Going through my emails today, I found this article from the Hill from about a month ago:

Each Thursday, Pelosi stands in front of a phalanx of flags in the cramped but ornate office just off the House floor. About 30 reporters and a bank of cameras cram in front of her. But her staff says that the reporters and their mass — media audiences aren’t the only ones they’re trying to reach.

Pelosi also uses the press conferences to keep her crew in order.

“She sees it as a way to communicate, not only with the press, but with members as well,” a Pelosi aide explained.

An aide to another Democratic leader put it more bluntly.

“Things that go over the heads of reporters can still get to the right people,” the aide said. “It’s a ‘speak softly and carry a big stick’ style of leadership.”

Watching the Presidential election evolve, it’s strange watching how the candidates manipulate and are manipulated by the media. Each of the candidates are well versed in press appearances, releases, speeches and whatnot, but with such intense pressure in every word they say, they’re bound to slip up sometimes.

Rep. Pelosi, on the other hand, has been a representative since 1987, and has had pretty much the same job since she became Minority Leader in 2002. While there have been times of intense pressure focus on her, she’s become so comfortable with the reporters during her weekly press conferences that she can insert hidden — and not so hidden — messages to her rank and file.

Makes me wonder what other politicians, and companies, institutions, anything that has press conferences regularly, are really communicating through their comments to the media. What they know will go un- or under-reported, but will get to the people that need to hear it.