The AP reports today that President Obama has stirred a debate over his comments about Kanye West's bizarre behaviour during Sunday's MTV Music Awards. In light-hearted banter before an interview this week the President said West was a "jackass". (Not that he was wrong, most of the 305 million people in America, and entire population of civilized world probably agree with him.)
The controversy was not about West's lack of couth, but about what was "on" and "off" the record of Obama's interview with CNBC's John Harwood. Harwood stands by the fact that everything said during the "formal" interview was "on the record" and everything before or after was "off the record." And he's stayed true to his word. However, there were several people from ABC within earshot prior to the interview. They overheard the President's comments and Twittered away.
According to AP, one of the ABC employees "was Terry Moran, a former White House correspondent. He logged on to Twitter and typed: 'Pres. Obama just called Kanye West a 'jackass' for his outburst at VMAs when Taylor Swift won. Now THAT'S presidential.'" ABC condemned its employees for Tweeting what they heard, had the Tweets deleted, and apologized to the White House and CNBC. But the news was out (and spreading even further through legitimate mass media news sources like the AP and Fox News.)
We live in a world of democratic, free-flowing information. Cannons of journalism be damned. There is no guaranteed objectivity nor factual filters in Tweets, Blogs and Facebook updates, as there once was in the Fourth Estate. News travels swiftly and indiscriminately – like wildfire. For the President or anyone else for that matter, to believe what is said "off the record" will not be repeated (online and otherwise) is a fool. This isn't a new concept. I've been advising corporate spokespeople for the past 15+ years that there is no such thing as "off the record". Everything you say, in the presence of a reporter – or any other person for that matter – is always ON the record. No exceptions.
Never say what you wouldn't want to see as a headline in tomorrow's newspaper. Never. Simple as that.
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