Off-the-Record - from Winning with the News Media

A crucial skill for the media game is knowing how to successfully leak information. It happens every day in politics, government, and the corporate world.

Suppose your competitor has a major skeleton in the closet. If the media wrote about the skeleton, the competitor would be embarrassed or eliminated. But the media will never know about it unless somebody tips them off.

Tips Have Many Uses

Confidential leaks have other uses:

	To brief reporters in advance, so they can produce better stories
	To negotiate for the delay of a story
	To correct a wrong when the system seems powerless or disinterested
	To bring reporters into an investigation, so they’ll feel more personally invested and put more effort into their coverage
	To bring an outsider in as an observer when you feel vulnerable and overpowered

When I begin to talk about off-the-record skills, occasionally an officer in one of my law enforcement seminars frowns at that idea.

"I’d never do that," the officer says. "I’m not a snitch."

Cops consider informers a necessary evil. They don’t respect them. That’s because informers are usually the kind of people who should be in jail. But to catch bigger fish, you have to give the informer a "walk." Like hit-man "Sammy the Bull," who was given immunity for testifying against mob boss John Gotti.

Snitch = Traitor

Many in law enforcement think of informers as traitors who turn against people who trusted them. They’ll sell their mothers if the price is right.

Information from an informer is always suspect. It is being sold — bartered — and the informer frequently enlarges the truth to improve the bargaining position.

Media Sources Different

Confidential sources who leak to reporters, however, are usually very different kinds of people, with very different motives.

As an investigative reporter, I made off-the-record agreements with dope smugglers, gamblers, con men, bagmen, prostitutes and murderers. But they were the exception.

My most frequent sources of confidential information were whistle-blowers. Conscientious cops, doctors, lawyers or government officials who became completely frustrated with injustice or incompetence and the system’s failure to cope with it.

Setting the Agenda

They went outside the system, and their leak of information to me often led to stories that brought about sudden changes in the system. Prosecutors who had been blind to certain types of activity suddenly began personal crusades.

● ● ●

The chapter continues with accounts of real-life investigations that could not have been possible without confidential sources; the risks for those who leak and get caught; and the many variations of off-the-record agreements.

● ● ●

"In Confidence"

I recommend that you abandon the term off-the-record, and say instead, "I’d like to tell you something in confidence." The reporter will usually say, "What do you mean by that?" Then you begin to negotiate the terms on which you will release the information, and what the reporter can do with it. Go over, step-by-step, your joint agreement on exactly what you expect of each other.

Variations of the contract:

You may use the information I’m about to give you in any way you choose, so long as you are very careful not to quote me directly, or to even hint where it came from. This kind of information is often attributed to a "confidential source" or a "highly reliable source."
You can indicate my organization or group. The story’s credibility is increased if the source is less vague. "A confidential source in the police department." Or "a highly-placed executive in a major oil company."
You must agree to hold the story until a later time. "I want you to be aware of this," you say, "Because I know you’ll need to do some advance work." Lengthy police investigations are often leaked in advance to the media on this basis. Television, particularly, needs extra time to create visuals.
You may use this information if you can confirm it with another source. This involves a lot of trust on your part. It is usually used if you think very few people know, and the story would immediately point the finger at you as the source. The information may be more widespread then you realize.
Backgrounding. "I want you to be aware of some things that are happening. In the next few days or weeks, a story will break, and then you’ll understand the importance of what I’m about to tell you. You cannot disclose I briefed you."
No quotes. "You may use everything I’m about to tell you, and use my name, so long as you don’t quote me directly. You must paraphrase what I say." This is a protection for the source, in case there is bad public reaction to a trial balloon. "That’s not exactly what I said. Let me clarify."
You may never attribute anything to me unless I specifically give you permission. This is a time-saving device if you have a continuing confidential relationship with a reporter. There is an ongoing contract every time you talk.

● ● ●

The chapter continues with other precautions and examples of how difficult it can be to negotiate this kind of agreement.

● ● ●

Confidentiality Guidelines

Here are five broad rules that you should review when you make a confidential source agreement with a reporter:

	You must know and trust the reporter
	Does the reporter have authority to make the deal?
	How many others will know the information or the source?
	How far will the reporter go to protect you?
	The exact words to be used in referring to the source

● ● ●

The chapter explains in detail each of the guidelines, with examples, and why each is so important in protecting the identity of the source. It explores the legal problems for reporters who are later sued for publishing or broadcasting a defamatory story when they cannot disclose their sources, and offers some solutions to those problems. The chapter explains the value of anonymous calls and letters; how to avoid being detected if you use them, and several other techniques for getting information to a reporter in a way that cannot be traced.

How to get your copy of Winning with the News Media