What’s in a ‘scoop’? The White House has a strategy for that.

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US Presidents, of course, have long manipulated select members of the news media with “exclusives” designed to maximize an announcement’s impact and enhance the administration’s standing. The Obama White House is no different, but it has played the game a little differently.

It doles out scoops irregularly, White House reporters say, and does so primarily to news outlets with a perceived expertise or special authority on a topic. In effect, it follows a strategy of market segmentation, steering leaks to a very short list of strategically valuable publications and journalists. Meanwhile, the rest of the media, including journalists the White House deems especially tough or ideologically hostile, are left to chase the day’s official leak.


What’s in a ‘scoop’? The White House has a strategy for that.