EPT
No Comment
or: How I Learned How to Stop Worrying
and Love the Reporter
and Love the Reporter
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/o2nCO.jpg)
The general tone and level of discourse exhibited by our community surrounding the issue of journalism has largely demonstrated that people in our community simply do not know how to talk to reporters and handle media relations. Leaks of information are said to be commonplace in the industry. Within this context, blame is placed on the reporter for merely performing the reporter's duty: to report the news.
Journalism is built around a set of standards of reporting and sourcing. While these standards are, of course, separate from personal definitions of trust and relationships and how they influence action (for a write-up that discusses this extremely valid perspective in more detail, see Nazgul's blog), they nevertheless dictate what a journalist can and cannot print, so long as they are ethical from a trade standpoint.
Anything you say to a reporter, in any medium, is on the record unless you say otherwise. Anything on the record is subject to replication by a reporter in their news pieces, with full attribution regardless of sensibilities and options. Forum posts, tweets, phone calls, email messages, overheard conversations, direct conversations, Skype conversations, text messages, and even 'private messages' are all, without qualification, on the record.
If you wish to speak to a reporter anonymously and on a basis by which what you say cannot be published, you must condition what you say on the reporter's acceptance that what you wish to say is off the record. Off the record sources, by convention, cannot be attributed or published. They are used by reporters as a launching point in a larger attempt to find on the record sources for their reporting.
There are also other speaking terms of mutual agreement by which it is possible to speak to reporters. For instance, without attribution means that what you can say can be published, but the source cannot be identified or even implied in the reporting. On background means that what you say can be published, and the background of who you are can be attributed. If you have seen news before where statements are attributed in ways such as, "from a member of the cabinet speaking on condition of anonymity" or even "sources with close knowledge of the situation," this is on background reporting.
Remember that you can always just say "no comment" to a reporter. To be extra-safe you can even do this:
In December 2004, Alicia C. Shepard wrote:
While granting anonymity may induce reluctant or nervous sources to talk, it doesn't guarantee they will say anything worth listening to.
Associated Press Managing Editor Darrell Christian recalls that when he was working in Washington, he called a White House duty officer late one night for comment on a controversial story. The conversation went something like this:
"I'll have to go off the record," the duty officer said.
"Well, all right," Christian replied, "if you have to."
Duty officer: "OK, am I off the record?"
Christian: "Yes."
Duty officer: "Are you sure?"
Christian reassured him. The duty officer was finally comfortable.
"No comment," he said, confident that he'd protected his job and given Christian the quote he needed.
While granting anonymity may induce reluctant or nervous sources to talk, it doesn't guarantee they will say anything worth listening to.
Associated Press Managing Editor Darrell Christian recalls that when he was working in Washington, he called a White House duty officer late one night for comment on a controversial story. The conversation went something like this:
"I'll have to go off the record," the duty officer said.
"Well, all right," Christian replied, "if you have to."
Duty officer: "OK, am I off the record?"
Christian: "Yes."
Duty officer: "Are you sure?"
Christian reassured him. The duty officer was finally comfortable.
"No comment," he said, confident that he'd protected his job and given Christian the quote he needed.
Source: American Journalism Review
I suspect that not knowing these guidelines is a major factor in the prevalence of leaks in the competitive gaming industry. There have been references to counter-party threats of leaks, but those are an ever-present risk of continuing to do business in this space. Inherent risks must be hedged against through adaptation of strategy on an individual and organizational basis in very specific ways that are beyond the scope of this simple blog.
