Writing with Quotations
Learning Objectives
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Recognize and use different types of
quotations
Choose and place meaningful quotations
Correctly punctuate quotations
Use quotations in graphics
Define and use appropriate attribution
Use attributive verbs
Using Quotations
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Quotations are the exact words spoken by a
source. The words are placed in quotation
marks, and the name of the source is given
with the quotation.
Can be used to provide the reader with
descriptive accounts or explanations of what
happened.
Quotations are also used to pull the reader
deeper into a story, to capture the reader’s
feelings and emotions.
Using Quotations cont.
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By using quotations, reporters are able to remain
neutral while they let readers and viewers know
what the sources are thinking.
For example, as the writer of a story on nutrition in
school cafeterias, you can’t say that the food served
in your school doesn’t taste like home cooking.
However, a quote from a student with her thoughts
on yesterday’s main course would be acceptable:
“I thought yesterday’s lunch was the worst thing I’ve
tasted in years,” sophomore Susan Smith said. “Our
school really needs to evaluate its lunch program.”
Using Quotations cont.
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You, the reporter, can’t say that in the news
story, but you can say that Susan said it. Be
careful to quote Susan’s exact words and to
tell her that she will be quoted in the paper.
Reporters always need to ask permission
from sources to use their words and their
names in the newspaper or on the air.
When you use direct quotes to introduce or
explain a point of view, use quotations that
present all sides of the issues.
Using Quotations cont.
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For example, if you used the above quotation
in an article on improving your school’s lunch
program, you should also have tried to get
quotations showing a different opinion on the
subject:
“The lunches at this school have improved
dramatically since I’ve been here,” senior
Tyler Jones said. “The cafeteria personnel
should be commended for what they’ve done
in the past four years.”
Using Quotations cont.
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Quotations from the primary sources for a
story are the most important. The cafeteria
story would not be complete without input
from the food service personnel:
“We try to provide food that students like that
also has the nutrients they need. That’s not
easy when most of them prefer junk food or
burgers and fries for every meal,” food
service worker Alberta Bruning said.
Using Quotations cont.
This is an example of how quotations can be used
to balance a story—to represent all sides of an
issue fairly.
 Journalists also use quotations to do these things:
-enhance the content of the stories
-give stories the human element that makes them
interesting to the audience
-provide thoughts and opinions from sources
-break up the monotony of long stories
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Information or Quotation?
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Reporters use quotations to put people’s
interpretations and opinions into their stories.
Statements of fact or general, common knowledge
can be made without using quotations.
Any fact that the average person would know or any
data that could be easily verified, like the data in the
following quote, do not need to be enclosed in
quotations:
“Our school is open seven days a week and until 11
at night,” the superintendent said.
Information or Quotation? cont.
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The information contained in this quotation
could be verified by school authorities, so it is
unnecessary to attribute it to one source. The
reporter may simply state the information:
The school building is open seven days a
week from 6 a.m. until 11 p.m.
There’s a simple guideline to help determine
whether a quotation is necessary. If a source
expresses opinion, use a quotation. If the
source recites facts, simply state the facts.
Types of Quotations
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Just as there are several reasons why
reporters use quotations, there are also
different kinds of quotations and different
ways to use them.
Among the types of quotations used are
direct quotations, paraphrases, partial
quotations, and fragmentary quotations.
Direct Quotations
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A direct quotation is an exact, word-forword account of what a person said,
enclosed in quotation marks and credited to
the source. For example the following is a
direct quotation:
“It’s not going to change our strategy,”
coach Jim Smith said. “It’s one of those
things where you just try to put together your
best plan of attack. Then you cross your
fingers.”
Direct Quotations cont.
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Crediting a source is called attribution. Whether it
is a direct quote that is attributed to the source,
Smith said, or information cited from a physical
source, according to the San Francisco Examiner,
all specific information must be attributed to the
source.
This quotation displays the speaker’s feelings by
relating them in his own words. But be careful. As a
reporter, you are responsible for making sure that
the speaker’s words are not changed or twisted
around.
Direct Quotations cont.
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If you change something, you are misquoting the
speaker, even if you forget only a single word.
Although a single word—or a single letter—may
