My two penn’orth on Samantha Power from the Guardian:
For me as a broadcast journalist, the camera and the microphone are the record. You can’t unsay things to a recording device or speaking live, only apologise or cringe. But in conversation, different standards apply.
I was at ITN in the early 1990s when John Major referred to his colleagues as “bastards” in a TV interview with ITN’s political editor. The Beeb’s Nick Jones overheard the remarks. BBC bosses shared ITN’s view that these post-match mutterings were off the record so Jones leaked his notes to the Observer, which broke the story.
I think the technology has changed all the rules. ITN/BBC were operating within their conventions, the Observer within theirs, but now politicians would be cagier – broadcasters can blog those off-mike moments.
In Power’s case, uttering “off the record” immediately after you’ve said something better left unsaid is no protection.
One response to “When can you use off the record quotes?”
Adrian, Yes that, too. But I also think that the British press deserves great credit for doing its job — not being suck-ups to those in power. Here in America, our heritage and our journalists boast about the fearlessness in our press to stand-up to those in power to protect individual rights. But as a recent post I’ve written says, our journalists’ performance vs. yours (BBC often excluded) makes we wonder why we fought you guys in a revolution in the first place. (Steve Boriss, The Future of News)