It's the web, you can change the quote

Earlier today I made a post, The Oyster Opens, which points to an online article where I was misquoted. Since then I've had an email exchange with the reporter. I'm trying to get her to change the quote.

She won't.

Here's the email thread.

Hi Amanda,
You wrote:

"He says he pays Comcast about $100 a month, and feels that at that price he should have access wherever he is. "

What I actually said was that by paying Comcast $100 per month, I should have access to the Comcast Wi-Fi network at Logan Airport.

Your quote makes it sound like I feel that by paying Comcast, I'm entitled to free Wi-Fi everywhere.
--Steve

Her response:

*From: *"Amanda Patterson"
*Date: *March 1, 2006 1:01:17 AM EST
*To: *"Steve Garfield"
*Subject: RE: Wi-Fi
*

I'm sorry that you feel misrepresented. I just checked my notes,
and you started out that section on the airport, but by the time
you got to the money you pay comcast it wasn't clear to me that
you only meant at the airport. I try to report accurately.
technically its a paraphrase, though I don't suppose that makes
you feel better.

2 other things, 1. paying comcast $100 a month doesn't make you
sound like a wifi freeloader to me
2. if the city does do this, we'll probably all pay a subscription
fee and have access all around.

Again, sorry you feel misrepresented.
Amanda

My reply:

Hi Amanda,
Your story is online, can't you change it to reflect what I really mean?

It's not like it's printed out and there's no way to change it.

If the city does this there is no reason to believe that we'll all pay. It's very possible that they will have a FREE tier, and then a paid tier for faster access.

Thanks,
--Steve

When you place something in quotes it's supposed to be a verbatim record of what was said and not a 'paraphrase.'

See Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing, Purdue University Online Writing Lab.

I don't think I'll hear back.

Update:
After asking to speak to an editor, they deleted the quote in question and noted the correction:

Correction, March 1, 2006: This article originally and incorrectly stated that Steve Garfield paid $100 dollars a month to Comcast, and that he felt that money should gain him access to wifi “where ever he goes”. He intended to address the lack of access at Logan Airport, not city wide wifi.

Thanks for fixing that.

I think the correction is poorly written. I don't like the part where it says, "He intended to address the lack of access at Logan Airport, not city wide wifi."

That makes it sound like I misspoke or something. Guess what? I actually said what I meant.

Update 3/9/06:
Please read the comments on this post. I was wrong about the "place something in quotes" comment. The part where the reporter incorrectly wrote what I said wasn't in quotes.