'When we was ...'

"You Got To Believe!" -- Tug McGraw

 

Same as always:

I used to be on the "cleaning up is changing reality" side, but later converted to the "written English and spoken English are two different languages, and there's nothing wrong with translating one to the other."

 

If you're writing a feature and the purpose of the story is to paint a picture of the person, I'd be more inclined to leave quotes verbatim because you are adding to the story by letting readers know exactly how this person talks, which tells them a little about who they are.

However, if it's just some game story or a notebook, the purpose is to relay information, so there's no need to either piss off your sources or jar the readers.

 

There IS a need. It's called accuracy and not altering reality. There's no need to sacrifice journalistic ethics to keep your sources happy. I'm not convinced readers care one way or the other.

Also, Rick, if you want a quote that looks good in "written English," have your subject submit it in writing, or PARAPHRASE it. Otherwise, if he/she is speaking, write it as they said it.

That's the whole reason quotation marks exist: to signal the reader that what follows is "spoken English" rather than "written English."

 

Mister Creasote, I'm glad to be in the presence if someone who has never "altered reality" by correctly quoting 99 percent of someone's words.

Gold star for you

 

What does that have to do with anything?

Does it make editing quotes less wrong if MisterCreosote has done it at some point? No.

And, for the record, I altered reality once in my journalism career, via a misunderstanding.

I lost my job for it. As I should have.

 

"Gonna" is not a word. It's no different than Rhody31 changing "homah" to "homer."

Grammar and syntax errors are different. I consider the context of the quote. It would be rather stupid to burn an important source because you refused to clean up one syntactical error in his quote from a one-on-one interview. But in news conferences, stick to what was said.

 

"Gonna" is slang. Used as a substitute for or contraction of proper English.

"Homah" and "homer" are the same word, just pronounced differently depending on the speaker's accent.

They are totally different scenarios.

 

That is literally impossible. You cannot put quotes in spoken English because it is not the same medium. Writing and speaking are two very different forms of communication and one cannot perfectly represent the other.

 

So if you're talking with the general manager of the team you cover, and he drops a "gonna" on you in the middle of giving you a major scoop, you quote it like that? That is bad reporting, burning a key source in a got-you moment just to show you speak more properly than he does. And don't even try to act as though the GM wouldn't be vain enough to care.

 

I don't do anything anymore, because I'm not a journalist anymore.

For good reason, it looks like by this thread.

I've quoted mayors, governors, acting governors, police chiefs, state attorneys, county prosecutors, coaches, players, etc., and never altered their words once.

I quoted a business owner who had watched someone get shot to death literally 30 minutes before he spoke to me. Didn't alter his words either.

If that's not the way things are done now, fine. It's not my reputation on the line.

 

You altered words. I guarantee you did. You may have done it in small, unintentional ways, but you altered words.