seem harmless, you could be changing the entire
meaning of what the speaker said.
Misquoting sources upsets them. If it’s done often
enough, or to the point of embarrassing them too
much, they may refuse to talk to you again. Your
credibility as a reporter depends upon your ability to
get and use accurate quotations.
Direct Quotations cont.
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Occasionally the person you’re interviewing will use
incorrect grammar or profanity. It is acceptable to
edit out profanity and words or expressions such as
uh and you know that the speaker uses habitually
but that do not add information to the quote.
It is also acceptable to correct minor errors in
grammar or fact if not doing so makes the speaker
sound foolish or uneducated.
Sometimes you will want to leave in colorful
expressions or grammatically incorrect sentences to
show personality.
Paraphrases
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A paraphrase summarizes what the speaker
said without using the source’s exact words
and without using quotation marks.
In a paraphrase, a reporter rewords the
thoughts and ideas of the source without
changing the meaning of what the source
said. The reporter lets the reader know the
source of the information in the paraphrase.
Paraphrases cont.
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Paraphrasing is done to condense a speaker’s
comments from several sentences to several words
or to convey information that is fact rather than
opinion. For instance the school counselor tells
reporters:
“It’s been a tough year. We’ve had so many
problems we never used to have. Gambling, for
instance. Never used to be a problem. Now the
number-crunchers tell me we’ve had more cases of
student athletes throwing big money away on
games, horses, dogs, you name it, in the last year
than we had in the whole five years before that.”
Paraphrases cont.
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The reporter condenses the information and leaves
out the extra words. When the story appears in the
paper, the counselor’s rambling statement looks like
this: More students were involved in gambling in the
past year than in the previous five years, school
counselor Elaine Hoover said.
The reporter could have printed some or all of the
comments as a direct quote, but doing so wouldn’t
have added anything to the reader’s understanding.
If the counselor had offered an opinion about the
impact of gambling on attendance or on student
performance, that opinion might have been added
as a direct quote.
Partial Quotations
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The combination of a direct quotation with a
paraphrase, attributed to the source, is called a
partial quotation. Partial quotations are used when
the source has expressed an opinion or used words
the reporter feels must come directly from the
source, but those words are part of a quotation or
speech that is too long to be printed in its entirety.
The reporter paraphrases the source’s point and
includes the key words in quotations: Jones said he
was displeased with the proposed plan because it
was “excruciatingly long, drawn out and expensive.”
Partial Quotations cont.
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Be careful of pronouns in partial quotations.
It’s easy to forget to use the first person
pronoun in a partial quotation when the quote
follows a third person paraphrase:
Incorrect: Johnson said he was feeling much
better but that he was “the sorest that he had
ever felt after a game.”
Correct: Johnson said he was feeling much
better but that “this is the sorest I have ever
felt after a game.”
Fragmentary Quotations
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Individual words or phrases a person says can be
singled out and placed in quotation marks within a
sentence. These are known as fragmentary
quotations. They are always attributed to a source.
Fragmentary quotations are permissible when a
reporter needs to quote a word the source said in a
sentence that has been paraphrased: John said the
movie was “awesome,” that the sound effects were
“cool” and that anyone who missed the show is
“stupid” and would “regret it for the rest of his life.”
Using Quotations in Broadcast
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Sound bites are taped quotations used by radio
and television stations for the same reasons
newspapers use quotations. They are portions of
the source’s message that the listener or viewer can
hear or see. Actually hearing or seeing the source
brings a broadcast to life.
Many of the same guidelines that apply to
quotations in print apply to sound bites in broadcast.
Reporters need to ask permission from sources to
audiotape or videotape interviews. All reporters
need to clarify with interviewees that they may be
quoted and get permission to use their names.
Using Quotations in Broadcast cont.
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Paraphrasing in broadcasting is used much the
same way it is in print. When partial quotes are used
on the air, the newscaster reads the lead to the
story, pauses briefly or says “quote,” and then reads
the exact words of the source. When the quote has
ended, it is not necessary to say “end of quote.”
Another pause between the end of the quotation
and the beginning of the next sentence will signal
the listener or viewer the quote has ended.
Listening to partial quotations in a news broadcast
can confuse listeners. It is better for the newscaster
to use a sound bite of the speaker’s voice than to
repeat what the speaker said for word to word.
Choosing Appropriate Quotations
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Choosing quotations that are significant is
