Fireside chat

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A fireside chat is an informal meeting in a small group on a specific topic. The design should ensure a personal atmosphere and enable a fruitful dialogue .

The term is derived from “ Fireside chats ”, the 30 radio addresses given by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt between 1933 and 1944.

Function in public relations

In public relations (PR) fireside chats are used to discuss complex topics in detail with selected journalists or to give editors the opportunity to get to know the conversation partner better. The reporters should be equal in the hierarchy and match in type so that there is no uncomfortable atmosphere for discussion. The conversation usually takes place over dinner with three to four journalists.

Radio speeches

In 1933, at the height of the Great Depression in the USA, the then President Franklin D. Roosevelt commented on the radio on the banking crisis of the time. 29 more speeches followed, dealing with the most important topics - including the declaration of war on Japan after the Pearl Harbor bombing .

Roosevelt called the speeches “ fireside chats ”, that is, more informal and casual. Since the conversations were mostly broadcast at ten p.m. Eastern time, most Americans had the opportunity to hear the conversations live. The people in the east were still awake and those in the west were already back home from their daily activities. They were also very simply spoken and easy to understand (80% of the words were part of the 1,000 most used words in America).

Chronological list of the speeches

  1. On the Bank Crisis , Sunday March 12, 1933
  2. Outlining the New Deal Program , Sunday May 7, 1933
  3. On the Purposes and Foundations of the Recovery Program , Monday, July 24, 1933
  4. On the Currency Situation , Sunday, October 22, 1933
  5. Review of the Achievements of the Seventy-third Congress , Thursday June 28, 1934
  6. On Moving Forward to Greater Freedom and Greater Security , Sunday September 30, 1934
  7. On the Works Relief Program , Sunday April 28, 1935
  8. On Drought Conditions , Sunday, September 6, 1936
  9. On the Reorganization of the Judiciary , Tuesday, March 9, 1937
  10. On Legislation to be Recommended to the Extraordinary Session of the Congress , Tuesday, October 12, 1937
  11. On the Unemployment Census , Sunday November 14, 1937
  12. On Economic Conditions , Thursday April 14, 1938
  13. On Party Primaries , Friday June 24, 1938
  14. On the European War , Sunday September 3, 1939
  15. On National Defense , Sunday May 26, 1940
  16. On National Security , Sunday December 29, 1940
  17. Announcing Unlimited National Emergency , Tuesday, May 27, 1941 (longest of these fireside chats)
  18. On Maintaining Freedom of the Seas , Thursday, September 11, 1941
  19. On the Declaration of War with Japan , Tuesday December 9, 1941
  20. On Progress of the War , Monday February 23, 1942
  21. On Our National Economic Policy , Tuesday April 28, 1942
  22. On Inflation and Progress of the War , Monday September 7, 1942
  23. Report on the Home Front , Monday October 12, 1942
  24. On the Coal Crisis , Sunday May 2, 1943
  25. On Progress of War and Plans for Peace , Wednesday July 28, 1943
  26. Opening Third War Loan Drive , Wednesday, September 8, 1943
  27. On Tehran and Cairo Conferences , Friday, December 24, 1943
  28. State of the Union Message to Congress , Tuesday, January 11, 1944
  29. On the Fall of Rome , Monday June 5, 1944
  30. Opening Fifth War Loan Drive , Monday June 12, 1944

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