When "Off The Record" Isn't

Somewhat related to the previous post, Brent Bozell writes that when it comes to the legacy media, “off the record” is often just the opposite:

Author Stephen Hayes has a new book out simply called “Cheney,” and the veep gave him 30 hours of interviews. One theme that emerges is that Cheney’s opinion of the press corps has deteriorated just as much as their opinion of him. They clearly think Cheney doesn’t operate by professional norms. But as the book documents, it is the professional norms of journalism that are often tossed overboard by reporters out to get him.

In May of 2003, Cheney spoke at Southern Methodist University in Dallas as a guest of Hugh Sidey, the former Washington bureau chief of Time magazine. The session was officially off the record, not to be quoted by the press. The ruling established, Cheney could be more forthcoming, and among other things told the gathering that he thought they had killed Saddam Hussein on the first night of the war in Iraq.

You can only imagine his reaction the next day when the Dallas Morning News, which co-sponsored the SMU event, ran a story quoting Cheney, blatantly violating the journalistic rules established. The reporter even acknowledged in his piece that: “Before Mr. Cheney’s remarks, university officials announced late Tuesday afternoon that the session would be considered off the record.” But that sacred rule was violated