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A sourcing arrangement in which a speaker's statements may be quoted directly and attributed to them by name and title in a published report.
On the record is the default sourcing convention in journalism: anything a source says can be quoted verbatim and attributed by full name and position. It contrasts with three other commonly recognized arrangements — on background (information usable with a vague attribution such as "a senior official"), on deep background (usable but not attributable to any source), and off the record (not for publication at all, though sometimes used to guide reporting).
The terminology was codified in the United States during the mid-20th century and is associated with the so-called Lindley Rule, named after Newsweek Washington bureau chief Ernest K. Lindley, who used background briefings to brief reporters after World War II. Major outlets such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Reuters, and the Associated Press publish stylebooks instructing reporters that interviews are presumed on the record unless ground rules are explicitly negotiated before the conversation begins.
For diplomats, ministry spokespeople, and think-tank analysts, the distinction matters operationally:
A common source of disputes is retroactive renegotiation: a source who said something newsworthy and then asks to put it "off the record" after the fact has no enforceable claim under most stylebooks, though reporters sometimes grant the request to preserve the relationship. Conversely, reporters who burn on-the-record sources by quoting them out of agreed context risk losing future access. For MUN delegates and junior researchers, the practical rule is to assume any statement to a journalist is publishable unless ground rules are agreed in advance and in writing.
Yes. Most major stylebooks, including those of the AP and the New York Times, treat any interaction with an identified journalist as on the record unless different ground rules are agreed before the conversation.
There is no enforceable rule requiring a reporter to honor a retroactive request, but many will agree informally to maintain the source relationship.
On the record permits naming the speaker; the Chatham House Rule allows use of the information but prohibits identifying who said it or what organization they represent.