Now that you've decided to hold a news conference (on the basis of the criteria discussed in When to hold a news conference, you ought to do it right. That means setting up the room to prevent the angry confrontations that often erupt when print reporters get in the way of photographers, when radio reporters rush up to the head table to tape their microphone to (or remove it from) the bouquet of other microphones, or when reporters and photographers block the view of video camera operators.
So here's what to do:
1. Put the head table on a raised platform.
2. Place the reporters' chairs in a single block (that is, no centre aisle) with the front row just two or three feet in front of the platform. (This will prevent photographers from rushing directly in front of the platform, where they will obstruct the view of reporters and video camera operators.).
3. Place a long, narrow table along the right or left side of the room, perpendicular to the head table and about three or four feet from the reporters' chairs. If it's a really big news conference, you might want to place a table along the right AND left sides of the room. Put a few chairs behind the table or tables.
4. Put a single microphone in front of each person who will speak from the head table, and connect the microphone(s) to audio feed boxes stationed on each of the side tables and on the floor in the back of the room.
5. Set up flood lights for front and back lighting of the head table.
Now everyone - radio, print and TV reporters; photographers, and video camera operators - will have their needs met without getting in each other's hair.
Print reporters will sit in the chairs in front of the head table. If they want to record the news conference, they can plug their tape recorders into the audio feed box on the table. Radio reporters can sit with the print reporters or behind the table and also plus their tape recorders into the audio feed box.
TV reporters can with the print reporters. Photographers can roam along the side aisles, where they won't get in anyone else's way. The video camera operators can set up their cameras behind the reporters' chairs and plug their audio tape recorders into the audio feed box on the floor. They will be able to get an eye-level shot of the speaker (who is perched on the raised platform) over the heads of the seated reporters.
And because you've set up the lights, the photographers won't have to use flashes and the video camera operators will not need to turn on the harsh spot lights that jut from the top of their Betacams. | 
