Stuff Journalists Like – #71 Off The Record

Journalists know they are good at their job when friends and families have to ask at the end of every conversation, “This is off the record, right?”

Nothing you say to a known journalist is safe. Whether you’re a politician, businessman, crook, significant other or the grocery store clerk, any revelation, secret or comment you say is up for grabs to be in tomorrow’s edition, unless you say three magic words – off the record.

Off the record is a game journalists play with their sources, but the rules are different depending on the source.

For newbies, like moms of spelling bee winners or witnesses to bank robberies and random acts of violence, journalists relax the rules of off the record. If after an interview, a newbie calls back asking if the part of the interview about how she shoplifts garden gnomes to fulfill a sexual desire can be kept off the record, journalists can be persuaded to let it slide. But if an elected official was to slip the fact that one time in his four year term he parked in a handicap spot, the next thing that journalist is doing is changing the lede of his or her story.

And here’s a little tip for anyone who might find themselve across a table from a journalist: Journalists don’t need recorders for an interview to be on the record, journalists are walking voice recorders (the tape record is a decoy).

Any veteran source who has been around journalists should know the rules of off the record – first, it doesn’t work retroactively. A source can’t have vomit of the mouth for an hour and a half then tell the journalist, "All that was off the record." If there's one thing journalists don’t like is after a lengthy interview, a source says "But don't quote me." This leads to more drinking.

Also, like adult relations, off the record has to be consensual. Both parties have to agree to off the record before the conversation begins. And seasoned sources should know that when it comes to interviews with journalists, there are no second takes. 

There are several reasons why a journalist will agree to go off the record – the information the source has will lead to more sources or will guide the journalist in the right direction. Another reason a journalist will go off the record is because nothing the source has to say has anything to do with the story the journalist is working on but the journalist wants to placate the source so she’ll return a future call.  But under the right circumstances, going off the record can benefit the journalist and that's what journalists like.

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