Reading for the Week

I think that quoting is the most important part of journalism - in other words, the right quotes can make a story interesting and colorful, but the wrong quotes or a lack of quotes can ruin the story completely. Chapter 4 provided vital information about which quotes to use and when to use them. The rules of thumb that are given include quoting important people, and quoting unique sentiments, always accurately. I have always kept in mind the idea of "uniqueness" because it is often more effective to paraphrase something that is dull, and to quote more original ideas.
On the other hand, I feel like there are a few limitations that are not cited in the reading. The text suggests capturing dialect and accents by saying words such as "goin'" but I think that there are instances where this is inappropriate - it sounds more fictional than journalistic, and should be limited to feature pieces. I think an important aspect of the chapter is the one that discusses vulgarity. To quote the author, "At times you may wish to use vulgarities to show the intensity of someone's anger, terror, frustration or bitterness. Few inside the news media condone the casual, gratuitous use of vulgarity." I would support this statement. Finally, there are a few guidelines that I was unaware of concerning attribution - If a direct quote is more than one sentence long, place the attribution at the end of the first sentence. The correct form is to separate partial quotes and complete quotes. More interview and quote guidelines, especially for broadcast, can be found here.



The next reading, Poynter's Tips, reiterates a strong belief that I have about the future of journalism. The section is about journalism that engages the reader. "...Others questioned whether they would be allowed to ride even if another purchaser was found, Property rights were debated. People got mad. They became engaged.. Journalism was happening." I think that the best possible thing for the future of journalism is to get people involved - Internet journalism allows people to interact - it provides a vast database for all interests and backgrounds. It is encouraging to read about people becoming less passive about the information that they receive. It is my goal to be a journalist who engages her readers. The author of the section writes that it's fun to see what happens - I couldn't agree more. The next online reading deals with presenting a timeline to make information more clear. I think that the more visual a story can be, the easier it is to understand. The blogger has done an excellent job of providing an example of a timeline that is clear and easily comprehensible. It is something to keep in mind for stories where time is relevant.