There’s no such thing as off the record
Posted in Commentary on February 19, 2009
I was at an event recently where an experienced public relations professional commented that he hoped a morning conversation with a television reporter would remain private until a 1 p.m. press conference.
It’s a nice thought, just not very realistic.
My rule of thumb is to approach things as if our roles—public relations and journalist—were reversed.
What if I was a reporter—whose job it is to get the scoop either first or best—and I learned about something really newsworthy? How would I benefit from withholding that information from my boss or the public?
It’s pretty standard that a journalist will run with a story as soon as possible. It’s in their best interest. It’s their job.
So this brings into question the delicate relationship public relations practitioners have with journalists. In reality, both professionals need each other to be most effective. Both either have or need information. Both rely on the stature of their reputation as a sign of professionalism.
It’s a dance, really. It can be beautiful or one partner could have two left feet and really mess things up.
My point is: don’t expect a journalist to sit on valuable, newsworthy information just because you’re friends.
Some learn this lesson the hard way. Some learn it from other’s experience.
Photo: Ben McLeod on Flickr
I never trick myself into thinking I’m ever “off the record.” And from my experience as a journalist and public relations pro, embargoes are never honored.
As a journo I didn’t believe in the magic line established by the embargo. Why would I hold onto a scoop? Even if I said I would wait until 1pm, I always found a way to break it. I’d ask around until I found another source to confirm it, or I would “sneak” into the embargo a few minutes early.
We are always on the record because again, there’s always another source who can confirm what you just said off the record. I use this to “leak” stuff I want out there too. It’s a cut throat world.
Some excellent comments here. Thank you.
For me, an embargo on a press release hasn’t been useful. I believe you can discuss pending announcements with journalists in a way that gives them a feel for it without giving away the store.
Also, I can see when an influential newsmaker may talk with a journalist in confidence. In some cases the story may be kept under wraps. But usually something is reported, even if it’s a small bit of information.
My feeling is I wouldn’t want to put a friendship on the line, hoping information will be withheld until the appropriate time. I’d rather everyone find out at the same time, on a level playing field.
As far as building trust with a journalist, that can be done in other ways aside from giving favors of insider knowledge, or making them the first to know. The best thing you can do is be a resource. Read what they write and provide helpful information regardless of whether or not it will help your client.
At a business networking event I attended recently someone commented that if you approached the experience from a perspective of “what can I do to help this person?” instead of “how can I sell this person on my product?” you’ll do much better. I agree with this approach.
I certainly welcome different points of view. Thanks for sharing.
If the journalist had any real ethics (or knowledge of ethics) they would keep things “off the record” when requested.
I bring you back a few months to when Steve Jobs contacted a tech reporter at the NY Times and divulged the reason for him looking ill. The reporter, while reporting that he had spoken to Jobs, did not release this little nugget of valuable information. Why? Because Steve insisted things were “off the record”.
In your world, this bit of information would be too juicy for the reporter NOT to report. However, I feel differently. In the world of a real reporter, no news is too big to keep secret in the world of “off the record”. This is how journalists get a reputation and are given even tastier bits of news later on in their career, because people know they can be trusted.
This brings me to my final point. There is a lot of trust that gets tossed around in the world of a journalist. If a journo has no trust, no one will divulge information to them. Eventually, these journo’s will wither on the vine due to the lack of information they will lose out on. In order for a journo to be successful, they have to be trusted by the people feeding them information.
There are lots of ways a journalist can glean information about something, and if doing something shady like revealing something that was told to them “off the record” is the way they need to do it, then that is no journalist. That is what you call a “blogger”.
So do you think embargo’s are dead too? Just curious. I still use them quite a bit – offering a release to reporters a few days early under embargo. I’ve never had a problem with the news being leaked too soon. Then again, I’m not working for Apple or Microsoft.