Direct quotes

Direct quotations are exactly (!) what a person said. They appear inside quotation marks. When questioned a reporter should be able to produce written notes documenting exactly what the person said. Never alter quotations even to correct minor grammatical errors or word usage.

Indirect quotes

Indirect quotations retain the exact meaning of what a person said but not the exact wording. They do not appear in quotation marks.

Tips

• Periods and commas always go inside the quotation marks: “Learning how to copyedit is fun,” Tyler Dukes said.
• Identify all students by grade and major.
• It is generally not necessary to quote facts.
• When taking words out of a direct quote, indicate the missing words with an ellipsis — … (option + colon). There are spaces on both sides of the ellipsis. Make sure the omission doesn’t distort the meaning of the direct quote.
• When adding words to a direct quote for clarification, put them in brackets: “[The building] fell down after the ox ran into it,” Police Chief Tom Younce said.
• Always attribute opinion to the source.

The verb of attribution: said

Using “said” puts the emphasis on what the person said, not how they said it. Only rarely is it necesssary to say “stated” — such as when something is attributed to an official statement.

It’s all right to say said more than once. In fact, it’s preferable. In hard news writing, it should be used pretty much exclusively. But the rule holds true in almost all writing. I’ll admit to wantonly breaking this rule myself now and then…. But as a general thing, it’s a good rule: Say said.

Peter Lynn, editor

The best verb for attribution is usually “said.” It is neutral and unobtrusive. Other verbs may be loaded, depending on the context.

John Raines, newspaper writing coach

Said is a word that connotes only the fact that words were spoken or written. It says nothing about the way the words were spoken, the circumstances of the utterance, or the attitude of the speaker. The word is a modest one, never calling attention to itself. It can be used repeatedly without disruption to the writing. Consequently, there are few real substitutes for said.

James Glen Stovall, visiting professor of mass communications, Emory and Henry College (Va.)