Ernest, I know this was your first scrum, but a couple of things come to mind. I think your earlier comment about the NP's 'Media Person' not being savvy was spot on IMO. If they were having you record the PC for just a record of the event, then you just get what you can get.

You mentioned some 'uninvited' media people showed up. not sure what 'uninvited' means as I willing to bet their assignment editors received a notice about it from the organization. most don't usually RSVP if their sending a crew.

if their intent was to use some of the event for later use, they should have worked with you to accomplish some extra shooting before hand.
the other posters have offered up some excellent advice and you have learn to react.

To me, it appears that your contact at the NP didn't handle it very well. a good PR person will be able to keep thngs from getting out of hand.

but hey, now you know for the next time :>)

It's a good thread and now more informative with the post event discussion on "the scrum protocol".

The discussion before the event didn't cover "the scrum" so it seemed like the very folks I was trying to respect by din of this discussion were the ones who broke protocol. Understand it was not just me that got screwed. There were others from local media with jobs etc that stayed with the protocol and briefing. So is it that if you are the top dog in the room you can be a snot? Is there always a scrum?

Local shooters got blocked?
Were these 'others' shooters network?
I understand then...as they say been there, felt that

I'm working for a smaller regional tv station, so we rarely cover big events with lots of teams - but sometimes we do.

My experience is that starting with a certain number of eng teams and photogs, the whole thing is becoming a freaking kindergarten. You can't prevent it, it just always happens...
Most eng teams are ok, but there's always a few who are extra intolerant. I once made the mistake to step back from a rail just a little and suddenly my lens was covered in hair because some idiot cameraman shoved himself in the small space between me and the rail. It was totally ridiculous and I can understand people becoming aggressive...

A freelancer who is working for national stations told me that he has been at events were he would essentially just set his lens to wide angle and focus 1m and after that use his left arm and elbow as a weapon to shove away people.

double - delete please

Media scrums tend to single mindedly latch onto the subject for has long as possible and move in a group, with each member jostling for the best shot and trying not to miss anything. It's worst when the full international press pack arrives and everything gets competitive.

The worst ones I've seen are those around graves at burials. Fortunately, I've only heard of one story of a photographer falling into the grave, although, I expect there are other examples of this worldwide.