There's No Such Thing as Off-The-Record With 400 People
Washington Post blogger David Weigel resigns after his "unvarnished" comments to JournoList (a listserv) are leaked to FishBowl DC.
Politico [annoying pop-up ads and all] reports on the story, and includes a comment from Nation columnist and journalism professor Eric Alterman:
For what it's worth - and I'm not a journalist, so it's not worth much - there's no such thing as "off-the-record," unless (1) you have a relationship with the person you are talking to, and (2) you make clear affirmatively that something is off the record.
Added: worth reading from the (always worth reading) Kevin Drum: "Dave Weigel and the Culture of Exposure."
Politico [annoying pop-up ads and all] reports on the story, and includes a comment from Nation columnist and journalism professor Eric Alterman:
That statement deserves a permanent place in the dictionary under the definition of "obvious" (particularly since it comes from a journalist). Nevertheless, a good reminder.I think it’s unwise to put anything on that list that you can’t defend in public. There’s no such thing as off-the-record with 400 people.
For what it's worth - and I'm not a journalist, so it's not worth much - there's no such thing as "off-the-record," unless (1) you have a relationship with the person you are talking to, and (2) you make clear affirmatively that something is off the record.
Added: worth reading from the (always worth reading) Kevin Drum: "Dave Weigel and the Culture of Exposure."
Venkat, I'd add to that and say if you don't want something known, then simply don't talk about it. An ex-newspaper journalist colleague reminds me that even if you know the journalist well and preface comments with 'off the record', and receive affirmation of that fact, those comments will still more than likely get used at some point. People also misuse 'off the record' when what they mean is 'you can't quote me as the source but you can use the information.' If you do trust the journalist, it's probably good to preface comments/info to help explain context with 'this is not for publication, OK? And then wait for confirmation - often accompanied by the tape being paused or the pen being put down.
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