On the rules governing "off the record"

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Gerald Eskenazi writes about the time that the new director of Madison Square Garden gave him a juicy quote that effectively dissed sports fans, then called back and asked to take it off the record. More than 40 years later, Eskenazi still wonders whether he should have gone along: "Can you make something off the record once you’ve said it on the record? Are journalists accorded the right to make these unilateral decisions? Is there a moral aspect to this whole thing?"