Quotes are Candy

Journalism for me is all about the quotes...

I don't know if it comes from my love of words and dialogue after studying acting for so long or if its just my Grandfather's ear for conversation instilled in me. I love quotes! And I'm not affraid to use them -- which may or may not prove to be a problem for me.

So Chapter Four was a nice little refresher on my favorite journalistic topic. According to the textbook, quotes add color and credibility to a story. I couldn't agree more. When I attend an event or an interview it's like I have this little tuner in my ear that beeps when I hear a good quote. I think me head even jerks a little now that I think about it.

One thing I thought was interesting was the section on not only using direct quotes but possibly setting up the actual diaglogue for more impact. I myself did that for the first time in an abbreviated way when writing the in-class assignment on David Letterman's show after 9/11. It proved to be a great way to end the story with impact and spice. Which we all know I love...

Also for me it was imporant to be reminded that sometimes using too many useless quotes can take away from the nuggets of gold that are also in the story. I have a tendancy to go overboard.

And the big homerun for me in this chapter was about correcting gramatical mistakes in quotes. I was in this play two years ago in Albany. It was kind of a big deal, a Tennesse William's play "Suddenly Last Summer" and I was the lead. I got a phone call from the big time local paper, the Albany Times Union, they wanted to interview me. Of course -- being the spotlight whore that I am -- I was exstatic and agreed immediately. When the article eventually came out I was quoted as saying "um" every other sentence. This is what people do -- we say um...BUT it does not look flattering on paper. So I always go the extra mile after that experience in making sure I portray my interviewees in the most accurate and fair light as possible. Which means occasionally deleting an um here or there.

In Using a timeline to tell a story I found it interesting that the use of graphs and tables are now becoming a large part of online journalism. It makes sense if you think about it. Newspapers also use graphs sometimes, but not to the extent of online. The capablilities of that kind of tool would be nothing but beneficial to the reader to understand intense data such as the example of the attacks of terrorism and when they occured.

In David Poulson's Media Tid-bits, he pointed out the ability journalists have to combine different people in different regions and come up with a common community. This is important in the world of "answering journalists" where blogs and commentaries are becoming more popular than hard news. Having the ability to reach a larger audience who has the choice to read your information conexts all graphics of readers. This also puts the gatekeeping role into the hands to readers who will have the ability to choose their own news. I think it's going to prove to be very beneficial to those of us leaving college and looking for jobs -- but only if we know how to capilalize on it.