Obama Adviser Resigns Because of 'Off the Record' Gaffe

I think everybody here pretty much agrees on the main journalistic issue -- you can't say "off the record" after the fact and expect a reporter to be bound by it.
But reading about this, I've been really depressed by the way this decision to report the quote became part of the political game. The Hillary people really jumped on it with glee. (I am not a Hillary hater, I thought long and hard before voting for Obama in the primary.)
I can't believe anyone was really that outraged by the remark, given the stressful campaign atmosphere, but they saw an opportunity to deprive Obama of a key staffer, one of the most accomplished people in his camp, so they made it sound like she'd been caught killing puppies or something.
I guess while I don't question the reporter's right to deny off the record status, I am queasy with the way when you do something like this, there are really big consequences ... you serve the other candidate's agenda. That's a debate I've had in many sports world incidences over the years, when reporting something management could use against a player, or something an agent could use against management. I know the easy answer is it isn't our responsibility. That answer isn't always enough for me, though. Anybody else have such thoughts?

 

I see what you're saying, but it's not our responsibility to protect people with her credentials from themselves.
Our only responsibility is to serve the readers/listeners/viewers in the best way we can. Anything good or bad that comes from that is a secondary concern (aside from extreme things like life-and-death secrets).
What if she said that in a press conference and then tried to add "off the record?" It'd be out immediately and nobody would give it a second thought.
Why is this any different?

 

And, obviously, I'm an Obama guy (not to be confused with Obama Girl) saying that.

 

I'm not sure I would have run it, but I have no problem with doing so.

 

I know what you're saying but the responsibility really remains with the person giving the interview, especially when the reporter is there to try and gauge what's really happening between the two national campaigns.

I'm somewhat lenient with my beat people. They know when they're on the record and off the record. I make it very clear so that they can speak comfortably with me either way.

Still, I've had several sources make inappropriate comments on the record and knew right at that moment they were digging themselves in a hole. Sometimes I even personally wished for their sake that they hadn't said what they had, but I can't do anything about that. My responsibility is to the readers.