Too often newsmakers speak at large public gatherings and make their words "off the record." In these days of Twitter, blogs and email, "off the record" means journalists won't publish what others may report freely. It's time for a new approach.

Working with other media groups, we will be soon sending a letter to press secretaries urging reforms to the practice of speaking off the record at public gatherings.

See the press release (8/17/09) and letter (8/18/09) that initiated this effort.

Release: End Officials' 'Off-the-Record' Public Speeches

Contact: Rick Blum, Sunshine in Government Initiative, (703) 807-2100
Toby McIntosh, BNA (703) 341-5815
For Immediate Release
Aug. 18, 2009
Press Release

Reporters Urge Press Secretaries to Help End
Officials' "Off-the-Record" Public Speeches

Representatives of more than 6,800 Washington-area reporters and several major national media organizations are urging press secretaries within Congress and the Obama administration to help end the practice of public officials attempting to speak only "off the record" when they are addressing large audiences.

Many Congressional staff members and mid-level administration officials, regardless of party affiliations, have been increasingly wary of speaking on the record in recent years and, as a result, begin their public speeches by telling the audience that their remarks are all "off the record."

"In today's age of Twitter and blogs, an 'off-the-record' speech will be publicized, just not by reporters. It just doesn't make sense anymore and the practice should stop," said Rick Blum, who helped organize the letter as coordinator of the Sunshine in Government Initiative.

Reporters and editors, fed up with the trend toward more off-the-record comments, have decided to draw a line with public speeches are issuing a letter to more than 600 press secretaries on Aug. 19 in an effort to engage them to find a more sensible way of doing business.

The letter was signed by the governing boards of all three press galleries of Congress-- the Daily gallery, Radio-Television, and Periodicals-- and ranged from large national publications such as the New York Times and U.S. News and World Report to specialized business news publishers BNA and Tax Analysts. Major media groups, including the American Society of News Editors, the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, the Newspaper Association of America, the Radio-Television News Directors Association, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the Society of Professional Journalists also signed on to the letter.

"On-the-record should be standard practice for officials speaking at large public gatherings," said Toby McIntosh, a coordinator of the effort and Director of Editorial Quality Review for specialty publisher BNA. "The frequency of off-the-record remarks at public events, such as conferences, frustrates reporters and impedes the flow of information to the public," he said. "We're hoping to open a dialogue to address this problem."

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