"I would say your on target, this is an oppurtunity for the writer to say things they would not normally be able to say by using quotes attributed to others, sort of like wanting to call somone dumb, so you find somone else who called that person dumb and print it, its your ideas by proxy, a common media tactic thats been around for years."
Astute observation. Makes you wonder with whom and where these media types hang out. Guess they'll be quoting the KKK next.
See Robert Byrd of Virginia.