Dear Dr. Ink:
Please help us with a conflict we’ve had in our newsroom regarding quotes.
When quoting someone, the News Editor believes no two quotes should be in the same paragraph unless they include ellipses or … to denote a break in train of throught or subject. That means a “he said” or “she said” cannot separate two quotes within the same paragraph.
We understand most uses of breaks in quotes, like if the two separate sayings came at the beginning and end of conversations, such as the beginning and end of a meeting. However, we thought it would be a little bit more flexible than having to paraphrase everything or put … or ( ) for every single time a person had a pause or another comment in-between two quotes used.
I don’t know if these are the best examples to use, but here they are anyway:
“I wish I could have helped, done something more,” she said. “It was horrific to pull up on that.”
This couldn’t be used unless it was “I wish I could have helped, done something more … It was horrific to pull up on that.”
Or even something like this:
Actual conversation:
“We don’t have enough money. Isn’t my baby precious? We’re looking for ways to cover the financial gap.”
He said it can’t be written like this: “We don’t have enough money,” she said. “We’re looking for ways to cover the financial gap.”
Please set us straight.
Thank you,
Beth Ipsen
Staff writer
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Answer:
The problem with the ellipsis is that it is a sign with at least four different meanings:
1. The writer has left words out of a passage being quoted.
2. The writer has deleted an expletive.
3. The writer is indicating a pause in speech.
4. The writer is dividing bits of information in a notes column.
Over the years, the pendulum of change swings back and forth on how transparent journalistic work should be for readers and viewers. Because of recent scandal, we are clearly in a period of … more is better. (Those three dots indicate a pause for thought.) More sourcing, more attribution, less blurring of the lines.
Dr. Ink sees nothing wrong with connecting two quotes from the same interview with “he said” or “she said” — with this proviso: the further the distance of time and space between the elements quoted, the more you need to indicate the gap to readers.
Ellipsis, for example, would be inadequate if the quote comes from a separate interview later in the day or the next day. In such cases, the reporter might write: ” … he added later” or ” … she said the next day.”
The strictness of the News Editor’s rules would probably not stand up to the actual ways in which his reporters are massaging quotations. All journalists I know correct a bit of bad grammar in an occasional quote, out of courtesy to the source and reader. All journalists I know take out the verbal punctuations.
So if the stuttering source actually said: “The c-c-c-council’s gonna um-um raise, ya know, taxes,” the quote is probably going to read: “The council is going to raise taxes.”
Anyone who denies the inevitability or desirability of such practice has his head in the … sand. (Three dots indicate deletion of expletive.)
