The position has often been filled by individuals from news media backgrounds : 1Brady formally retained the title of press secretary until the end of the Reagan administration in 1989 , but he did not brief the press after he was shot in the 1981 assassination attempt . Speakes and Fitzwater served as '' de facto '' press secretaries .2 Stephanopoulos briefed the press during his tenure as director of communications , despite Myers formally holding the title .3 First female press secretary
1981 assassination attempt
Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan
White House Press Secretary