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Grammar SOS > Quoting and Attribution
Get it right:
If you use direct quotes, be sure you have the subject's exact words. You cannot correct grammar or otherwise change the statement. If you think what the person said is awkward or clunky, paraphrase instead (without " "). Anything else is misleading. And along those lines...
Get it on your own:
The most important "tip" about quoting is to never "lift" a quote from any other source. It is unethical, it lying to your readers, it is cheating.
When a reader sees " " around a comment, s/he interprets this to mean the author has spoken to this source. Writers who break this trust bring down everyone in journalism, a profession which already suffers the public's scorn.
Besides, the source of that quote could be fired or dead.
You can use quotes you read in other sources as inspiration. If the source really targets a topic you want to cover, call that person on your own, get your own quotes and write your own story. Or, look within your area (local, target audience) to find a source who can address the topic, thereby giving your readers some "real" news.
Citing and attributing:
You may see "says who?" written in the margins of your work. Any broad statements should be attributed to someone, if not in that sentence than directly after:
- The study revealed some shocking statistics. (Who says they are "shocking"?)
- "We were amazed at the number of people who hated the idea of free lunches," Smith said. "We thought bologna appealed to everyone." (Smith says he's "amazed" and he gives us context for that amazement.)
- Statistics about teens who have sex too early all say that in turn they could be more open to having unwanted or forced sex, getting pregnant and not finishing school. (Did the reporter review "all" the statistics? Doubt it.)
Here's a good example of citing a study:
- A report from the McGraw-Hill Companies on weight training in obese children claimed that "obese children enjoy strength training because it is not like running or other exercise."
- You could paraphrase the whole thing and it would read better:
- A McGraw-Hill Companies report on weight training for obese children found that kids enjoy the training because they don't view it as exercising such as running or jumping jacks.
Quoting within the piece (or, what do I capitalize?):
AP suggests using partial quotes sparingly. Instead, either paraphrase or use a full quote. Watch capitalization in either case.
Below, "It's about mind over matter" is the only part quoting the speaker. "Describing the premise" is the way the writer is setting up the quote. It's not what she actually said. So we capitalize "it's" because that's where the quote really starts.
- Describing the premise behind her movie, she said, "It's about mind over matter."
- "It's about mind over matter," she said, describing the premise behind her movie.
Imagine if we flipped it sentence.
Below, the second part finishes a thought from the first; in other words, we're paraphrasing the first piece but it is part of the quote. No caps.
- Though she's not finished with her movie, she said "it's about mind over matter."
Watching it late one night in a hotel room, she thought "it would really be neat if I could create something similar." (the whole shebang is part of the quote, so downstyle "it") - "Once I entered Pi Kapps," he said, "all of my skepticism was gone."
Where to put attribution:
If there's no further description or clarification, it is preferable to use "Frank said" instead of said Frank.
- "I have a Harley Soft Tail and a cool new jacket," said Frank, who is leader of the pack.
- "I have a Harley soft tail and a cool new jacket," Frank said.
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