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By Lloyd Grove Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, October 31, 2002; Page C03

Romper Room at the White House?

Certain members of the presidential press corps were in an uproar yesterday over press secretary Ari Fleischer's sudden reconfiguration of seating assignments in the White House briefing room. But other White House regulars -- such as Fox News correspondent James Rosen -- have been literally doing jigs.

"When I found my new seat in the second row," said Rosen, until Tuesday a denizen of the sixth row, "I did my Muhammad Ali victory dance." Rosen added: "Now I'll have a perfect view when [Hearst columnist and front-row denizen] Helen Thomas finally spanks Ari."

Also a happy camper yesterday was Bloomberg News's Richard Keil, whom the White House press secretary promoted from Row 6 to Row 3. "I didn't do a dance," Keil told us. "I just slouched in my new seat as usual."

Time magazine's Jay Carney, who along with his Newsweek and U.S. News colleagues was banished to sixth-row Siberia, was less sanguine. "We're all fighting this proposal and hope to work it out in a way that we can stay in our seat," said Carney, formerly of the second row, "and in a way that reflects our circulation and what we think of as our significance as a news organization."

Newsweek bureau chief Daniel Klaidman seconded Carney's consternation. "Look, it's not the end of the world, but where you sit can make a difference if you are in the line of vision of whoever the briefer is, whether that's the national security adviser or Ari or somebody else," Klaidman told us. "And the reality is that the newsmagazines serve over 8 million people."

Yes, but it's also true that the newsmags traditionally miss more of Fleischer's briefings than they attend, usually leaving their coveted seats empty. Yesterday Klaidman -- who vowed to go to every briefing himself if it will do any good -- joined forces with Time Washington bureau chief Michael Duffy to send Fleischer a letter of protest.

But it won't do any good.

Yesterday Fleischer told us that his decision -- made over the past two weeks in "close consultation" with the White House Correspondents Association -- is irrevocable. "The nameplates are already on the seats," he said, adding that the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times have been relocated from Row 3 to Row 2, where The Washington Post's longtime seat -- phew! -- remains. "The changes were made because many of the White House regulars show up every day and are required to sit in the back rows, while some have seats in the front of the room and virtually never use them," Fleischer said. "Fair is fair."

But U.S. News Managing Editor Brian Kelly predicted that the new arrangement would result in a decline in briefing room civility. "Fleischer will regret this," he warned. "It will mean more grandstanding and less civil discourse -- more yapping from the TV guys."

-- Anonymous, October 31, 2002

Answers

Hmmm, do they really need seats? make em all stand. the question and answer period will be shorter.

-- Anonymous, October 31, 2002