Submitting quotes for review: Bad for journalism, bad for PR
The author, a media trainer, says the increasingly common practice of political reporters submitting quotes for review is journalistic malpractice, and bad for the PR business as well.
Any journalism student who defined their profession in the manner above would fail out of their college program. But they shouldn’t. Turns out, this definition would be spot on.
According to yesterday’s The New York Times, it’s become increasingly common for major news outlets—including the Times—to submit quotes from politicians and their staffers for review before they publish them. And often the quotes are nixed.
From the Times:
“The quotations come back redacted, stripped of colorful metaphors, colloquial language and anything even mildly provocative.
“They are sent by email from the Obama headquarters in Chicago to reporters who have interviewed campaign officials under one major condition: the press office has veto power over what statements can be quoted and attributed by name.
“Most reporters, desperate to pick the brains of the president’s top strategists, grudgingly agree. After the interviews, they review their notes, check their tape recorders and send in the juiciest sound bites for review.
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