he met these persons before? Well, Sir, I don’t know them socially. But I have seen them in their offices taking calls, when I was a fly on the wall.

The assumption of observer status has a downside.

The fly can claim knowledge of secret transactions he has seen, even if he is merely an accidental presence. This status of disengaged but attentive witness can apply to waiters, gatekeepers, bag carriers and accompanying escorts. The revelations of such personalities are not in the same level as disclosures between lawyer and client, much less confessor and penitent. How can the rules of privileged conversation be applied to the fly on the wall?

This same fly if categorized in the role of co-conspirator, due to his presence in a meeting, can conveniently claim distance by saying he was merely an accidental party dragged to the meeting on the way to hitching a ride home because of color coding.

The fly on the wall can then opt for the most convenient role for him. He can claim to be an intimate of the principals in the room or protest being merely a bystander who happened to be there and had nothing to do with whatever happened.

Novelists use the device of the “omniscient narrator.” This approach allows the author to look at all the characters and watch them move through the unfolding plot. The narrator’s point of view does not limit observations to only one character’s perspective and experience. Indeed, he is the true fly on the wall — invisible to the characters as he views the whole scene dispassionately.

The insect/witness cannot presume to know people’s thoughts and motives, only the actions they take. When he becomes part of the plot, he loses invisibility and objectivity.

An insect can fall off the wall and land smack in the middle of things, getting stuck perhaps on flypaper or diving into the soup. In this attempt to get closer to the scene, he loses his prized invisibility and invites an unpleasant response from those he has now disturbed.

Insects staying too long as eavesdroppers or observers can somehow end up as co-conspirators or whistle-blowers. It’s always best for the fly to simply exit the scene and disappear out the window with a tall tale to tell to anybody willing to listen or pay.

Insects staying too long as eavesdroppers or observers can somehow end up as co-conspirators or whistle-blowers.

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