Off-the-Record and Background Attribution
The graded conventions governing how an unnamed source may be quoted.
Journalism distinguishes several levels. 'On the record' means quotable with a name. 'On background' usually means quotable with a described attribution ('a senior official said'). 'Deep background' means usable without any attribution. 'Off the record' means not publishable at all.
The terms are agreements, not laws, and they mean slightly different things in different newsrooms and countries — which is why careful reporters define the terms explicitly before the conversation rather than assuming shared understanding.
The attribution phrase itself carries information. 'A person familiar with the matter' tells a reader something different from 'a member of the board', and style guides ask reporters to be as specific as protection allows.
Common mistake: treating 'off the record' as a retroactive request. Most newsroom policies hold that the condition must be agreed before the statement is made, not claimed after it.
“"The decision had already been taken," said a person present at the meeting, speaking on condition of anonymity.”
Keep reading the glossary
The practice of letting a source review and revise their quotations before publication.
A citation for information obtained privately — letter, email, interview — that a reader cannot retrieve.
Crediting a work or quotation to an unnamed author, and doing it honestly.
The act of naming the original speaker or writer of a quote.