National Press Club Archives Finding Aid for Newsmaker Committee, 1973-Present

ArchivalResource

National Press Club Archives Finding Aid for Newsmaker Committee, 1973-Present

National Press Club Archives Finding Aid for Newsmaker Committee, 1973-Present

1973-

https://www.press.org/sites/default/files/newsmaker.pdf

The Newsmaker Committee was established in 1973 to serve as a forum for people, events, and organizations that are in the news. The Committee was originally set up to accommodate speakers who could not speak at luncheons due to scheduling conflicts. Newsmakers also gave a special venue for many visiting foreign diplomats and heads of state who were not candidates for luncheon speeches. Originally the committee was called the Newsmaker Breakfast Committee and held press conferences at 9am after a full breakfast, the idea being to give reporters a good story early in the day. Breakfasts were dropped due to the expense and to add flexibility. As the programs grew the Committee began holding conferences at all times during the day and evening Monday through Fridays and renaming themselves the Newsmaker Committee. After dropping the meals as part of the newsmaker format, the committee structured the events as press conferences allowing reporters to cover the events just like a regular press conference. Any media covering the events are asked to sign in. These sheets, however, are not turned over to the archives. All newsmakers are recorded in audio only format. With a few exceptions, no video is shot for these events.

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