"No. Once you agree you are talking off the record, there's no going back on that." Of course there is, for instance if someone was threatening to harm you or

"No. Once you agree you are talking off the record, there's no going back on that." Of course there is, for instance if someone was threatening to harm you or others, it really wouldn't matter if you had agreed to keep things off the record. There is a difference between professional discretion and complicity. edit - you described the tactics they possibly used and the potential strategic blowback, but ethically you answered your question for yourself already when you conceded that they are entitled to do that form of investigative reporting. They are a newspaper.