By Christopher B. Daly
It was the only decision they could have made, but credit New York Times executives with deciding to ban the pernicious practice of “quote approval.”
In an announcement made Thursday, the paper said it would no longer allow its reporters to grant their sources the power to approve their own quotes before they appear in news stories. The Times was slow in figuring this out, but a right decision is always welcome.
Here’s the takeaway:
. . .starting now, we want to draw a clear line on this. Citing Times policy, reporters should say no if a source demands, as a condition of an interview, that quotes be submitted afterward to the source or a press aide to review, approve or edit.
That should have been self-evident.
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