It is reported that: được biết

Được biết opens a sentence in a news report to add background without saying exactly who supplied it: Được biết, nạn nhân là công nhân một công ty may gần đó (it is understood that the victim worked at a nearby garment factory). A comma and a full statement follow. English uses "it is understood that", "reportedly", or often nothing at all.

Reporters use it for facts gathered from the authorities, the people involved or earlier reports, usually near the end of an article: Được biết, đây là lần thứ hai … (this is reportedly the second time …). The information is presented as known, not as rumour.

Được biết names no source. Cho biết (said) is used when there is one: Ông Nam cho biết …. And được cho là (is believed to) presents something as an unconfirmed belief.

Don't mix it up with được biết đến (be known), which describes a person or a place: Đà Lạt được biết đến là thành phố ngàn hoa (Đà Lạt is known as the city of a thousand flowers). There được biết đến is the main verb; Được biết, with its comma, stands outside the sentence.

You won't hear it in conversation. To pass on something you've heard, say nghe nói: Nghe nói quán đó đóng cửa rồi (I heard that place has closed).