1) “This is a verdict for justice,” Dr. Petit said afterward. “The defendant faces far more serious punishment from the Lord than he can ever face from mankind.”
From:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/09/nyregion/09cheshire.html?ref=todayspaper
2) “The Department of Homeland Security has done a horrible job of, one, explaining the policy; two, explaining the implementation process; and three, explaining the local jurisdictional role,” said Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, who has urged the state not to join the program. “It doesn’t inspire confidence.”
From:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/10/nyregion/10secure.html?ref=nyregion
These are bold, direct, evocative words and paraphrasing them would weaken the article.
3) Bush seemed eager to explain himself on the use of waterboarding, which simulates drowning, as a method of interrogation. He said he personally approved use of the tactic on Khalid Sheik Mohammed, a plotter of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, adding that when he was told that it and other harsh interrogation techniques were legal, he ordered: "Use 'em."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/08/AR2010110807347.html
The brevity of this last quote is effective and set up by the journalist's explanation and paraphrasing. The choice of direct quotes is powerful, if for no other reason than because they utilize Bush's exact words and, in doing so, illustrate the picture of an over-simplified, even ignorant, approach to a complex issue.
“The defendant faces far more serious punishment from the Lord than he can ever face from mankind.”
ReplyDeleteI think this quote is extremely effective. I think quotes, which are conclusion-kind remarks, are incredibly useful to a journalist. A story needs an effective end, but the journalist is in a dilemma: he/she can't pass his/her own conclusions because of need to avoid bias. The style of news reporting is consequently based on a "show, don't tell" policy. The best way to get around the need to sum or conclude a story without using your own words/opinions is using someone else's words.