Christi Parsons of L.A. Times/Chicago Tribune and president of the White House Correspondents’ Association in an email to members: “Colleen McCain Nelson [of the Wall Street Journal], the wonder volunteer who has been running our Magazine Seat rotation so ably for the last few months, has agreed to serve as our first-ever Print Pool Chair. … Vice President Carol Lee and I agree that she is the perfect person to pioneer this position for the Print Pools. You may have heard of the parallel titles in the TV and Radio pools. The Pool Chair’s role … include[s] … arbitrating policy decisions in consultation with the full pool and the WHCA board …
“[T]he Pool Chair … rotates quarterly. That helps the TV and Radio folks share the workload, but also gives everyone an inside look at how the system works. … People … have more faith in a system that they help to run. The pools belong to the members, not to the White House. That is an important principle at stake … Mike Shear of the New York Times has agreed to take over the Magazine rotation duties.”