'When we was ...'

Excluding something from a quote is NOT the same thing as editing a quote.

Mayor Dumbfuck's quote: "I fired the city solicitor because, you know, um, he was a dickhead."

My story: Mayor Dumbfuck said he fired the city solicitor because "he was a dickhead."

What, exactly, is so wrong or hard about doing that?

 

How do you handle the 95 percent of athletes (and normal people) who say "gotta"?

 

You're either for quoting someone verbatim or you're not. Doesn't make any difference to me which side of the fence you're on; just pick one.

 

In my experience, I have no problem exactly quoting someone who says "gotta." I also don't see a problem with PARAPHRASING it if it makes you uncomfortable.

Again, there are at least four easy and ethical options you can use before you get to the point of editing quotes.

Also, in my experience, 95 percent of quotes from athletes could easily be deleted from stories anyway, with little to no impact on its overall quality.

 

In my example, I did quote someone verbatim.

I never said you have to use everything your subject says if you don't want to.

But, if you do use a quote, it should be exactly what was said.

 

I always cleaned up quotes for players who are making an effort to communicate in a second or third language.

 

A pointless and impossible standard.

 

Paraphrasing, or omitting, is impossible?

 

Precisely and with 100% accuracy representing the spoken language in written quotes is impossible.

 

Rick, you're too smart for the "if we can't do it right 100 percent of the time, we should stop trying to get it right" argument.

 

That's begging the question.

The way to get it right is to translate the spoken word to the written word. Pretending that a transcript does this is like trying to use Google Translate on a web page.