
In a recent column,
Washington Post ombudsman
Andrew Alexander highlights a growing movement among media organizations to
end the practice whereby officials insist their remarks remain "off the record" at large public events. A number of groups are gathering signatures from news outlets on a letter addressed to members of Congress, federal agencies and the White House asking them to reexamine the issue.
"Standing in front of 300 people and declaring your words to be 'off-the-record' is frustrating for reporters, but it's also silly,"
Rick Blum, a coordinator for the advocacy group
Sunshine in Government Initiative, told Alexander. "With
Twitter, blogs and old-style e-mail, the lobbyists, bloggers and other opinion-shapers in the audience will repeat your words a thousand different ways before you step off the podium. But a reporter who respects the traditional rules of the road can't report what you say to a broader audience."