very important.
If reporters just insert quotations here and
there without putting any thought into what
the quotations add to the story, they may
diminish the impact of good stories.
Quotations are an integral par of a story.
They should be chosen carefully and placed
with caution.
When to use Direct Quotations
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Use direct quotations to display thoughts and
opinions. Example:
“This letter is monstrous,” Manhattan City
Councilwoman Kathryn Freed told Newsday. “It
really is like, ‘Merry Christmas, and kill your dogs.’”
(Story from AP on a letter from a New York housing
authority official who ordered tenants to get rid of
their dogs.)
This quotation can’t be paraphrased by the reporter.
It contains specific words the speaker used to
express a feeling on a particular subject. The
quotation shows emotion and gets the speaker’s
point across.
Placing Quotations
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To catch a readers’ attention, use quotations
early in a story.
Many stories begin with the lead, add a
paragraph expanding on information
presented in the lead, and follow up with a
quotation from a primary source.
Other stories may go directly to a quotation in
the paragraph following the lead.
Placing Quotations cont.
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Beginning a story with a quotation is usually
not recommend, because it is difficult to sum
up a story with the content of one quotation.
In some cases, however, a direct quotation
that teases readers into the story may work
as a lead.
Placing Quotations cont.
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The key to placing direct quotations
effectively is to spread them throughout a
story.
Place a quote early in the story. Then place
another one every few paragraphs to hold the
reader’s attention.
Paragraphs that begin with quotations attract
more readers than paragraphs with quotes
buried in the text.
Placing Quotations cont.
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Connect a series of quotations by different
speakers or quotations on different topics
with transitions paragraphs.
Transition paragraphs link quotations by
providing additional information or indicating
a change of topic. They avoid readers feeling
bombarded by too many quotes.
Stories that are nothing, but quotations strung
together are just as boring and tiresome to
read as stories with no quotations.
Placing Quotations cont.
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Sometimes it is necessary to divide a direct
quotation into more than one paragraph. A transition
paragraph is not necessary as long as the speaker
is talking about the same subject:
“I’ll need the help of fellow officers and students,”
President Sueann Ramella said. “The main thing we
want to do is raise funds so that our Senior Ball
tickets will be inexpensive.
“It will take teamwork to accomplish our goals. I
hope we can also become even better friends along
the way,” she added. (Viking Vanguard, Puyallup
High School, Puyallup, Wash.)
Choosing the Right Sound Bite
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Like direct quotations in print, sound bites
also need to get the attention of the listener
or viewer.
Sound bites that quote general information
are worthless. Choose sound bites that give
the audience insights into the sources’
thoughts or opinions.
Keep sound bites short—no more than 10 to
15 seconds.
Punctuating Quotations
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Correctly punctuating quotations can prevent
confusion for readers.
This section will give you guidelines to follow
when in doubt about how to punctuate a
quotation with attribution.
Punctuating Quotations cont.
1. Place a comma between the end of a direct
quotation and its attribution:
Incorrect: “The idea is extremely ludicrous” he said.
Incorrect: “The idea is extremely ludicrous.” he
said.
Correct: “The idea is extremely ludicrous,” he said.
2. When the attribution comes first, place a comma
between the verb and the direct quotation:
Incorrect: He said “The idea is extremely ludicrous.”
Correct: He said, “The idea is extremely ludicrous.”
Punctuating Quotations cont.
3. When ending an indirect quotation with the
attribution, place a comma directly before the
attribution:
Incorrect: The crowd was the biggest one in years
Smith said.
Correct: The crowd was the biggest one in years,
Smith said.
4. When beginning an indirect quotation with the
attribution, no comma is needed:
Incorrect: Smith said, the crowd was the biggest
one in years.
Correct: Smith said the crowd was the biggest one
in years.
Punctuating Quotations cont.
5. Always place punctuation marks inside the closing
quotation marks:
Incorrect: “The situation is getting out of hand”, she
said.
Correct: “The situation is getting out of hand,” she
said.
Incorrect: “What was I supposed to do”? he asked.
Correct: “What was I supposed to do?” he asked.
6. Use only one punctuation mark at the end of a direct
quotation:
Incorrect: “What was I supposed to do,?” he asked.
Correct: “What was I supposed to do?” he asked.
Punctuating Quotations cont.
7. When using a punctuation mark that relates
to a direct quotation (as in a question mark or
exclamation point), place it at the end of the
quotation, not at the end of the sentence:
Incorrect: “What was I supposed to do,” he
asked?
Correct: “What was I supposed to do?” he
asked.
Punctuating Quotations cont.
8. When using a quotation mark that relates to the
sentence and not the quotation, place it at the end
of a sentence:
Incorrect: Wasn’t it Shakespeare who wrote the line
“To be or note to be, that is the question?”
