David Cay Johnston has an interesting piece in the Columbia Journalism Review about the Obama press shop, and their over-reliance on “off the record” conversations. In my experience, albeit at a small opinion magazine, it was relatively easy during the campaign to have instant message chats and email exchanges with Obama spokespeople, but then almost impossible to arrange on-the-record phone interviews. It is very difficult for a reporter to do his or her job if the assumption on the part of the flack is that all conversations will be off-the-record, and that interview questions must be submitted in advance. Indeed, the element of surprise is crucial to a successful interview. It’s not necessarily that the source should be caught off guard or be tricked into saying something he or she will regret. Rather, the idea is to avoid rehearsed, meaningless answers to fair questions.
The Obama administration absolutely ought to be held to a higher standard than the Bushies were when it comes to openness with the press.
—Dana Goldstein
