Get first row seat at Clinton's press meeting

By Endy Bayuni

JAKARTA (JP): Attending a press briefing by a U.S. president is a quite an experience for non-American journalists not accustomed to the White House tradition.

But here's a tip if you want your questions answered by the president of America if you ever get the chance to attend one of his news conferences: Get a front row seat, or shout your question.

A number of Indonesian journalists on Monday were privileged enough to be invited, courtesy of the American embassy, to attend a press briefing by Clinton at the residence of Ambassador Robert L. Barry in Menteng.

From the experience, one concluded that Clinton barely looked beyond the first row when he took questions from journalists. But he listens.

We were guests among the White House pool of journalists, whose task it is to relay what America's boss has to say to the American public and the rest of the world.

The briefing was held in the back garden of the ambassador's residence. The first two rows of seats arranged were already spoken for when we arrived. They were reserved for the White House journalists.

Clinton started off by reading from his notes about the result of his meeting earlier in the day with Australian, Japanese, South Korean and Chinese leaders. The focus was on the U.S.-North Korea treaty and how Clinton ensured the support of the four leaders on the issue. He also went into great detail about the APEC forum, what it meant to the United States.

The White House journalists must have known when the question and answer session began, for they raised their hands immediately Clinton began winding up his opening remarks.

Clinton too appeared to be familiar with some of the journalists, addressing them by first name. There was Gary, the first questioner, and then there was also Rita. Others he simply pointed to and invited a question. But they all had one thing in common. All were first rowers.

Familiar topics

They also asked questions on familiar topics in the international media, such as the Korean peninsula, human rights, East Timor, APEC, Bosnia and some on their domestic agenda such as the American economy and the prospect of ratification of the WTO in view of the Democratic party routing by the Republicans.

A number of journalists in the second and third rows, who were by now familiar with the game of raising their hands when Clinton was finishing his sentence to accept the next question, consistently failed to attract the president's attention.

Even as the President's timekeeper announced there would be one last question, Clinton still picked a first rower. And it was all over within the 20 minutes allocated for the briefing.

But as the President was walking away from the podium after the last question, a voice came from a second rower: "Mr. President, can you take one question from Indonesian journalists?"

He quickly turned back and said "Yes, I think I owe you one. I was looking for someone to raise their hands. Go ahead, I'll give you one."

The voice came from Anni Bertha Simamora, Indonesia's most knowledgeable diplomatic correspondent, who asked about the American arms sales policy to developing countries.

Unlike the previous familiar questions from familiar faces, this one took a little while to digest as the President took a few seconds to respond to it.