James "Jay" Carney (born May 22, 1965) is President Barack Obama's second White House Press Secretary. Prior to his appointment as Press Secretary, replacing Robert Gibbs, he was director of communications to Vice President Joe Biden. Carney previously served as Washington Bureau Chief for Time magazine, a post he held from September 2005 until December 2008, and as a regular contributor in the "roundtable" segment of ABC News' This Week with George Stephanopoulos.

Carney was raised in Northern Virginia, attended high school at The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey, and earned a B.A. in Russian and Eastern European Studies from Yale University, graduating cum laude, in 1987. He and his wife, Claire Shipman (a senior correspondent for ABC News), live in Washington, D.C., with their son and daughter.

After being hired as a reporter for The Miami Herald in 1987, Carney joined Time magazine as its Miami Bureau Chief in 1989. Carney worked as a correspondent in Time's Moscow Bureau for three years, covering the collapse of the U.S.S.R.. He came to Washington in 1993 to report on the Bill Clinton White House.

Norah O'Donnell (born January 23, 1974) is an American print and television journalist, currently serving as the Chief White House Correspondent for CBS News in Washington, D.C., a position she has held since June 2011.

O'Donnell was born in Washington, D.C. She graduated from Douglas MacArthur High School (San Antonio, Texas)^{[citation needed]}. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and a masters degree in international affairs from Georgetown University

O'Donnell initially served as staff writer for Roll Call, where she covered Congress.

A commentator for the NBC News Today Show, Chief Washington Correspondent for MSNBC, and from September 2003 to May 2005, the White House correspondent for NBC News. O'Donnell was also a contributing anchor for MSNBC Live, and a rotating news anchor on Weekend Today. O'Donnell has done reports that have appeared on numerous NBC News broadcasts, including NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, Dateline NBC, and MSNBC. O'Donnell has also filled in for Chris Matthews as host of Hardball with Chris Matthews and was a regular pundit for The Chris Matthews Show. She also co-hosted the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade on WNBC since 2007.

A press secretary or press officer is a senior advisor who provides advice on how to deal with the news media and, using news management techniques, helps their employer to maintain a positive public image and avoid negative media coverage.

They often, but not always, act as the organization's senior spokesperson. Many governments also have press secretaries. A deputy press secretary is typically a mid-level political staffer who assists the press secretary and communications director with aspects of public outreach. They often write the press releases and media advisories for review by the press secretary and communications director. There are usually assistant press secretaries and press officers that support the press secretary.