I look for your war stories about this posts topic. In my estimation, when dealing with the press, “Off the record” is usually “On the record.” 
Many, many years ago when I wanted every reporter to be my friend, I was in the sports industry. I was serving on the committee of a boxing dinner that among others, was honoring promoter Don King. Obviously King has had controversy follow him his entire life, and especially in the 1980’s, was great fodder for the press.
