Monday, August 13, 2007

Brownback and Jesus, Cont'd   [Byron York]

Ryan Sager opts for his interpretation of events over accuracy in defense of his quotation from Sam Brownback's speech at the Iowa straw poll:

I suppose I could have added a parenthetical or otherwise clarified that he was quoting Mother Teresa. At the same time, I didn't do so because I think it's utterly irrelevant to the point of what he was doing. Mr. Brownback, more than any other candidate in the race, is making an explicit statement that religion — and, specifically, Christianity — should be at the center of American politics.

On the larger issue, maybe Sager is right. Maybe he's wrong. But if you're reporting on an event, the point is this: If you're quoting someone, say so. If you're quoting someone quoting someone else, say so. We have punctuation marks specifically for that purpose, regardless of what you, the writer, think is the higher truth. That kind of stuff matters.

08/13 10:03 PMShare