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D'après le journal, il va pleuvoir.

D'après le journal, il va pleuvoir.
According to the newspaper, it is going to rain.
From Lesson 177:Reported statements (il dit que)·French

Questions & Answers about D'après le journal, il va pleuvoir.

Where is the reported speech here if there is no 'il dit que'?
This sentence shows an alternative way to report information. Instead of using a speaking verb with que (like le journal dit qu'il va pleuvoir), you can use a preposition like d'après (according to) to cite the source directly.
Could I use selon instead of d'après in this sentence?
Yes, selon le journal means exactly the same thing. Both d'après and selon translate to 'according to' and are perfectly interchangeable when citing a source of information.
Why do we use il in il va pleuvoir instead of ça?
For weather expressions, French strictly uses the impersonal pronoun il, just like the 'it' in the English phrase 'it is raining'. Even in casual spoken French, you cannot say ça va pleuvoir.
If this is reported speech, shouldn't the tense of va pleuvoir change to the past?
Because we are citing the newspaper in the present time frame (what the paper says right now), the original tense doesn't shift. The tense would only shift backwards if the introductory idea was in a past tense.

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