The professional jargon reporters use to describe sourcing ground rules is poorly understood within the profession in general and inside the Washington Post in particular, even though the Post has codified them in its stylebook. I concluded that journalists deliberately keep the applied meaning of terms like "off the record" and "background" fluid to maximize their latitude to impart information.
What Does "Off the Record" Mean
by Timothy Noah
http://www.slate.com/id/2233009/
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At our think tank, "off the record" usually refers to the Chatham House Rule, based on the belief that all the information we produce (either in a format of seminar, roundtable, or publication) should be available to the public.
In order to make it clear to the participants, we usually cite the CH rule at the beginning of an event.
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