Correct: Wasn’t it Shakespeare who wrote the line
“To be or not to be, that is the question”?
Again, only one terminal punctuation mark is
necessary at the end of the sentence:
Incorrect: Wasn’t it Shakespeare who wrote “to be
or not to be, that is the question.”?
Correct: Wasn’t it Shakespeare who wrote “to be or
not to be, that is the question”?
Punctuating Quotations cont.
9. Use single quotation marks to offset a
quotation within a quotation:
Incorrect: “It really is like, “Merry Christmas,
and kill your dogs,” ” she said.
Incorrect: “It really is like, ‘Merry Christmas,
and kill your dogs,” she said.
Correct: “It really is like, ‘Merry Christmas,
and kill your dogs,’ ” she said.
Punctuating Quotations cont.
10. Closing quotation marks are not used at the end of a
paragraph if the same speaker is continuing in the
next paragraph:
Incorrect: “I’ll need the help of fellow officers and
students,” President Sueann Ramella said. “The main
thing we want to do is raise funds so that our Senior
Ball tickets will be inexpensive.”
“It will take teamwork to accomplish our goals. I
hope we can also become even better friends along
the way,” she added.
Correct: “I’ll need the help of fellow officers and
students,” President Sueann Ramella said. “The main
thing we want to do is raise funds so that our Senior
Ball tickets will be inexpensive.
“It will take teamwork to accomplish our goals. I
hope we can also become even better friends along
the way,” she added.
Other Uses for Quotations
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Direct Quotations aren’t reserved only for use
within text. The size of their type may be
enlarged so they can be used as a focal point
to a story. They may also be used in graphics
form, as in an opinion poll on the editorial
page.
One example is a pulled quotation, a direct
quotation taken from the story, enlarged and
placed in a way that draws attention to the
story.
Other Uses for Quotations cont.
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Pulled quotations should be placed in a box or
separated from the text in some visual way. Styles
for pulled quotes vary from publication to
publication, but most are boldfaced, italicized or
both, with the name and title of the speaker printed
in a different typeface.
Pulled quotes are used as art in place of pictures or
graphics to break up text on a page and should say
something meaningful. Choose quotes that
summarize the story or say something so
persuasive or intriguing that the reader will want to
learn more.
Other Uses for Quotations cont.
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Direct quotations may also be used in opinion
features. Many high school publications use them
on their opinion or editorial pages to show students’
views on selected subjects for each issue.
The reporter may conduct person-on-the-street
interviews and use the information for a sidebar or
an information graphic.
The graphic should include the question asked and
the speakers’ responses and each speaker should
be identified.
Attribution
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Attribution is giving credit to the source of the
information. It is important to let the reader or viewer
know the human or physical source from which
information came. This helps the consumer judge
the credibility of the information.
Not only do reporters need to identify their sources;
they also need to credit each source, or give the
source a title, so the reader knows why the source is
being used for the story.
What to Attribute
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Attribution involves more than just identifying
sources of quotations.
Information that would not be commonly
known by the consumer, whether it is used in
quotation form or not, should be attributed.
What to Attribute cont.
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The following sentences need attribution,
because they contain information that the
reader didn’t know before reading them and
couldn’t find in a common source:
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The fire caused an estimated $5,000 in damage.
Jones has been asked to resign as school board
president.
Both students were charged with felonies.
What to Attribute cont.
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By not attributing the information, reporters would be
failing to let consumers know where the information
came from, and they would be setting themselves
up for possible lawsuits. The sentences should be
attributed as follows:
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The fire caused an estimated $5,000 in damage, according
to Captain Dale Murphy.
According to John Woods, school principal, Jones has
been asked to resign as school board president.
Police Chief Joe Robinson said that both students were
charged with felonies.
What to Attribute cont.
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In contrast, information that is general
knowledge doesn’t need attribution. In some
cases, attribution would even be awkward:
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The first snow of the season fell last night,
according to reports from the weather service.
Placing Attribution in Print
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The following are some guidelines for using
attribution most effectively in newspaper, magazine
and yearbook stories.
1. Attribution is placed after the quotation or the
information given if the information is more
interesting or prominent than the source. Most
readers are interested in the potential of an
asteroid’s hitting Earth, but few would recognize the
name of the astronomer who observed the asteroid
if it were used in this Washington Post quotation:

