Learn Italian: Il comunicato ufficiale è stato confermato da parte del portavoce. - The official press release was confirmed by the spokesperson.

While dal portavoce is grammatically correct, using da parte di (combined with the article il to make del) puts more formal emphasis on the agent. It is often used in news, politics, or business to highlight that an action was performed on behalf of an institution or by an official figure, like a spokesperson.

Is portavoce a masculine or feminine noun?

It can be either! Portavoce is a compound noun (from porta, carries + voce, voice) and its ending never changes. We know this specific spokesperson is male because of the masculine combined word del in da parte del. If it were a female spokesperson, it would be da parte della portavoce.

Comunicato is the past participle of comunicare (to communicate). Why is it used as the subject here?

Like many past participles in Italian, comunicato can function as a standalone noun. When used as a noun, it specifically means a "statement" or "press release", which fits perfectly with the official context of this sentence.

Why use è stato confermato instead of just è confermato?