Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2015 February 1

= February 1 =

First press conference ... ever
Press conference leaves me in the dark. I do find Mrs. Roosevelt in 1933 and first press conference from space, but - according to media history - which was the more or less first press conference recognized as such ? I am also interested (as above) in "first press conference of its kind". THX!  GEEZER nil nisi bene 12:55, 1 February 2015 (UTC)
 * I found First presidential press conference happened by accident which describes a briefing by Woodrow Wilson in 1913. Alansplodge (talk) 17:09, 1 February 2015 (UTC)
 * Also, first government press conference delivered by a robot: Pentagon's Unmanned Spokesdrone Completes First Press Conference Mission. Alansplodge (talk) 17:14, 1 February 2015 (UTC)
 * History of the Mass Media in the United States: An Encyclopedia says Theodore Roosevelt is usually credited with starting presidential press conferences, while Aida Donald's Lion in the White House: A Life of Theodore Roosevelt says he was giving twice-daily press conferences during his Governorship of New York (1899-1900). I also find a reference to Augustus Van Wyck giving a press conference in 1901. Doubtless it all depends on what precisely you mean by a press conference.  Alan's first link refers to Roosevelt giving press briefings while being shaved, which may be what we're talking about here. --Antiquary (talk) 19:31, 1 February 2015 (UTC)
 * Do you mean a US Presidential press conference, or any press-conference in general? LongHairedFop (talk) 20:24, 1 February 2015 (UTC)
 * As far as I can tell, the press conference is an invention of the US Presidency - in the UK, favoured journalists used to be briefed in the Central Lobby at Westminster, or over a drink in one of the many bars, or they had to wait for a speech to be made in the House of Commons. The idea of getting the press together to announce the doings of government is relatively new over here. Unless you know different.... 22:28, 1 February 2015 (UTC)
 * Press conferences aren't just a governmental thing; private citizens will occasionally call press conferences. Nyttend (talk) 23:06, 1 February 2015 (UTC)


 * This seems to be premised on the modern notion of a journalist, which implies the existence of the printing press. The Greeks had the agora and the Romans their fora and senate, where public announcements were made and recorded by various writers.  If were just talking about Americans on the radio, it's Warren Harding. μηδείς (talk) 03:25, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

I just did some Google searches, first, looking for mentions of Thomas Edison holding press conferences&mdash;yes, he did&mdash;and second, looking for the words "press conference" together with numeric ranges to try to capture various years from 1750 to 1900. It was tricky because there were a lot of false hits where the 4-digit number was not a date but a time (24-hour clock), a room number, a company name, etc.; and there are also hits about fictional press conferences that Abraham Lincoln might have held. However, these hits look genuine: I did not find any earlier examples that appeared genuine. Which is not to say that there weren't any, of course. --65.94.50.4 (talk) 06:31, 2 February 2015 (UTC)
 * 1) This page says: "The First Spanish Republic was established in 1873, paving the way for the foundation of conservative and liberal newspapers, such as Don Simplico, Don Cándido, La Verdad, El Avisador del Comercio, El Semanario Puertorriqueño. With the Spanish American war ensuing, Primo de Rivera’s [sic] delivered a press conference in 1873 stressing the importance of the press, yet asked for moderation to avoid alarming the population or offending the U.S. government." This was in Puerto Rico, which was a Spanish possession at the time. (The reference to a "Spanish American war" must mean the Virginius Affair, not the actual Spanish–American War of 1898; the given date of 1873 fits both with those events and with the dates when es:Rafael Primo de Rivera y Sobremonte was governor.)
 * 2) Several sites taking the position that the supernatural is a real thing, such as this one, say that Thomas Edison was a believer and "On November 29, 1875, when Edison was just 28 years old he called a press conference because he thought he discovered a 'new force', described as an 'etheric force'..."
 * Very interesting findings! Thanks a lot.  GEEZER nil nisi bene 10:24, 2 February 2015 (UTC)
 * A candidate, perhaps: March, 44 BC... -- Jayron 32 02:13, 3 February 2015 (UTC)
 * If you're going to go there: 351 BC. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie &#124; Say Shalom! 14 Shevat 5775 02:20, 3 February 2015 (UTC)