For reporters it's what they say—and how they say it.
by Joe Tarr
Well, I hope I don't misquote anyone. Quotes are the meat and potatoes of journalism—the things that let readers know the reporter went out and talked to people and that he or she is not making this stuff up. Likewise, "I was misquoted," has become a popular saying among those who deal with the media.
How quotes are recorded, selected, framed and used can really change everything from the source's tone to meaning. And like the quotes themselves, "I was misquoted" can also have a host of meanings.
A couple of officials who get quoted fairly often say that local media has done a pretty decent job of conveying their words.
"Whether I like it or not, I'm fairly accurately quoted," says Councilwoman Carlene Malone says. However, she often wishes for more context.
"I wish there were more information about whatever the topic that went along with the quote," she says. "The quotes would have more meaning if there were more in-depth coverage of the issue...But generally, the quotes are pretty accurate."
Malone's quote brings up an interesting point. "I wish there were..." sounds odd to me. I considered changing were to was. A survey around the office found the staff divided and confused on the proper verb form, but Managing Editor Barry Henderson declared thatwere is correct, so we left it as it was, as it were.
Journalists have different standards about how much they'll clean up a quote for grammar, stutters, clarity or rambling language. I will clean them up slightly, if necessary. (Sometimes brackets [ ] are used if the writer has substituted the source's words to make the quote more clear—i.e., when pronouns are used.) I know I don't get every quote verbatim. (I'm better at taking notes during phone conversations, because I type my notes, rather than write them, as I do in face to face interviews. I type faster than I scribble.) The important thing to me is to make sure I don't misrepresent the essence of the quote, even if a word or two is fudged. If it's not clear to me what the person is saying from a quote, I won't use it.
Radio and television reporters aren't as likely to be accused of misquoting, since their quotes are on tape. But they're just as capable of twisting or muddling what their sources said, depending on how the reporter uses them.
Mike Cohen has been a public spokesman for the City of Knoxville and Knox County schools and now does public relations for the Public Building Authority. Prior to his PR jobs, he spent some 20 years as a television news producer, in Texas and Nashville. Cohen knows well the difference between print and audio-visual media.
"TV is looking for not just what you said, but how you said it. A quote can read one way and be entirely different on TV. They're making decisions in an entirely different way.
"You have much less time on television. You know that they're going to use only a short bite. But if you phrase it well, you can communicate a lot. There may be a few quotes where I read them, and said, 'I wish I hadn't said that.' But that's on my end, not theirs," Cohen says.
February 1, 2001 * Vol. 11, No. 5
© 2001 Metro Pulse
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