Greg Packer wants you to quote Greg Packer

printit · Sep 5, 2013

http://jimromenesko.com/2013/09/04/greg-packer-wants-to-see-his-name-in-your-newspaper/

I thought this was funny and reminded me of some threads where people told stories about getting quotes.

YankeeFan · Sep 5, 2013

Re: Greg Parker wants you to quote Greg Parker

What Greg discovered is that reporters don't build a story around the quotes they get, they look for quotes that will fit into the storyline they've already come up with.

Greg knows where to find reporters, puts on a goofy "I'm having the best time of my life" grin to draw them to him, and provides the kind of innocuous quote reporters are looking for.

Greenhorn · Sep 5, 2013

Re: Greg Parker wants you to quote Greg Parker

Greg Packer wants you to quote Greg Packer's name correctly.

printit · Sep 5, 2013

Greenhorn said:

Greg Packer wants you to quote Greg Packer's name correctly.
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Massive fail by me. What can I say, I've never interviewed the guy Thanks for the catch.

printit · Sep 5, 2013

YankeeFan said:

What Greg discovered is that reporters don't build a story around the quotes they get, they look for quotes that will fit into the storyline they've already come up with.

Greg knows where to find reporters, puts on a goofy "I'm having the best time of my life" grin to draw them to him, and provides the kind of innocuous quote reporters are looking for.
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Yeah, this was my takeaway too. Which is why I've always hated these man on the street quotes.

YankeeFan · Mar 1, 2014

NPR takes a look at how some people get quoted over and over again in news stories:

"These sources who get called upon are productive for journalists," says Matt Carlson, a communication professor at Saint Louis University. "They know how to talk to journalists and give them bite-sized quotes they can use."

It may be more prevalent, Carlson says, because of competitive pressures in the media. Bloggers who have to post five times a day, or local TV reporters who have to file two stories daily, seldom have time to go hunting around for fresh sources.

The Internet makes it easier to find people who appear to have something to say on a subject — and have already demonstrated an all-important willingness to talk to reporters.

"They're quoted in almost every story, and the quotes are almost always the same, too," says Carlson, who has written and edited books on sources.

All reporters find themselves having to produce stories about subjects they start out knowing next to nothing about. That's when they'll turn to the tried-and-true — someone with their own blog on a subject, or a credentialed expert they caught on cable.

This feeds on itself. Once a person is quoted frequently on a topic, he will become a "go-to" for other reporters. And it's not such a great thing when so many reporters end up drawing repeatedly from the same few wells.

For instance, you may not know from their names that everyone who's been quoted in this story is a white male — but did you notice they're all academics? Including two from Saint Louis University?

"The problem is, they're overused," says Ward, the Oregon professor. "We can think of practical reasons why reporters do these things, but the problem is we don't get diversity of voices."

n.pr/MDKOFL
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And, how "real people" end up getting quoted:

Reporters are sometimes on the hunt for someone to quote other than the standard experts.

Rather than asking an economist to expound on the real-world implications of some policy decision, reporters might want the perspective of a small business owner or someone who's been unemployed for a while.

Where do they find such people? Often, they'll turn to associations, which serve every conceivable field of industry, from snack food makers to mortgage bankers to tattoo artists.

Associations are themselves home to many oft-quoted sources. But their PR person often will volunteer to find a "real person" to illustrate a story, even if they aren't asked.

For example: Last year, when the Mississippi River was running low, I called a waterways group and asked if they could put me in touch with a barge operator.

They hooked me up with George Foster, president of JB Marine Service in St. Louis. He couldn't have been more accommodating, giving me an interview and taking me out on the river.

While I was in his office, Foster got a call from a trade publication. He told me he'd already talked to . A week after my ran, I saw his picture in .

"Unfortunately, I got hit on pretty hard," Foster says. "I did a live interview with some folks in England, plus I had a lady from England on the boat out here. I did one from Seattle and several from Illinois."
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