K.K. Merker of Iowa City brought up a prickly journalistic topic some time ago.
Sports reporting, Merker wrote in The Gazette’s letters column, often conveys “the impression that the people being quoted are ignorant and uneducated. . . . Why doesn’t The Gazette give these people the same break it gives others and at least pretend that they are literate, even if they are no more so than the rest of us?”
The word “gonna” appeared seven times in one article, Merker noted.
So how do reporters and editors handle quotes — direct, that is, verbatim with quote marks; and indirect, that is, paraphrasing.
But first, why do reporters use quotes? To enliven, dramatize, humanize. Reporters want you to read the articles they write.
Other relevant questions: How do reporters record what people say? How much do they use of what they get? Why do they use what they do? Do they — here’s our key question — change quotes? If so, why?
Most reporters take notes the old fashioned way, with paper and pen or pencil. Most use stenographer notebooks. (The Gazette provides slim, ruled notebooks designed for reporters to fit conveniently into a purse or pocket.) Most reporters do not know formal shorthand, but have invented their own systems that would defy most cryptographers.
PRINT REPORTERS RARELY use tape recorders. Transcribing takes time, but a tape recorder can serve as useful back-up and verification of key quotes. Accuracy awareness has heightened since broadcast and the Internet often enable readers and viewers to see and hear what happened.
The amount of material reporters use from interviews varies from much to none. This can be annoying for someone who spends 15 to 30 minutes being interviewed and then sees little of the material used. If you’ve done serious writing, you’ll know why this is the case. It’s necessary to gather much more material than you can use in order to understand what you are writing about.
What a reporter includes in a story depends on the purpose — to inform, amuse, persuade. Three rules of writing are focus, focus, focus. Use relevant information; omit the rest.
AP Style
The most widely used newsroom style guide, The Associated Press Stylebook, sets this standard on handling quotes: “Never alter quotations even to correct minor grammatical errors or word usage. . . . Do not routinely use abnormal spellings such as ‘gonna’ in attempts to convey regional dialects or mispronunciations. Such spellings are appropriate when relevant or help to convey a desired touch in a feature.”
So how much leeway do reporters have in dealing with quotes obtained in interviews? Not much. Quote marks around a statement someone is alleged to have made is — or at least ought to be — sacred.
If a reporter uses “gonna” or “gotta” in a story, there ought to be a good reason.
“Precision is the key,” says Gazette Executive Editor Mark Bowden. (Maybe he won’t notice that I used only four words from our 15-minute discussion about quotes.)
When news sources make grammatical mistakes, reporters often make corrections in direct quotes. Even that leaves me uncomfortable. If the information is pertinent, just paraphrase it using correct grammar.
When reporters include poor grammar, colloquialisms, jargon and the like, there ought to be a reason. Here’s Gazette Sports Editor J.R. Ogden: “We want to quote someone accurately.” But he added, “It’s important to capture the flavor.”
For years, newsroom protocol scorned the idea of reporters reading articles back to sources before publication. That’s changing. More and more newsrooms are permitting, even encouraging, this practice when it comes to highly technical subjects. It is an attempt to avoid factual errors or misunderstanding and to achieve greater clarity.
OF COURSE, complete accuracy exceeds mere exactness of words. Context must be considered. A reporter should not only get the words right, but also place them in proper context.
One thing a reporter does not do is make up quotes. Along with plagiarism, that’s a firing offense. You can quote me.
