Press conference

Apress conference,also callednews conferenceorpress briefing,is amedia eventin which notable individuals or organizations invitejournaliststo hear them speak and ask questions. Press conferences are often held bypoliticians,corporations,non-governmental organizations,and organizers for newsworthy events.

Practice

In a press conference, one or more speakers may make a statement, which may be followed by questions from reporters. Sometimes only questioning occurs; sometimes there is a statement with no questions permitted.

Amedia eventat which no statements are made, and no questions allowed, is called aphoto op.A government may wish to open their proceedings for the media to witness events, such as the passing of a piece of legislation from the government in parliament to the senate, via a media availability.

Americantelevisionstations and networks especially value press conferences: because today's TV news programs air for hours at a time, or even continuously, assignment editors have a steady appetite for ever-larger quantities of footage.

News conferences are often held bypoliticians;by sports teams; by celebrities or film studios; by commercial organizations to promote products; byattorneysto promotelawsuits;and by almost anyone who finds benefit in the free publicity afforded by media coverage. Some people, including many police chiefs, hold press conferences reluctantly in order to avoid dealing with reporters individually.

A press conference is often announced by sending an advisory ornews releasetoassignment editors,preferably well in advance. Sometimes they are held spontaneously when several reporters gather around a newsmaker.

News conferences can be held just about anywhere, in settings as formal as theWhite Houseroom set aside for the purpose or as informal as the street in front of a crime scene. Hotel conference rooms and courthouses are often used for press conferences. Sometimes such gatherings are recorded for press use and later released on aninterview disc.

Media day

Media dayis a special press conference event where rather than holding a conference after an event to field questions about the event that has recently transpired, a conference is held for the sole purpose of making newsmakers available to the media for general questions and photographs often before an event or series of events (such as an athletic season) occur. In athletics, teams and leagues host media days prior to the season and may host them prior to special events during the season like all-star games and championship games.

See also

• Media scrum
• Press videoconferencing
• Pseudo-event
• Message discipline
• Press release
• Press service
• Fact sheet
• Grassroots
• Public relations
• Science by press conference

Photos

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  A press conference of theTianjin Free-Trade Zone
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  A joint press conference byUnited States PresidentGeorge W. Bushand British Prime MinisterTony Blairat theWhite House(12 November 2004).
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  Reporters raise their hand to signal that they wish to ask a question.
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  The press conference of theHigh Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairsand theMinister of Foreign Affairs of Iranfollowing the multilateralnegotiations on Iran nuclear deal frameworkin Lausanne (2 April 2015).
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  Brazilian PresidentDilma Rousseffholds a press conference at thePlanalto Palace(16 March 2015).
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  Michael AnnettofNASCAR Xfinity Seriesin the media day atDaytona International Speedway.
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  Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Seriesteam owners (from left-to-right,Richard Childress,Chip Ganassi,Rick Hendrick,andRichard Petty) during media day at Daytona International Speedway.