What are quotes?

Quotes help put the drama or humour in a news story.
Canadian Press, Canada’s news agency, calls them “the lifeblood of any story.” Quotes help put a human face on events, adding colour and detail. But quotes also give reporters problems because capturing exact phrasing can be challenging.

When an exact quote is not available from notes, it is best to paraphrase the information. And if you’re not sure who said what, go back to the source and ask the person to confirm the quote. If this is not possible then follow the journalism rule – when in doubt, leave it out.

Using quotes:

Quotation marks go at the beginning and at the end of a direct statement.
Periods, commas, question marks and exclamation marks are placed inside the quote.

“It’s important that a quote is accurate,” said the teacher.

“Do you think it’s important that a quote is accurate?” the teacher asked.

If the statement is interrupted, put a capital on the first word of the second part of the quotation when it begins a new sentence.

“It’s important that a quote is accurate,” said the teacher. “It is wrong to tamper with a quote.”

When the speaker you are quoting quotes another person, use a single quotation mark to mark the change.

Example: In a feature story on shoplifting, a youth worker gave the reporter this quote:

Often youth say they steal out of anger, she said. “They’ve been denied something at home and say ‘fine, I’ll go get it myself.’”

He said, She says:

It’s important to let the reader know who gave the quote or statement. This is called an attribution.

Example: John, 16, said he hates the reputation teens have for stealing.

“The salesperson is always following us around the store, it makes me mad enough to take something,” he said.

In the story on shoplifting, all of the teens interviewed used only a first name. In this case, the writer puts the age of the person beside the name so the reader will know that John is a teen and speaks from experience.

Using said or says is fine for most stories. Don’t worry about overusing said or says. Readers expect to see these two words and tend not to pay too much attention to them. Writers, however, sometimes like to add drama to a story by giving an attribution a little punch of colour.

Example: John, 16, said he hates the reputation teens have for stealing.

“The salesperson is always following us around the store, it makes me mad enough to take something,” he yelled.

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Sample Quotes in News Stories (Adobe Acrobat format)
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Sample 1 - Toronto Star - 397 KB

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