News Conferences

President Clinton will hold a formal news conference at 10 a.m. PDT today, the White House announced Thursday. CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox and C-SPAN had decided by Thursday afternoon to televise the news conference. ABC had not made a decision, said Teri Everett, a spokeswoman for the network.

As Frank McCourt could tell you, at Dodgers Now, I'm here to help. Just a constant flow of upbeat suggestions. Been sending positive energy to the Dodgers long before McCourt discovered any Russian psychic. And because today is the big debut of the Dodgers' new ownership group , I thought it was only fair to offer a few suggestions on how to handle their morning news conference. Here is the No. 1 message: Be forthcoming. Simple, I know, but it's amazing how many mess this one up. Be honest, don't hide behind legal this or privacy that.

Facing new questions about Whitewater and the White House travel office firings, President Clinton on Wednesday scheduled a news conference for 1 p.m. PST today. It will be the president's first formal news conference of the election year and will be carried live on ABC, CBS, CNN, CNBC and C-SPAN. NBC was still considering whether to offer live coverage as of late Wednesday. Radio station KNX in Los Angeles also said it would carry the event live.

The demons of the old and troubled ownership were hanging over Dodger Stadium, until Magic Johnson had heard one too many questions about Frank McCourt. To Johnson, the exorcism was complete, and he all but shouted it from the microphone in center field. "Frank is not here," Johnson said. "He is not part of the Dodgers any more. We should be clapping for that. " Johnson and his partners in the Dodgers' new ownership group held their first news conference Wednesday, from which only one bit of news emerged: The Dodgers are lowering the price of parking from $15 to $10, effective immediately.

Ricardo Mayorga had blood-stained bruises on both cheeks, swelling around one eye, scratches on his neck and dried splotches of blood on his shirt collar. Fernando Vargas, his shirt and jacket removed, was standing in angry defiance, flexing his muscles and shaking his fists. And this was only the news conference. Menacing glares, trash talking and occasional pushing and shoving is standard procedure for pre-fight news conferences, a good chance to hype the event and push sales.

Here are excerpts from Friday's news conference with retiring Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall: Question: You said that you were never going to retire. What specifically changed your mind, sir? Answer: My doctor and my wife and I have been discussing this for the past six months or more. And we all eventually agreed, all three of us, that this was it, and this is it. Q: Do you think President Bush has any kind of an obligation to name a minority candidate for your job?

President Reagan will give weekly interviews and regular news conferences, perhaps every month to six weeks, White House spokesman Larry Speakes said he was "pleased to report" today. "We will have regular press conferences," Speakes told reporters, and noted that he had been "pushing" for the President to meet once a month with the press. Speakes said that if events intervene, Reagan may hold news conferences six weeks apart.

President Clinton plans to hold his first solo news conference of the year at 10 a.m. PST Friday. Clinton will take questions about everything from the proposed balanced-budget amendment, which he opposes, to the kickoff of the Republican race for the presidential nomination. The President has held news conferences this year with Canadian President Jean Chretien and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

Frank McCourt officially surrendered ownership of the Dodgers on Tuesday, closing a turbulent chapter in the history of one of baseball's most historic franchises. The new owners wired the final payment on the record $2.15-billion purchase price Tuesday, closing the transaction that ended the McCourt era and ushering in Guggenheim Baseball as the Dodgers' third owner since the O'Malley family sold the team in 1998. A teary-eyed McCourt thanked the Dodgers' employees at a morning meeting, according to several people in attendance.

Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title contender Alistair Overeem tested positive for elevated testosterone levels at a surprise test conducted by the Nevada State Athletic Commission at a UFC news conference. The repercussions are the jeopardizing of a heavyweight title fight between Overeem and champion Junior Dos Santos on May 26 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and a mandatory appearance before the commission in the near future at which the fate of his fighting license will be determined.

The Denver Broncos have called a news conference for noon PDT today, presumably to introduce Peyton Manning as their new quarterback. On Monday, Manning instructed his agent to negotiate a deal with the Broncos, with the four-time Most Valuable Player having chosen them over Tennessee and San Francisco. Manning is expected to command a contract in the neighborhood of $95 million over five years. The Denver Post reported today that Manning was considering calling Frank Tripucka, the first quarterback in Broncos history, to request the use of jersey No. 18. That was Tripucka's number, which the club had retired.

Oxnard's Brandon Rios boarded a six-hour flight to Miami for a news conference, then took the return trip home for Tuesday's session with reporters in Los Angeles. Yuriorkis Gamboa attended neither event. This isn't good, considering Gamboa, the unbeaten world featherweight champion, is scheduled to fight unbeaten former world lightweight champion Rios on April 14 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas - the lynchpin event of HBO's World Championship Boxing program this year.

President Obama will hold his first news conference in more than three months on Tuesday, the latest curious bit of counterprogramming by the White House tied to the Republican race for president. Tuesday, of course, is Super Tuesday in the GOP's nomination fight -- the biggest day of voting yet. Ten states hold caucuses and primaries with more than 400 delegates at stake, or more than a third of the total a candidate needs to clinch the nomination. Last week when Michigan Republicans were casting their votes, Obama spoke to a United Auto Workers gathering in Washington.

Reporting from Orlando, Fla. -- Life as a supernova has its ups and downs. On Thursday, Jeremy Lin was one for 11 from the field and had only three assists in the New York Knicks' loss to the Eastern Conference-leading Miami Heat. The New York press dubbed his performance as "Linvisible" and "Linept. " But on Friday, there was Lin getting his very own media availability, all by himself, at the All-Star game. Commissioner David Stern is the only other person who will get the solo treatment.

They served lunch Tuesday at a Manny Pacquiao news conference. That was quickly followed by some real food for thought. The official fanfare was for the announcement of Pacquiao's next fight, a June 9 Las Vegas matchup with Tim Bradley of Palm Springs. That was not news. Everybody who cares knows everything about Pacquiao the Top Rank Promotion machine is willing to make public. Its job is to hype and sell, and seldom has a promotional firm had more to work with than the likable, recently unbeatable boxing congressman from the Philippines.