Embargo Exasperations

Background: Originally published December 20, 2006.

     In journalism school I learned that the statements "off the record" and "embargoed news stories" are only valid if BOTH the source and the reporter agree to the conditions beforehand. As the name implies, embargoed news stories are held until a specified time of release.
     During my first full-time reporting job at KLSR-TV, I received embargoed news stories all the time. The top of the press release always had the statement, "embargoed until" such and such a date. Apparently, the public relations agencies sending out the press releases never attended the same journalism class that I had, where my instructor said reporters are free to use embargoed stories whenever they want, if the reporter never agreed to the embargo in the first place.
     I first learned of the proposed sell-off of O & C lands to private timber interests, Thursday morning, December 7th. However, the information was embargoed until after the O & C conference ended on Friday, December 8th. Douglas County Commissioner Doug Robertson, the person who drafted the proposal, was not granting interviews before the information was released at the O & C conference. KOBI-TV respected the embargo and did not release the information beforehand.
     Unfortunately, not all media outlets play by the book. The O & C proposal was already in print in some newspapers and reported on line before the O & C conference was over. So much for everyone having the same story at the same time.
     Hopefully, one can understand why I believe embargoed news stories are a ridiculous exercise in journalism fairness. They don't work because not all journalists go by the same rules. I prefer reporters revealing a story when they first hear about an event. In that manner, innovative reporters can "break" a story, and it eliminates the possibility of dishonest reporters laying first claim to an event that everyone will eventually publish/broadcast.