Press gaggle

A press gaggle (as distinct from a press conference or press briefing) is an informal briefing by the White House Press Secretary which (as used by press secretaries for the George W. Bush administration) is on the record, but disallows videography. The term can refer to the informal interactions between the press and the press secretary that occur before a videotaped press briefing.

One former member of the White House press corps provided the following historical context:

The blog maintained by Newsweek magazine's political reporters is called The Gaggle; on their main page, their definition for "gaggle" when used to refer to the Washington, D.C. press, is "a flock of reporters pecking at a politician." Not commonly used in society.

According to longtime dean of the White House press corps Helen Thomas, the term was coined by Dee Dee Myers, the White House Press Secretary in 1993–94 during the Clinton administration.

"Gaggle" was prominently in the news on February 24, 2017. The Trump White House excluded several major news organizations, including CNN, the New York Times and Politico, from a regular press gaggle. Favorable press outlets were not excluded. Responses from the press included charges of "war on fake news."

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