Quotes are one of the key components that set journalism aside from other types of writing. When a reporter actually goes out and interviews to get great quotes he or she is really setting the article apart from other types of writing. However, getting ‘good’ quotes and then choosing which ones to use adds another level of difficulty to journalistic writing…and that’s not even mentioning proper attribution.
I’m probably the chronic “over-quoter.” I usually throw too many quotes in a story just because I have them. It’s really hard for me to paraphrase because I’m afraid of spinning the quote or altering its intended meaning. I also like the security of just writing what the interviewee said word for word because then I have my tape-recorder on my side if anyone ever questions the validity of the quote. Yet, keeping up with only a pen and paper is really trick and-- in that case—I usually come away with a lot more background info in the form of short hand than complete-sentence quotes.
I think that correcting quotes is really tricky. For instance, grammatical inaccuracies may add flavor to a story, but someone may also find them insulting. It’s also hard to determine when you should alter one quote and not alter another because of someone’s professional standards or expected speaking style. Altering quotes for any reason seems foreign to me. Removing obscenities and vulgarities makes the text look skeletal so I’d rather just let the quotes stand.
I found that the article about the importance of blogs was pretty interesting. It kind of stressed the importance of writing on the web and how even just a blog can influence the people who read it in profound ways. It’s kind of weird to think that people can write whatever they want on their blog with no ramifications if they write things that are untrue.
Also, the timeline article was kind of interesting because it spoke to how the internet can assist journalists in opening up new interactive opportunities. The web—with its unlimited space—can really engage the reader with new pictures and interactive opportunities. The only problem is the journalist would have to work closely with interactive designers or graphic artists unless he or she is trained in computer technologies.
The hard thing for me would be relying on the work of someone else to make my story into a package. I've always been the type to have a concrete idea in my head and then make it happen so having to work with another person would be a challenge.
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There's a lot to be said for retaining all the words in a quote, even the vulgar ones (but perhaps not the "ums"). Every publication has its own standards, however, so the final decision isn't yours. It's your editor's. That's if you work for a publication that functions in the traditional way.
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