'When we was ...'

[RickStain]

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

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.

 

[Versatile]

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.

 

[MisterCreosote]

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.

 

[RickStain]

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

 

[BB Bobcat]

I think I'm serving my readers better by having sources who trust and like me than I am by letting them see every grammatical error in their speech.

 

[MisterCreosote]

I think I'm serving my readers better by having sources who trust and like me than I am by letting them see every grammatical error in their speech.

Nobody's stopping you. Go nuts.

 

[RickStain]

It's OK as a standard journalism practice because there's no good reason for it not to be OK, other than the impossible, arbitrary standards that journalism come up with to justify their gut feelings on issues and turn them into ethical standards.

Written English and spoken English are not the same thing, and nobody is served better by pretending it is.

 

[MisterCreosote]

OK.

You do it your way, I'll do it mine.

 

[Versatile]

OK.

You do it your way, I'll do it mine.

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

 

[MisterCreosote]

Why don't you change one of those to save me the embarrassment?

Also, take me out of your ****ing sig. I don't even know what that's supposed to mean.

 

[RickStain]

In his defense, I'm not really doing it anymore either.

 

[Versatile]

Why don't you change one of those to save me the embarrassment?

Also, take me out of your ****ing sig. I don't even know what that's supposed to mean.

Why so hostile?

 

[LongTimeListener]

Atlanta Voice, newspaper serving African-American community, asks the important questions about Snowpocalypse 2014.

The Atlanta Voice
‏@theatlantavoice
Morning, ATL! We appreciate all the corrections concerning our front page errors. We apologize and will do better.

 

[MisterCreosote]

Why don't you change one of those to save me the embarrassment?

Also, take me out of your ****ing sig. I don't even know what that's supposed to mean.

Why so hostile?

I'm not hostile.

I'm passionate about what I consider journalism done correctly.

You and others can do it however you want. I'm sure what I think of you for doing so won't keep you up at night.

 

[Versatile]

It might. I'll check in tomorrow morning.

 

[trifectarich]

Never edit quotes. That's why "paraphrasing" exists if you're uncomfortable with someone's exact quote.

As the man says, "once you edit a quote, it ain't a quote anymore."

Be that as it may, it's going to be rare when I don't change "gonna" to "going to" and a dozen other similar examples.

Be that as it may, and don't take this personally, I would never hire someone who admitted that to me.

You admitted to misrepresenting reality, however minor, and I have no way of knowing what else you'd misrepresent.

It's not our job to fix our subject's grammar. If the person you're quoting can't speak, then either quote exactly, paraphrase, do without, or get someone coherent to say the same thing.

That's four options you have before getting to altering the reality of the situation.

If the subject doesn't like the way the quote makes him/her look, then maybe they'll speak differently next time. Again, not our problem.

You mean you've scribbled "you know" in your notebook every time you've heard it and never once have you excluded it in a quote you've used? Not buyin' it.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Never edit quotes. That's why "paraphrasing" exists if you're uncomfortable with someone's exact quote.

As the man says, "once you edit a quote, it ain't a quote anymore."

Be that as it may, it's going to be rare when I don't change "gonna" to "going to" and a dozen other similar examples.

Be that as it may, and don't take this personally, I would never hire someone who admitted that to me.

You admitted to misrepresenting reality, however minor, and I have no way of knowing what else you'd misrepresent.

It's not our job to fix our subject's grammar. If the person you're quoting can't speak, then either quote exactly, paraphrase, do without, or get someone coherent to say the same thing.

That's four options you have before getting to altering the reality of the situation.

If the subject doesn't like the way the quote makes him/her look, then maybe they'll speak differently next time. Again, not our problem.

You mean you've scribbled "you know" in your notebook every time you've heard it and never once have you excluded it in a quote you've used? Not buyin' buying it.

 

[MisterCreosote]

You mean you've scribbled "you know" in your notebook every time you've heard it and never once have you excluded it in a quote you've used? Not buyin' it.

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

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

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

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

 

[LongTimeListener]

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

 

[trifectarich]

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.