In journalism, a scoop or exclusive is an item of news reported by one journalist or news organization before others, and of exceptional originality, importance, surprise, excitement, or secrecy.
Events witnessed by many people generally cannot become scoops, (e.g., a natural disaster, or the announcement at a press conference).
However, exclusive news content is not always a scoop, as it may not provide the requisite importance or excitement.
[further explanation needed] Due to their secret nature, scandals are a prime source of scoops (e.g., the Watergate scandal by Washington Post journalists Woodward and Bernstein).
In some of John le Carré's spy novels, a scoop is new information of major strategic importance, not, of course, intended for publication.