Officials claim the facility will open Oct 15 and house 72 students. Since there is no way for you, as the reporter, to hop into time machine and found out whether the dorm really will open on time and as planned, you should treat it the same way you would treat an opinion. It’s not a fact yet - it’s something that the school administration hopes will happen. 15, will house 72 undergraduates in apartment-style units. Keep Jones for his opinion and his enthusiasm, but cite an authority for facts like the date. Jones is here just passing along something he heard he could be spreading a rumor.
Much more serious is quoting random student Fred Jones as the source of the the Oct 15 date. In this example, Jones does give a quote-worthy opinion of the new dorm, but because the reporter has already told us that Jones is “eager to move in,” that dry introduction steals the punch from the direct quotes “I can’t wait” and “it’s gonna be a sweet dorm,” both of which already convey eagerness. “It’s supposed to be ready October 15, but I can’t wait that long,” he said. In general, a journalist should paraphrase dry facts, but directly quote emotions, opinions, and promises voiced by sources.įred Jones is eager to move into Newcomb Hall. This revision conveys some factual information about the dorm (the number of residents, the fact that it’s not an old-fashioned floor-style residence, but rather apartments), but the quote works because it expresses some of the speaker’s opinions and personality. Journalists are experts at slipping in concrete details unobtrusively. “So we’re putting a Godzilla tree in the lobby,” she said. By December, students can barely fit tiny Christmas trees in their units. “Living on campus gets real cozy, real quick,” according to Sally Smith, director of Student Life at Elizabeth Mount University. Rather than introducing the general concept of “helping students reduce clutter” and the specific example of a communal Christmas tree, try to let the source’s words do more of the work.Ī good reporter can set the stage in such a way that even a fairly brief quote can have dramatic impact.Ĭollege students have barely moved in, but one college administrator has already figured out how she can help 120 residents of a new dorm, some of them packed 6 to a unit, decorate for the holidays. This part of the quote isn’t newsworthy, and the Christmas tree detail seems kind of random. “I think students will love the layout,” said Sally Smith, the director of Student Life, who is already planning to help students reduce clutter in their individual units by placing a communal Christmas tree in the lobby.Ī little better, but we expect a Student Life employee to say her dorms are great we learn very little from this direct quotation. Don’t force emotion into a dry story but don’t bury the emotions that are there. Paraphrase those dry facts, and use direct quotes to present the opinions, emotions, and promises of your sources.
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