An asteroid about the size of a small school bus narrowly
missed striking Earth Friday, a University of Arizona
astronomer said.
Placing Attribution in Print cont.
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Teens all over the United States were quoted
in a Parade article headlined “How Teens
See Things.” Because most of Parade’s
readers didn’t know the teens personally,
what the teens had to say was more
interesting than their names:
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“My goal is definitely happiness,” says Eric
Arsenault, 18, of Chesterfield, Mich. “What would
give me that? I don’t know yet. But a lot of people
in the 1980s made money and weren’t very
happy. I want more. My main reason for seeking
further education is self-enrichment.”
Placing Attribution in Print cont.
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2. If the source or speaker is more
important or will get the attention of more
readers than will the information, the
attribution is placed first. For example,
everyone has a birthday every year, but the
New York Times recognizes only a few:
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Bill Clinton, the nation’s highest profile babyboomer, is not going quietly into that sixth decade
that he says signifies he “has more yesterdays
than tomorrows.”
Placing Attribution in Print cont.
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3. When a direct quotation is longer than one
sentence, the attribution is normally placed
between the first and second sentence. The
following example was in Parade and is divided in a
way that readers will recognize her name, but most
are interested in what she has to say:

“The emphasis on family values has definitely increased
from the 1980s to the 1990s,” says Janis Cromer, an
educational analyst based in Washington, D.C., who wrote
and analyzed surveys on the mood of America’s youth that
were conducted in 1974 and 1983. “In the 1970s, kids were
challenging parents and authority. In the 1980s, their
attitude was, ‘I’m out to get mine,’ and the top priority was
making money. Today’s kids want to have successful
careers, but they know that, without family and love, they
wouldn’t be satisfied.”
Placing Attribution in Print cont.
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4. The attribution should not separate a subject
and verb or divide parts of a complete thought.
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Incorrect: Another improvement, according to food service
coordinator Neal Green, is the later opening for the
cafeteria.
Correct: Another improvement is the later opening for the
cafeteria, according to food service coordinator Neal
Green.
Incorrect: “I don’t think working with any attorney has
influenced my judgment,” he said, because I am not easily
influenced.”
Correct: “I don’t think working with any attorney has
influenced my judgment, because I am not easily
influenced,” he said.
Placing Attribution in Print cont.
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5. One attribution per paragraph is
sufficient. More than one attribution in a
paragraph is redundant:

