If you have been following the news, you’ve likely seen a number of stories about President Joe Biden and his lack of interaction with the news media. To be more accurate, the President’s team appears to have completely shielded him from the media, which as a lot of people wondering, “Why?”

Honestly, I’m increasingly apolitical on most subjects – at least publicly. In terms of issues related to politics, I try to look at both sides before I take any sides. However, as a lifelong advocate for responsible journalism, this one has me scratching my head. The president of any country has to be able to stand on his or her feet and take challenging questions about decisions that he or she makes. And in this country, Presidents have been willing to hold that first conference within the first month of their tenures for more than 100 years.

I’ve been seeing stats thrown out that President Biden’s 15 predecessors held their first press conferences within the first 33 days. However, no one is backing those stats up with actual specifics – dates and numbers of days. Thus, I endeavored today to put together that list, and it didn’t take long. This list dates back to Woodrow Wilson, who was the first president to hold regular press conferences (and who also ended those conferences during his presidency). It tracks forward with every President through Donald Trump, who arguably had the most contentious relationship with the press in our country’s history. From what I found, it’s not 15 predecessors – it’s actually 18. And it isn’t 33 days – the low number I found was 28 days, which was held by Dwight Eisenhower until the White House’s current occupant.

None of this is leveled as an outright criticism of Mr. Biden – each White House has the right to do things its own way. Mr. Trump chose most often to blast out Tweets as though his phone was set to full auto. Clearly, Joe Biden is operating on a different paradigm. However, his team must realize that his relative inaccessibility during the campaign followed by a shield from the media during the early days of his presidency will lead to speculation about things ranging from his health to his ability to govern. Strong and at least semi-regular meetings with the media will give confidence to the American people that their Commander-in-Chief is on the job and has the ability to see it through until the end.

* George W. Bush held his first press conference on January 23, 2001 to announce the President’s education program. A more full press conference was held at 33 days – February 22, 2001.