Getting to the story: Unwriteable discourse and interpretive practice in American journalism

The mandate for journalists is to "get" the story from sources with diverse , sometime inimical interests. Most news stories are negotiated in defined social contexts among many different actors, including sources, journalists , editors and press agents. Much of this negotiation occurs in an unwriteab le register Such discourse is thus a key site for looking at interpretive a gency in newswriting. Speech labeled "off-the-record" is but one of several modes of discourse that are unwriteable in journalistic practice. In this article I examine a case study of journalistic practice, and the efforts I, as a journalist, engaged in to "get" the story from political actors who s hift on and off the record while seeking to further their own practical age ndas. I follow the conversations with situated political actors, both on an d off the record, as the journalist attempts to move, both socially and tex tually, from unwriteable speech to a writeable story.