In journalism, there is such a thing as “off the record.” I first heard it when I was interviewing a member of the President’s cabinet for a requirement in one of my journ classes. We were talking for about half and hour, when I asked him how it was working for the government. He took my recorder on the table, looked at it, and pressed the stop button, saying, “This is off the record,” and continued talking. I was a bit peeved at the fact he took my recorder without asking me, but was excited at the fact I was going to get some juicy government gossip. As my current editor once said, “off the record” means “for your information only.” It will only serve as a background to the whole issue and cannot be credited to whoever said it.

I have never encountered a subject (yet) who has requested to remain anonymous, probably because I’m in a business magazine and not a hard-hitting broadsheet. The only thing entrepreneurs want to keep secret is their capital, which I still ask (for reference), but don’t publish. But really, when you’re talking to the press, expect everything to get published, even what you’re wearing–it’s a great intro device, clothes.

Meanwhile, this is a perfect example of failure to protect your source’s identity. See, even the BCC makes mistakes. Anonymous fail!

Sorry, Abu Ibrahim.