European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 28, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse The press hardly squeezes answers from White House by Howard Kurtz the Washington Post the curtain rises on the White House Brief ing room. The players some of the biggest stars in the huge cast of Washington officialdom assume their positions. There Arete relentless Battle scarred inquisitors of the press notebooks and tape recorders at the ready and behind the lectern the Young steely eyed communications director. As if on Cue the barrage begins. George Stepha Nopoulos 32, smothers each query under a Blanket of polite verbiage. When the temperature rises he uncork his All purpose response the president is reviewing his options right now. He is reviewing All the options. He is trying to find out what the Best policy is along with his advisers. When he has thai policy to announce we will announce whether the subject is health care or Haiti or the Economy the daily briefings arc an exercise in minimalism. Reporters repeatedly rephrase their questions in a dogged attempt to shake Loose snippets of news Steph Nopoulos and Dee Dee Myers 31, the press Secretary firmly hold their semantic ground. To wit q Dee dec arc Cap s of medicare or medicaid programs something that he s considering in the near term not Only As part of the health care pack age but getting a total look at budget spending Myers i think it s Way too Early to say. I mean we won t have any answers to those kinds of questions for quite some time or q George on incomes How does the White House define Middle class Steph Nopoulos i m not going to get into that. For reporters such sessions arc inherently frustrating. " you re basically getting your official no comment or your official no answer said Susan Milligan of the new York daily news. They won t Tell you the simplest things. They would t even Tell us their Sala Ries which is Public record George will never answer the question you ask. He just answers the question he wants to answer which i guess is Standard Flack Steph Nopoulos attributed his stinginess with in formation to the fact that the fledgling administration has not yet unveiled its major proposals. And the technique was hardly unknown to Republican spokesmen. You just have to get into the spirit of it when they ask a question where they know you re not going to answer he said. It s like an existential dilemma. The risk is that you look stupid but that does t Mauer. You can t announce something be fore the president has announced consider this sparkling Exchange on Bosnia Myers he s right now he s just he s supportive of the process and decides if the different factions agree to the support he would be support 7 00 ivc of that. Q but otherwise Myers in the interim he s he s neither ruling it in or ruling it out but in the interim he s continuing to consider his options. To the Layperson the endless verbal fencing must seem utterly pointless. Clinton administration officials belatedly reached this conclusion and pulled the briefings off live television. Daily pictures of re porters badgering Steph Nopoulos they decided was not conducive to controlling the political Dia Logue. Out for journalists whose Job is to Advance a Story or at least nudge it Forward an Inch or two any acknowledgement that the president is considering a nominee weighing a policy or even that he has t ruled out this or that May constitute something resembling news. And so they poke prod and probe for a new formulation. For the briefer no announcement is Ever ready no plan Ever set no option Ever foreclosed until the president has spoken. And so they Bob and weave and Duck and Dodge As Best they can seemingly determined to avoid making headlines. After complaints that senior officials were inaccessible the White House started holding three Brief Ings a Day. Myers holds court around 9 15 a.m., mainly for wire service and radio reporters with Early deadlines. Steph Nopoulos takes the stage at 12 30 . Myers does a wrap up around 6 . Despite the traditional thank you the curtain never descends with any finality. In the world of the White House pressroom even the briefings can be shrouded in ambiguity. Q is George going to Brief today Myers i m not sure. 1 believe so but i m not sure. February 28. 1993 sunday Page 7
