Get first row seat at Clinton's press meeting

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.