A media scrum is an improvised

press conference A press conference or news conference is a media event in which notable individuals or organizations invite journalists to hear them speak and ask questions. Press conferences are often held by politicians, corporations, non-governmental organ ...

, often held immediately outside an event such as a legislative session or meeting. Scrums play a central role in

Canadian politics The politics of Canada function within a framework of parliamentary democracy and a federal system of parliamentary government with strong democratic traditions. Canada is a constitutional monarchy, in which the monarch is head of state. In pr ...

PressThink: Stephen Harper's Press Gallery Put Down: A Report from Canada
by Ira Basen and also occur in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

. In New Zealand, such informal press events are also called media stand-ups or gaggles.

Etymology

A scrum in

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

is a procedure to restart the game. From the outside, it may seem to involve players from both teams clustering tightly around the ball competing for possession. Analogously, in a media scrum reporters cluster around a public figure competing for his or her attention.

Canada

In Canada, the scrum is a daily ritual in the hallway outside the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

. Members of the

Parliamentary Press Gallery The Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery (french: Tribune de la presse parlementaire) is an association established to oversee rules and responsibilities of Canadian journalists when at Parliament Hill. The organization was formed in 1866 by Thom ...

surround politicians as they exit the chamber. The disorganization and pressure of the scrum makes it notorious for drawing remarks that are unplanned or controversial. Liberal MP

Carolyn Parrish Carolyn Parrish (born Karolina Janoszewska; October 3, 1946) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a member of the House of Commons from 1993 to 2006 representing ridings in Mississauga, Ontario; initially as a Liberal Party MP, and then a ...

remarked, "damn Americans, I hate those bastards" during a scrum in the run-up to the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

. Because of these concerns, politicians have sometimes tried to avoid the scrum in favour of more formal venues.Ryerson Review of Journalism: The 140-Year War

Canadian Alliance The Canadian Alliance (french: Alliance canadienne), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (french: Alliance réformiste-conservatrice canadienne), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed ...

leader

Stockwell Day Stockwell Burt Day Jr. (born August 16, 1950) is a Canadian former politician who led the Canadian Alliance from 2000 to 2001, and a member of the Conservative Party of Canada. A provincial cabinet minister from Alberta, Day served as ministe ...

declined to scrum, instead holding a daily press conference.

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney ( ; born March 20, 1939) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studied political s ...

restricted scrums during his time as

Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority the elected House of Commons; as su ...

by positioning himself on the stairway up to his office. This allowed him to tower over the media on the steps below him.''Scrum Wars: The Prime Ministers and the Media'' by Allan Levine. Dundurn Press. . Some tex
available online
The media so resented this practice that when

Jean Chrétien Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. Born and raised in Shawinigan, Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, Chrétien is a law gradua ...

held a "staircase scrum" soon after assuming office, their reaction was so negative that he promised never to do it again.Embassy Magazine, May 17, 2006
: Brown-Bagging it for the Harper Family, Sean Durkin By contrast, although

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and ...

's relationship with the press was rocky, he was famously quick-witted and enjoyed deflecting — or returning — barbs from reporters. Many of his famous quotations, including "there's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation" and "

just watch me "Just watch me" is a phrase made famous by Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau on October 13, 1970, during the October Crisis. The term is still regularly used in Canadian political discussion. Trudeau, who had in previous years been a stron ...

", were made during scrums.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Media Scrum Scrum Metaphors referring to sport Scrum Media bias Political terminology in Canada