I see it. This is how the MSM inserts opeds into the journalistic "news cycle", Oh no, the author didn't give his opinion. Instead, he called up some buddy's and asked them if they said this. "It would sound good in my article."
I know this happens because I had a reporter once read me a quote to see if I agreed with it. "Would you say, 'xyz & lmnop..."? I did and she printed it as according to Tenacious1, "xyz & lmnop"
I wish one would ever call me for a quote. Even I as, as an unknowing, naive, private citizen, with no experience in my life of dealing with the media, would not agree to anything they offered to me to agree or disagree. Even if I agreed with the statement, I would say “ No, that’s not what I would say, I would such-and-such”. But then I’ve had the benefit of learning these things from over 30 years of being married to the most cynical man of earth, lol, and learning to argue with a master arguer. (Strange that the most cynical man I’ve ever known, my husband, is also the most understanding of human weakness and foibles, and the one who has put himself out most of anyone I’ve ever known to help other people).
Bingo. This article is particularly pathetic example. It resorts to quoting a doctoral candidate. Wow! What a source. What's next, quoting a 12th grader's senior thesis?