Press & Media
2023 DC Journal, A Presidents’ Day Reflection: The Intertwined History of the U.S. and Nations OverseasThe Edinburgh Reporter, Presidents’ Day ceremony held in Edinburgh
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A reporter stands at an NBC radio microphone near the North Portico, 1923.
Library of CongressA group of newspaper correspondents pose for a souvenir picture on the South Lawn in 1923. President Coolidge is standing in the center of the crowd.
Library of CongressReporters cover the arrival of newly inaugurated President Franklin D. Roosevelt as he poses between his wife Eleanor and son James at the South Entrance to the White House in 1933.
Library of CongressFirst Lady Eleanor Roosevelt is surrounded by a group of women journalists in the Monroe Room in 1933. Such gatherings as this bear her stamp: the first regular press conferences held by a first lady. They were entirely restricted to women of the press.
Library of CongressReporters gather around President Franklin Roosevelt’s desk in the Oval Office in 1944.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum/NARAThe press moves to the steps of the North Portico as President Eisenhower emerges with President-elect John F. Kennedy in 1961.
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library/NARAReporters scramble to photograph former President Dwight D. Eisenhower and President Lyndon B. Johnson on a stroll outside the Oval Office.
Library of CongressReporters surround President Gerald Ford outside the West Wing in 1975.
Library of CongressA CBS TV reporter broadcasts the news before the cameras on a snowy day in 2007.
George W. Bush Presidential Library/NARAPrime-time televised press conferences are often set in the East Room. At left, President Barack Obama listens to a question from ABC correspondent Jake Tapper during an evening news conference in July 2009.
Official White House PhotoAbout this Gallery
The range of the press within the White House Grounds is not limited to the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room but extends to many areas within the complex from which journalists broadcast the daily news, cover unfolding events, conduct interviews, and attend scheduled press briefings. With the participation of the White House Press Office, they cover the territory fairly well and include many interesting backgrounds in their reports.
Televised presidential press conferences are very often held in the East Room or the Rose Garden, but in recent memory, alternate settings such as the Diplomatic Reception Room have been used as well. The Library, the Blue Room, and other formal parlors on the State Floor are often used by the president for one-on-one televised interviews with journalists.
Representatives from each of the major networks are generally stationed, rain or shine, in a stone-paved area just off the North Drive, called Stonehenge (until recently floored in gravel and nicknamed Pebble Beach). The North Portico provides an irresistible backdrop for the nightly news