“At that point, I didn’t think we were ant good
either,” Coach Tony Hermann said. “We’re not
playing as a team. As individuals, we’re great. We
have the best talent in the state,” Hermann said.
Placing Attribution in Print cont.
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6. When a direct quotation is longer than one
paragraph, attribute as often as necessary to
make it clear who is speaking. Each paragraph
may need attribution, or attribution every other
paragraph may be enough. Personal pronouns may
be substituted for the name after the first attribution.

Wolfe Cycle Sports has seen steady sales of the vehicles
the last several years, Wolfe said.
“Anything with a spark plug needs to be used with
precaution and safety in mind,” he said. “ For us, that
means not selling the vehicles to anybody under the age
16.
“We have very few buyers who haven’t ridden before. If
we feel they don’t have experience, we’ll spend whatever
time is necessary to get them comfortable on the machine.”
Placing Attribution in Print cont.
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7. When an additional speaker is introduced,
name the speaker before the quotation. In the
following quotations, the reader is led to believe that
a source is continuing to speak, when is reality,
another speaker has been introduced:

“Our goal is to win the league championship, but we have
some very tough opponents this year,” senior Matt Van
Hoesen said.
“Tough is not the word to describe our league. It’s more
like a death march,” Coach Lynn Harrod said.
“We have a talented pitching staff, as good as any we
have had before,” senior Jason Thoren said.
Placing Attribution in Print cont.
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8. When multiple sources are quoted or the story
is moving to a different topic, a transition
paragraph is needed. The transition paragraphs
are highlighted in the following continuation of the
baseball story:

Experience, however, will be on the Lions side: they have
10 seniors and six juniors on their roster.
“Our distribution is really good, it will allow the seniors to
work with the juniors and help improve their abilities,”
Harrod said.
“Teamwork already appears to be one of the strengths of
the squad.
“The team has shown a lot of unity, and it is only the
beginning of the season,” junior Jim Ward said.
The coach agrees.
“I haven’t seen pitching this tough in all the years I have
been coaching,” Harrod said.
Attribution in Broadcast
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Many of the same rules for attributing
sources in print apply in radio and TV.
The lead-in, or the last sentence read by the
newscaster before a sound bite, commonly
contains the words said and according to:
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
Newscaster: The mayor said work on the
downtown freeway will begin soon.
Major (on tape): Construction on the Kennedy
Freeway through downtown should start next
week…
Attribution in Broadcast
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Attribution in broadcast is placed before the
information so that listeners can judge the
information based on a known source.
Transitions need to be used between sound
bites of two different speakers or between
sound bites on different subjects from the
same speaker. These transitions are always
read by the reporter or newscaster.
Attributive Verbs
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Attributive verbs are the verbs used in
attributing information to a source. The most
common attributive verb is said.
There are numerous words available to
indicate the tone or volume in which
someone says something, but the word said
is the only one that does not add to the
impact of the quotation by implying the
manner in which the words were spoken.
Attributive Verbs cont.
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If a reporter writes that the school board president exclaimed,
stated or emphasized something during a meeting, the attributive
implies an emphasis or an emotion that may not have been
intended by the speaker. The reporter should let the president’s
words speak for themselves and not add interpretation or
emphasis through the attributive verbs.
Consider these examples of incorrect, overused verbs of
attribution:
 “This was by far the best game we’ve played all year,” he
exclaimed.
 “We’ll consider their proposal at the upcoming meeting,” she
maintained.
 “It’s a tough thing, and I understand what they’re trying to do,”
she cried.
 “The safety of our students always comes first,” he stressed.
Attributive Verbs cont.
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The solution is to consistently use one neutral
verb—said—for attributing quotations. Said conveys
no emotion, tone of voice or physical activity. It
leaves everything to be interpreted by the reader:


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
“This was by far the best game we’ve played all year,” he
said.
“We’ll consider their proposal at the upcoming meeting,”
she said.
“It’s a tough thing, and I understand what they’re trying to
do,” she said.
“The safety of our students always comes first,” he said.
Attributive Verbs cont.
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Beginning reporters often object to using said
repeatedly in a story. They’re afraid it will bore
readers because it will become repetitious. Readers,
however, do not object.
Readers tend to skip over the attributive verbs. An
attributive verb other than said is like a red flag to
the reader. It causes reading to stop and reaction to
begin. That should not happen in a news story. The
information may cause the reader to stop and react,
but the attributive verb should not.
Attributive Verbs cont.

