Wall Street Journal, Fox News and Breitbart All Claim They Have the Same Exclusive

Three different outlets are now claiming they have obtained the warrant used to search former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate and all three are selling it as an exclusive. This is quite obviously a major scoop in what could be a monumentally impactful political story and in no way is the following question meant to take anything away from the reporting.

Is it possible for all three to have the exclusive? All have synthesized the information and presented it in different ways, highlighting different aspects. Is emphasizing one particular fact before other outlets enough to earn the term? Or should the “exclusive” refer only to the document, the source material, which is now clearly been viewed by at least three different outlets?

Much of the debate in this area has previously centered on what level of news rises to such a label. If a football coach says in a one-on-one interview that his team is focused, can that really be called proprietary information? If a politician says they only wear green socks, it might not be worthy of calling it an exclusive because the news is comparatively trivial.

I guess, TLDR: what does this word mean? You’re hearing it more and more.