If someone gives a reporter something without prior mutual agreement as to it being off the record.
Reporters who allow a source to unilaterally declare anonymity are not doing their job.
Part of their job is to get attribution where possible. It makes the story more credible, and adds context.
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The answer to this is, campaigns should not be allowed to distribute things on a NOT FOR ATTRIBUTION basis. Both NOT FOR ATTRIBUTION and OFF THE RECORD (and their cousins, BACKGROUND and DEEP BACKGROUND) are understandings that are agreed to mutually by a source and a reporter. What I’ve noticed about this cycle is that campaigns (and not just Obama’s) are falling into a bad and sloppy habit of sending out mass hit pieces by e-mail and demanding anonymity. As far as I am concerned, unless I have agreed in advance to accept a specific piece of material from a source on a limited or not for attribution basis, these unilateral declarations of anonymity mean nothing.
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