Off the record

Here's a good one from an article entitled, "Queen hugs first lady in break from protocol:"

"A Buckingham Palace spokesman who asked not to be identified because of palace policy said he could not remember the last time the queen had displayed such public affection with a first lady or dignitary."


I so love that. Yes, I love the affection between the two women, but more than that, I love the caveat about the spokesman.

It's so good to know why those who speak when they're not supposed to are not supposed to. (Was that just two endings on prepositions?!) (Did everyone follow?!)

Usually it's something like, "Who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak." Or "Who spoke on condition of anonymity because of department policy."


This is relatively new, this explaining why we weren't supposed to get the news we just got. As I recall, they used to just say something like, "Who spoke on condition of anonymity." Period.

It is so nice to have the rest of the story.

And the ethics of it all is most fascinating. As a reporter, if you're going to ask someone something he's not supposed to tell you and then tell the WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD in an article, is your conscience somewhat asuaged by indicating why you were not supposed to have that information?

We all know that there's some information that gets accidentally slipped out on purpose. Candidates and presidents want to guage public reaction before some things are cast in stone, so things just start spreading without a nameable source overtly doing the dirty work.

Still, it's amazing the number of unauthorized accounts in any given newspaper these days. Everybody wants to be Deep Throat.

But if we're truly wanting to be open and forthcoming, let's put it all out there: "Who spoke off the record because he'd lose his job if his superiors knew he was talking to the press." Or, "Who didn't want to be quoted because it might bring down the organization that he wants people to think he's supporting." Or, "Who asked that his comments not be attributed because the queen would not like the truth to be known on that point. And certain others."

There's a lot we wouldn't know anymore if people only spoke on the record. The press is, without doubt, the fourth estate -- the one that keeps the other three from getting into too much trouble.

But sometimes someone needs to tell the press that we know what they're up to too.