Occasionally another neutral verb of
attribution is acceptable if it reflects the
manner in which the words were delivered
and not the emotion with which the source
delivered them. A question is asked. A
speaker may tell or add words:


He told reporters that he will not run for reelection.
“How can our school be satisfied with the views of
the student council?” she asked.
Attributive Verbs cont.

Verbs of attribution are used in reference to
speech, not in reference to action. For
example, someone can’t “smile” a statement
or “frown” an opinion. Laughs and smiles
cannot be spoken; they are actions of the
face muscles. Write said with a laugh, or said
with a grin if it is necessary to show the
speaker’s action.
Attributive Verbs cont.

The following examples are incorrect:



“This was the best game we’ve played all year,” he smiled.
“It’s a tough thing, and I’m not sure I understand what
you’re going to accomplish,” she frowned.
Try adding a prepositional phrase to indicate action:


“This was the best game we’ve played all year,” he said
with a grin.
“It’s a tough thing, and I’m not sure I understand what
you’re going to accomplish,” she said, as frown lines
creased her forehead.
Attributive Verbs cont.


Prepositional phrases indicating emotion or
expression are used more often in stories about
people than in hard news stories. Readers want to
know how people live, feel and think, but they want
to interpret facts and events for themselves.
An example of a prepositional phrase added to
show how a comment was spoken comes from a
story in the Omaha World-Herald. The story
described the thoughts of University of Nebraska’s
head football coach Tom Osborne on security at
Miami’s Orange Bowl:

“Well, I was scared,” Osborne said in a deadpan delivery
that drew a big laugh. Again mixing sarcasm and humor, he
added, “If the whole Miami police department can’t protect
you, we thought about taking the National Guard down
there.”
Putting Attribution to Work

Now that you are more familiar with
attribution, let’s take a look at a story that
carefully attributes information and uses
partial and fragmentary quotations to convey
specific words used by sources. Notice how
important attribution is in this story—even
when there are no direct quotes to be
attributed:
Two people found dead in their burning home Saturday were the
victims of a double homicide, police investigators said.
Firefighters called to 6814 S. 41st St. at 5:52 a.m. discovered the bodies
of Susan A. Anglim, 37, and her daughter, Michelle Marie, 12.
The bodies were found by firefighters extinguishing a small fire in the
neatly maintained split-level house, said Lt. Larry Roberts of the police
homicide unit.
Roberts would not say whether the two were dead before the fire, but
said foul play was suspected in both deaths.
Firefighters noticed something “that was not normal” about the bodies
and notified police after arriving at the scene, Roberts said. He
described the fire as suspicious.
Damage to the house was moderate according to Assistant Fire Chief
Michael Dineen. It is suspected a “flammable accelerant” was used in
the fire, he said.
Roberts said no arrests had been made.
He would not say where in the house the bodies were found or whether
a weapon was found or how Mrs. Anglim and her daughter died.
Roberts said the fire was reported by a neighbor who saw smoke and
flames coming from the frame house.
Window screens were knocked out of two windows on the north side of
the home and charred wood was visible on the frames.
About 10 family members and friends gathered outside the house
where Red Cross workers comforted them and offered blankets and
coffee.
World-Herald records indicate Mrs. Anglim was granted a divorce from
her husband, Michael, in 1964.
The City Directory lists Mrs. Anglim as an employee of Taylor’s Flower
Shop and Greenhouse, 5414 S. 36th St. A woman answering the phone
at the business would not confirm that Mrs. Anglim worked there.
Source

Schaffer, James, Randall McCutcheon and
Kathryn T. Stofer. Journalism Matters.
Lincolnwood: Contemporary, 2001.