So, in basic journalism, we are taught to use attribution when we need to give credit to someone else for saying something. We attribute opinions, medical information, facts that are not easily verifiable. But, I must ask. Do some of you input attribution just to say you have used quotes? In other words, do we put quotes in our stories that really don't need to be quotes? I encourage everyone to only use quotes when the quotes are necessary for one of the reasons above and when the quotes truly add depth and interest to the news articles we write. Boring quotes can be paraphrased.
To obtain good quotes, one has to start with good questions during the interview phase of your story building. When we cover events with guest speakers, we must remember to obtain more information for the news article from more sources than just the speaker. Talk to folks in the audience. Talk to coordinators. I encourage writers to not limit themselves to the speaker's comments.
As a former judge in the CHINFO Merit award competition, I can tell you that great stories -- award-winning stories -- have depth in their quotes.
That's all I want to say about that ...
Now, for today's photo ... let's send a shot out to MCSN Oliver Cole. Great photo, shipmate!
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