Sometimes a direct quote is too long or complicated to be of use. In this case, you paraphrase. A paraphrase is the reporter’s summation of a source’s actual words. No quotation marks are needed in a paraphrase. {“smallUrl”:“https://www. wikihow. com/images/thumb/c/c2/Develop-Basic-Journalism-Skills-Step-6. jpg/v4-460px-Develop-Basic-Journalism-Skills-Step-6. jpg”,“bigUrl”:"/images/thumb/c/c2/Develop-Basic-Journalism-Skills-Step-6. jpg/aid5731042-v4-728px-Develop-Basic-Journalism-Skills-Step-6. jpg",“smallWidth”:460,“smallHeight”:345,“bigWidth”:728,“bigHeight”:546,“licensing”:"<div class="mw-parser-output">
License: <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.
0/">Creative Commons</a>
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<br />\n</p></div>"} Problems to avoid in using quotes include dull, obvious comments; remarks that echo a previous statement; quotes used as leads; a string of quotes run in sentence after sentence; curse words; and quotes taken out of context (where the words quoted can lead to a distortion of what the speaker was actually trying to say).
A famous example of off-the-record reporting occurred during the Watergate scandal in 1974. A high-ranking American government official (known to readers as “Deep Throat”) spoke with journalists under the cloak of anonymity and offered information that led to the downfall of a president. Using off-the-record sources may be unacceptable in some newsrooms. If you face that dilemma, try to get confirmation of your information from another source who is familiar with the story and who will let you cite them by name.
Closed-ended questions can be answered either “yes” or “no” without further explanation. While useful for confirming information, they’re not very effective at eliciting new information. “Softball” questions have their place, too. They are easy, non-controversial queries aimed at developing a rapport with the source and helping them to relax.
In a passive sentence, the subject does nothing. Instead, it is acted upon. The active voice makes your writing stronger and livelier. It’s the style that is used in most news articles. For example, “the girls ate the pizza” is an active sentence. “The pizza was eaten by the girls” is passive.
The idea is that once a reporter becomes a part of the story, it’s harder to consider that reporter a reliable and unbiased source of information. {“smallUrl”:“https://www. wikihow. com/images/thumb/a/a5/Develop-Basic-Journalism-Skills-Step-10. jpg/v4-460px-Develop-Basic-Journalism-Skills-Step-10. jpg”,“bigUrl”:"/images/thumb/a/a5/Develop-Basic-Journalism-Skills-Step-10. jpg/aid5731042-v4-728px-Develop-Basic-Journalism-Skills-Step-10. jpg",“smallWidth”:460,“smallHeight”:345,“bigWidth”:728,“bigHeight”:546,“licensing”:"<div class="mw-parser-output">
License: <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.
0/">Creative Commons</a>
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