Media scrum

A media scrum is an improvised press conference, often held immediately outside an event such as a legislative session or meeting.

[3] Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish remarked, "damn Americans, I hate those bastards" during a scrum in the run-up to the Iraq War.

[6] Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day declined to scrum, instead holding a daily press conference.

[7] The media so resented this practice that when Jean Chrétien held a "staircase scrum" soon after assuming office, their reaction was so negative that he promised never to do it again.

[8] By contrast, although Pierre Trudeau's relationship with the press was rocky, he was famously quick-witted and enjoyed deflecting — or returning — barbs from reporters.