Good call, Redtop
However, from the other side of the fence (and nothing to do with the particular story under discussion), while you personally may be trusworthy, how is a PRO to know that 'off the record' will be respected?
Stories are rarely as simple as 500 words will allow and, as you have deadlines and yesterday's 'big story' is forgotten tomorrow, stalling and refusing to comment becomes sound strategy. Why feed titbits to jackals that will only act as Hors D'Oeuvres? If the story dies today, it is dead. While you personally may be interested, I doubt if your editor would give 1 column-inch to the result of this (or any BofI) once it is released. Why do you think politicians commission long-running enquiries? To kick issues into the long grass of course, from which few stories re-emerge.
On this particular story, outside military aviation circles, interest is negligible.
Surely the role of Media Ops (what the Mil call spin-doctors) is to kill stories which (may) reflect badly on the Service and promote the good ones? Surely you're not naive enough to rely on 'official spokesmen' for the truth? If you rely on spokesmen to further your career, I'm afraid you'll never be another Bob Woodward!
Anyway, I'd have thought Spawn of Satan
(SoS) would be reserved for residents of Barclay Towers who produce on the Sabbath, are you getting delusions of grandeur?
