<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by MagMile:
gregwiggins and essxjay, I understand that this is the standard operating procedure for journalists. However, when speaking to someone who is not used to dealing with the media, it would seem to me to be an essentially costless courtesy for a reporter to ask "may I quote you on this?" as well as "may I talk to you about this?" It's costless unless the reporter thinks that people might clam up if they asked for permission to quote, which would be all the more reason to be clear.
I don't know what is or isn't common knowledge, but the fact that reporters have a convenient shorthand doesn't necessarily mean every understands it.</font>
MagMile, I do understand your concern and I can only say that I've been running around with a notepad and (often) a little tape recorder to make sure I get the quotes completely correct since 1972 and I've never encountered someone who didn't realize that being willing to be interviewed included the possibility of being quoted unless they said not to quote them. But if I were to interview you, for instance, and it became clear you hadn't realized that possibility I WOULD ask for permission to quote you. It's just not something I've ever had to do. And I would not play the kind of game you're describing, where "the reporter thinks that people might clam up if they asked for permission to quote," because that would be unethical journalism.
In any event, the information is the meat of the story; quotes are spices -- stories, like meatloaf, are better when you use them -- but I'd quickly dispense with using any quotes if that was the price to get the correct facts before deadline.
As for the jargon "background" and "off the record" -- I'm based in Washington, DC where everybody seems to know it, and I've heard those terms used when I'm on the road for a story. But I've also honored requests when the person didn't say "this is on background" but said something like "I'll talk to you but don't quote me" or said "we can talk but you can't use it in your story" instead of "this is off the record."