Mid-week announcements are the best when it concerns White House Press Pools.
So without further ado, as Fishbowl DC informs us, Ben Feller is the AP’s new White House Correspondent. Feller covered education for the news organization from 2003 to 2006, switching to the White House since then.
This comes after the AP was awarded Helen Thomas’ seat last week. The official memo is below:
Dear Colleagues,
I’m pleased to announce Ben Feller as AP’s new White House Correspondent.
Ben is taking the helm after an extraordinary year in which he’s won two major awards for presidential coverage, a first for the AP. He won the Merriman Smith Award for presidential reporting on deadline for his coverage of President Barack Obama’s late-night tribute to soldiers returning from war in flag-draped caskets at Dover Air Force Base. He was awarded the Gerald R. Ford journalism prize for overall distinguished reporting on the presidency, including the Dover return, the president’s Nobel prize, and an analysis of George W. Bush’s presidency, among other pieces.
Ben joined the AP in Washington in 2003 as a national education reporter and moved to the White House beat in November, 2006. Prior to joining the AP, he wrote for The Tampa Tribune, the News & Record in Greensboro, N.C., and the Centre Daily Times in State College, Pa.
Feller is a native of State College. He graduated from Penn State University in 1992 with a degree in journalism.
Ben succeeds Jennifer Loven who, after her distinguished coverage of two presidencies, including the last 2 years as correspondent, will be taking a new assignment at her request. With Ben as correspondent, the AP’s tradition of the best possible White House coverage is ensured without missing a step.
Please join me in congratulating Ben.
Steve
Steven Komarow
Acting Chief of Bureau
The Associated Press
Washington