Comments on: PR Lessons: Nothing is ever 'off the record'

By: Melissa DelGaudio

Melissa DelGaudio — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:36:33 +0000

Lauren, what you say is, most certainly, true. In this day and age, nothing is off the record (I don't care what your agreement says ... if you say something, it's out there, and someone's gonna report on it).

That said, I disagree with the notion that The President's people should be all over this, responding and issuing statements, etc. Why? If they do that and *make* it an issue, then it becomes one; it takes on a life of its own, one that it just doesn't need to have.

I'm sure that the folks on FOX & Friends will have their fun with this today, but I think the President (and his staff) would be well-served to just press on.

By: Kristen Escovedo

Kristen Escovedo — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:36:08 +0000

Great post and really good comments as always. One perspective that I would like to offer up on the OTR debate is the time, place, and person angle. Like many of you, the first thing I learned in media training was that nothing is ever off the record, and yet, like many of you, I have strayed from that golden rule on occasion. But I think the difference is that I am not the most powerful person in the world who was asked about (sadly) one of the most talked about topics of the moment.

Considering the time and place and the President’s answer, I think it would have taken the most restrained journalist not to share. I can’t imagine that Moran didn’t know the backlash he would face. After all, this is not his first rodeo. Certainly he will not be getting any one on one interviews with the president any time soon. My guess would be that he quickly calculated the cost and decided that it was worth it. He certainly stole the news cycle.

So while you or I may be able to go OTR on some day to day stories, when the Watergates, Kenyes, or the Lewinsky’s of the world come into question it appears to me that most journalists would be willing to risk the unspoken code to get the story.

By: Lauren Fernandez

Lauren Fernandez — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:38:39 +0000

James – Even if we make it clear that we want it off the record, that really isn’t a guarantee that it will. I’ve heard horror stories of PR professionals being burned, and I think that is where the differing opinion lies.

I think that there is always going to be a gray area – and it comes down to if you trust the other person or not, or how well you know them.

By: James Anderson

James Anderson — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:14:03 +0000

Well, I can say that as a journalist, I have no specific problem with keeping comments made off-the-record as exactly that and would always respect the wish of the contact.
But, only with very few sources do I always consider the conversation to be always off-the-record unless otherwise stated. Otherwise, I expect to be explicitly told at a briefing whether it is off-the-record. Otherwise I assume it’s on-the-record.
I think that’s a fair approach. What does any one else think?
I recently met someone for an informal briefing, but it was never once stated prior to or immediately afterwards that it was off-the-record. I quoted the person in a subsequent article, and all hell broke loose. But, it was never stated to be the briefing was off-the-record, and so I felt justified in writing up the comments.
My advice to PR people: always make it explicity clear whether something is being said on or off-the-record.

By: Lauren Fernandez

Lauren Fernandez — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:05:30 +0000

I can imagine…. that’s a lot of years in DC. Somehow, though, I bet it was a thrill. I think the term ‘history repeats itself’ is relevant in this situation.

And no problem. If a reader contributes, shouldn’t I contribute too?