The Side Notes of a Long and Crowded Press Conference

Vladimir Putin's meeting with media representatives in Moscow is always of interest. Last Friday marked his final dialogue with the media for this calendar year. The meeting was postponed for a few days due to the funeral of the Russian ambassador who had been assassinated in Turkey. The long and crowded press conference was interesting not only because the Russian leader discussed his country's positions but also due to the way it was conducted. Mr. Putin entered a hall filled with hundreds of attendees, accompanied by his press secretary Dmitry Peskov, who was responsible for managing the session. The marathon began. The first question was given to a veteran Kremlin journalist, but the other journalists had to employ various methods to gain the opportunity to question the Russian leader. A journalist from The Guardian in Moscow humorously expressed regret for leaving his placard at home by sharing a photo. Attendees at this press conference used various methods to attract Dmitry Peskov's attention. One example was a photo of Mr. Putin alongside Donald Trump, the elected President of the United States, and Marine Le Pen, the leader of the French right. Another participant held up a sign that read: 'Ask me about dictatorship.' Some journalists simply raised the name of their media outlet, while others had written their topics on paper, such as asking where the Volga River goes. However, the initiative peaked when a journalist sought to ask about the automotive industry or children's leisure. Less than three hours had passed. Journalists were still trying. When Dmitry Peskov was only looking to one side of the hall and giving opportunities, the Russian President jokingly told him he was acting 'dictator-like.' Everyone laughed, and the next question was directed to the other side of the hall. One participant thanked the Russian people with a sign during this press conference. A journalist who was live-tweeting during the conference at one point wrote that he was bored with the lengthy answers and looked around with these photos. Another wrote on a yellow paper that his question was polite! (Polite people is a description for soldiers who occupied the Crimean Peninsula, which was later annexed by Russia.) The press conference lasted nearly four hours; sometimes, these sessions with Mr. Putin last even longer. In one of his last tweets about this conference, the Guardian journalist wrote: 'A reporter shouted, can I ask about love? And Mr. Putin replied that love quickly turns to hate and rejected his request.'