In theory, it’s the crucible where politicians encounter journalists and a story is revealed in the white heat of the moment. In practice, critics would have it, it’s a cooked-up charade co-produced by the media and politics. What role does the political press conference have now in the battle for truth?

In the court of public opinion, Facebook is Exhibit A in the battle for truth; the most powerful example on the planet of the damage unregulated social media is doing to the public square. Facebook’s response has been to set up a higher court, its own supreme court in fact. Whatever it does, whatever it says, it won’t be the last word.

You will never again see a Tweet from Donald Trump. He’s been banned from Twitter for life without the right to appeal. The world feels quieter, but is it better? The power to hand out megaphones in our democracies, and the power to take them away, now rests in a tiny number of hands.