Cleaning up the Quote: Wash Post Ombudsman faults ex-Reporter Howard Bryant

[Write-brained]

I'll ignore ums and uhs, but that's because I don't see them as words, they're sounds.

Otherwise I quote what they said because that's what the quotes signify. Reactions of the speakers have gone both ways. A communications major recently asked me to change her quote in an online story (that also ran in print) to "ever saw" to "ever seen." Sorry, not what she said.

I also had a source tell me her mom called me the day the story ran to scold her for saying "ain't." She wasn't mad. She laughed. "My mom's been yelling at me about that for years. I need to get better about that."

And believe it or not, I had a source the other day tell me she liked talking to me better than my predecessor because I didn't clean up her quotes. "You print exactly what I say."

If you're being interviewed, wouldn't you feel odd to see your quotes cleaned up the next day? I know the reporter might be trying to be helpful but I wouldn't trust them again because they're taking liberties with what I said.

What if the person corrected herself during the conversation? Would have changed if she said "It was the greatest play I've ever saw... I mean, I've ever seen" right away? Would you have used ellipses to skip past the part that the corrected? Would you print it as is? If you would change it right then though, why not change it when they called? It's still their words isn't it? Like if I write a story and send it in, but then re-read it later and realize I spelled a name wrong I call and make sure it gets corrected for later editions.

I think the hard-line stance on not cleaning up a quote fails to take into consideration the conversational nature of some interviews -- which also happen to the best type IMO.

Oops, I wasn't clear ... she wanted me to change the quote in the online version on the same day in ran in the paper ...

I'm not a gotcha guy. I let people talk their thoughts out and correct themselves if it's still their own word ... but I only use the best quotes for my stories ...

 

[sirvaliantbrown]

Presidential politics is obviously different from preps football or whatever it is we do here, and this example isn't directly analagous to anything we've talked about in this thread, but I thought I'd post it nonetheless.
--
AP: Sir, with regard to terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan ...

OBAMA: Yeah.

AP: Is there any circumstances where you'd be prepared or willing to use nuclear weapons to defeat terrorism and Osama bin Laden?

OBAMA: No, I'm not, uh, there has been no discussion of using nuclear weapons and that's not a hypothetical that I'm going to discuss.

AP: Not even tactical?

OBAMA: No. I think it would be a profound mistake for us to use nuclear weapons in any circumstance. Uh, if involving you know, civilians... Let me scratch all that. There's been no discussion of nuclear weapons. That's not on the table so...

 

[Piotr Rasputin]

The next time you cover a press conference, do this...

Record it and try to write down the best 2-3 quotes as the person is talking. I would say with 90 percent certainty that you can't get 2-3 full quotes (Two sentences each...) down verbatim...

I try to do this in postgame and it's never 100 percent right. I might have 12 of 14 words right, but it's never perfect.

I record everything. I transcribe almost everything. How anybody in this business can work without a recorder is beyond me...

Word for word.

And as for "changing" quotes . . . some things sound just fine in conversation, but don't look so good when in print. I've been asked by coaches to make tweaks here and there to fix the "gonnas" and "ums" when they speak with me. Minor things like that are appropriate.

But if a quote needs as much tweaking as what Portis said in this instance, Lugnuts' idea for how to convey the message is exactly what I would have had in mind as well.

Also: I think you could have sold tickets to the spectacle of a reporter saying "They're your words. I'm not doing anything to make you look stupid...you are." to the great Jerome Brown.

 

[black dude with pompano]

If I didn't "clean up" quotes, the head coach I cover would not have been quoted directly in several years.

Honestly, this thread has been eye-opening. I always considered quote clean-up an Poynter-style, ivory-tower debate that had little relevance to reporters who actually work a beat full-time. But to find there are reporters who actually advocate 100 percent verbatim quotes...well, that's just stunning.

Let me ask this: What about deadline writing when you are relying on hastily scrawled notes? Are you quoting exactly as the person spoke? I sure hope so. If not, be sure to take your tape recorder and transcribe each interview exactly as it happened.
Coach or player not speaking in complete sentence? Throw it out. It can't be used.

Spanish-language native doing his best to speak English? Quote every painful error. It will help him learn.

Hope you can do all this in 15 minutes to rewrite your 20-inch story for the final edition.

 

[da man]

Isn't a pompano some kind of fish?

 

[black dude with pompano]

Isn't a pompano some kind of fish?

Yes, although I could also be referring to the beach city in Florida.