Bill quoted Condoleeza Rice:
>>"The problem is that since Annapolis there has been a certain ...
>>level of activity that raises questions and they need to address that."
>here: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080615/D91ALTD80.html
... and opined ...
>Surely, in a newspaper article, and between quotation marks, ellipsis
>should not be used except to indicate an omission of text? Surely
>there are other ways of indicating tone? Indeed, there's something
>fishy about the whole thing. It raises so many questions as to who
>made the decision, and when, to interpret a pause that may or may not
>have actually taken place.
In writing for newspapers for too many years, I never used ellipses in such a context except to indicate an omission; but the Associated Press style guidelines aren't so strict:
"An ellipsis also may be used to indicate a pause or hesitation in speech, or a thought that the speaker or writer does not complete. Substitute a dash, however, if the context uses ellipses to indicate that words actually spoken or written have been deleted."
In light of Paul's revelation about the original source material, in most cases I would have rendered the quote without the ellipsis because, in fact, the speaker was interrupted and continued her thought almost seamlessly. Covering a press conference with the Secretary of State might compel me to be more precise, though, and make note of the gap.