Journalism 101

When is "off the record" actually off the record? Dana Goldstein says "shame on The Scotsman" for publishing Samantha Power's description of Hillary Clinton as "a monster". But this is not a matter of shame, nor necessarily, as Goldstein suggests, of the foreign press "stooping to play gotcha with secondary advisors".

It may well be that Power's comments came at the end of an interview which mainly focused on her new book. I don't know. But I do know that you don't really get to take a mulligan when you make a blunder in an interview. If power had prefaced her characterisation of Hillary as a monster with the phrase, "Now, what I'm about to say is off the record..." then that would be one thing and it would be a breach of trust or etiquette for the paper* to print her comments. But you don't normally get to determine what is and what is not off the record after you've said your piece or simply because you realise you've made a blunder.

Now, even allowing for that, you can say that this still a marginal call but there's a long distance between a marginal call and a shameful breach of trust.

I wish Power hadn't said what she said, largely because, despite his abundant flaws, I'd rather see Obama win the Democratic nomination than Clinton, so it's a shame that she's made this marginally less likely. But I'd have still printed the piece if it had been my call. That's because it's a legitimate story - especially in the aftermath of the Goolsbee and Susan Rice flaps.

*Disclosure: Over the years, I've written hundreds of pieces for The Scotsman and used to be on the staff of its sister paper Scotland on Sunday. But beyond being a contributor, I'm not affiliated with the paper these days.

Comments

[Peregrine]

Ms. Power, who has done important and enduring work, was kneecapped by a typically cheap British journalist. She thought she was chatting with a colleague. Instead -- and she should've known better -- she was talking to a hack. The Scotsman reporter doesn't deserve to sit in the same room with her.

Come off it Alex. The Scotsman has previous on this (q.v. the Brian Monteith/McLetchie/Iain Martin story a few years ago). Iain is a nice bloke but he was way out of line with revealing what were very firmly intended to be private items of correspondence between himself and Monteith. Yes, Monteith was a fool to trust a hack but nevertheless, the incident with Samantha Power I believe shows something rotten at the core of the Scotsman group.

This is all to get a little more profile for their pathetic, tawdry little Scottish tabloid (and I say that as a Scot who would welcome a robust independent quality press in Scotland which we simply do not have).

[Panenka'sChip]

Sorry - the above wasn't meant to be anonymous. Here's hoping the shocking weather today might give us a chance against England...

[dearieme]

"She thought she was chatting with a colleague." Yeah, yeah.

[Virginia Postrel]

If you say something is off the record in the middle of the very same sentence, it's off the record. Of course, a seasoned pol wouldn't make the mistake of saying anything he or she wouldn't want to see in the newspaper--especially when dealing with unfamiliar journalists who may be using different rules.

PC is right of course - Scotsman publications have now taken this marginal call twice - I cant recall any other UK quality in recent times making the call the same way. Of course rumour has it Iain Martin carelessly forwarded the "Letch" eMail to another paper who said they would run it if he didnt. I believe he now works for them.

Sorry - you are clearly confusing the Scotsman with something else. You mentioned the words "UK quality" in that last post.

[Beth Noire]

As Alex says, you can't withdraw remarks retrospectively by pleading "off the record", and forgodssake, Power was a grown up talking to a journalist - did she think she was getting an ear because of her dynamite wordplay.
This is an age where journalists get blackballed from events because they have a rep for asking awkward questions. Now they are being leant on not to publish awkward responses.
And I'm delighted that this weekend it's bye bye bow tie - not just because Carlson gloried in attacking journalists and winning praise from pols, but also http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11TaDDUVcGQ

[helicopter tours hawaii]

The debate never finished. There are some good points on each side, and both sides must give way.