Deep Background

Deep background is one of several ground rules governing how journalists may use information from a source. Under deep background, a reporter can use what the source says to inform their reporting and shape the story's framing, but cannot quote the source directly and cannot attribute the information to any identifiable entity — not even a vague label like "a senior official." The information typically appears in the article as the reporter's own assertion or as established context.

Deep background sits at the most restrictive end of a spectrum that also includes:

• On the record — name and title may be used; everything is quotable.
• On background — information may be used and quoted, but attributed only to an agreed descriptor (e.g., "a State Department official").
• Off the record — information cannot be published at all, though it may guide further reporting.
• Deep background — usable, but with no attribution whatsoever.

The terminology is most closely associated with Washington political reporting and was popularized in connection with Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's Watergate coverage for The Washington Post in 1972–74, during which their source "Deep Throat" — later revealed in 2005 to be former FBI Associate Director Mark Felt — operated on deep-background terms.

Definitions are not standardized across newsrooms, which is a recurring source of confusion. The New York Times and Washington Post stylebooks define the terms somewhat differently, and reporters are generally advised to confirm the precise ground rules with a source before the conversation begins rather than after. Misunderstandings have produced public disputes between officials and outlets over whether remarks were publishable.

For researchers and MUN delegates, deep-background sourcing matters because it explains why authoritative-sounding claims in major outlets sometimes appear without any visible attribution — the underlying source exists but is contractually invisible. This affects how such reporting should be weighted as evidence.