While John Battelle was attending and later grousing about all the off-the-record newsmaker briefings in Davos, Arianna Huffington today reports on one on-the-record session in which the short-fused, decidedly anti-centrist Republican frontrunner John McCain “bites her head off.”
Ms. Huffington previews the rough road ahead for Sen. McCain (think Macaca): “Indeed, if he loses his temper over being called out for marginalizing opposition to Iraq as ‘far left’ (the hoariest of GOP talking points), this is going to be a really long campaign trail for John McCain – offering anyone with a cellphone camera endless opportunities to make their mark on YouTube.”
In a posting today, Mr. Battelle shares his softening to Mrs. Clinton after hearing of the Democratic frontrunner’s like-minded position on electronic privacy. Over the weekend, however, he related his frustration as the hungry kid-in-the-Davos-candy-store unable to eat anything:
“Is that nearly every session I attended where I got that unmistakable ‘Shit I have to post on this’ feeling was, unfortunately, off the record. Last night Larry and Sergey sat down with Charlie Rose for an intimate chat at a private event. Off the record. Before that I spoke to a room full of Media Governors – the folks who run just about every major media company in the world. Off the record. Before that, a gathering of influential editors and journalists from all over the globe. Again, off the record.”
After his readers chastised him for his rant, Battelle clarifies in an update:
“…I need to clarify. Most of Davos was in fact on the record, I was noting that the stuff where I found the most insights tended to be off the record. And I am investigating whether some of what I heard was in fact subject to looser ‘Chatham House’ rules where just the speaker cannot be identified. Overall, I do defend the practice of getting leaders together from time to time in an off the record environment, it allows them to share experiences openly and learn from them.”
From a PR perspective, many seasoned practitioners advise their clients that nothing is (ever) off-the-record. In fact, when you have many journalists in a room with a newsmaker, how can the off-the-record rules even be enforced? If news is made, isn’t the journalist at risk of compromising his or her ethics by withholding it? Off-the-record perhaps works in a one-on-one briefing, but swearing to silence a gaggle of reporters is a much dicier proposition. (And we’re not even talking cell phone cameras here.)
Today, this blogger is moderating a PCNY panel featuring media industry reporters from The New York Times, New York Post, Marketwatch, mediabistro.com, and Business Week. Then it’s off to the Always On Network kick-off panel on media disruption with the chiefs at Technorati, CKS Partners, Softbank and Reuters. Stay tuned for more on this and other sundry subjects.
PR Davos Arianna Huffington public relations John McCain John Battelle politics Always On