Traveling with the President in London, The New York Times’ Helene Cooper writes that at the bilateral press conference today, hometown British media were called on to ask more questions than the far-traveling American media:

The standard form during “joint press availabilities” — bureaucratic lingo for press conferences where leaders from two different countries stand next to each other and take questions from reporters — is that each official’s press corps gets the same number of questions. Well, during the joint press availability on Wednesday with Mr. Obama and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at the ornate British foreign office near 10 Downing Street, Mr. Brown called on the U.K. press corps for four whole questions. Meanwhile, Mr. Obama only called on the White House press corps, which schlepped (granted, on a really nice United 777 charter) across the Atlantic to scrupulously chronicle his first overseas trip as president, thrice.

Helene is right that Prime Minister Brown did appear to break protocol (and almost certainly the pre-arranged agreement between the two leaders’ press offices), but it’s worth noting that at the media avail during Prime Minister Brown’s visit to the White House in March, there were also an odd number of questions. At that avail, the American reporters succeeded in slipping in one more question than their British counterparts.

Of course, that White House media avail was also notable for what it wasn’t: A full-blown press conference like today’s, which visiting British prime ministers are traditionally afforded.

Tags: communications, eurobama, europe, gordon brown, media, new york times, obama, press conference