Hi,
What is meant by the following: (from Walter Isaacson’s Kissinger A Biography p. 498/499)
"But he had been speaking only for background, Kissinger insisted rather heatedly…
“Well , Marder(Murrey Marder) admitted, “Henry” was regularly allowed to put statements on background after he made them”
Does it mean giving statements to the press with the understanding that one will not be quoted?
I look forward to your feedback.
davidmich
When I have used the term, I take it to mean that you may not quote me and you may not attribute what I say in any way–meaning that if a journalist wants to use the information, she can either assert it without attribution, or find another source who will confirm it. The other source might go on the record or allow some kind of attribution, eg “a person with knowledge of the situation said…”
Thanks TSBG. Very helpful.
davidmich
I would add that in the context of your OP, there is a give and take between reporters and subjects and I guess you’re supposed to say before you make the statement that it’s on background–otherwise the reporter could get a juicy quote and then the subject calls up as the story is about to publish and then demand that it be on background. But how that works in practice is sometimes informed by the relationship between reporter and source–you didn’t want, I presume, to be such a stickler for the rules that you lose Kissinger as a source.
But I’ve never had anything of national import to talk about so I don’t know about that part.
I’ve always thought the phrase was another way to say “Off the record”.
Not to be quoted, not to be cited.
“Off the record” and “on background” are not the same thing. But they don’t always mean the same thing to everyone, so each time the exact meaning should be hashed out.
There’s also “not for attribution,” which I think typically means “quote me but not by name.” It’s negotiable between reporter and subject how the quote is attributed. And to people who care about such things there’s a guessing game about who’s really who, especially based on turns of phrase–but then I think sometimes people will go out of their way to employ someone else’s phrasing to throw off suspicion that they are the source of a quote. I’m talking about Washington politics here.
“Not everyone understands “off the record” or “on background” to mean the same things. Before any interview in which any degree of anonymity is expected, there should be a discussion in which the ground rules are set explicitly.
These are the AP’s definitions:”
What was special about that quote was that they allowed him to put things as background after he had said them.
Kissinger’s claim to putting something on background retroactively is also mentioned in “All the President’s Men”. Woodward and Bernstein (can’t remember which) was interviewing Kissinger and a dispute arise whether what he had said was on background, when Kissinger announced something was on background after he had said it. W/B went by the traditional rule that the subject had to say it’s on background at the start of the interview.
W/B asked around, and discovered that the media who normally dealt with Kissinger did allow him to retroactively declare something was on background.