Actually they are not so cleverly disguised statements. If not answered, they run it in a news article as fact.(What a bunch of s***)
Exactly. I find that it's useful to watch for the ubuquitous "some people are saying" construct, or variations thereof - as in "Some people are saying that this war is becoming a quagmire. How do you respond to that?"
One of these days, I'm hoping for a press secretary who will say "Who says that?" - because the truth is, "some people" invariably means "me and my colleagues in the press corps". Statements that start out with "some people are saying..." or "some people think that..." will always tell you what the press is saying and thinking...