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White House Correspondents' Dinner 2013 Celebrities and Tom Brokaw's Spite?

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2010 WHC GARDEN BRUNCH

The Sunday after the 2012 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Tom Brokaw attacked his former Washington colleagues for frolicking with Hollywood stars like Kim Kardashian. Appearing on Meet The Press and in later interviews he criticized the culture of Washington journalism, but what does he think about the students who benefit from the journalism scholarships presented at the dinner? Let’s hope we hear from him on Morning Joe this week in the countdown to the dinner.

Here is The Wrap’s take:
“As Conan O’Brien readies for a second performance as host of the festivities, oft called the “Nerd Ball,” this year’s guest list includes Harvey Weinstein, Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Nicole Kidman, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Douglas, Paul Rudd and Michael J. Fox.

Once again, this year’s dinner will cement Washington’s annual turn as Tinseltown on the Potomac, the main event in a weekend of social activities that includes not only the dinner itself, but cocktail parties, lunches, brunches and related dinners. The dinner will feature not only a funny speech by a top comedian, but a funny one by the President of the United States. This year the correspondents’ dinner will be televised on both MSNBC and C-SPAN.

In recent years the dinner, which raises money for journalism scholarships, has grown from a one-night event into a weekend that represents the height of the Washington social season and combines the crème of the Washington political set with Hollywood.

Vanity Fair and Bloomberg sponsor one after dinner party, while Atlantic owner David and Katherine Bradley sponsor a Friday night dinner in just a few of the events.

As before the stars will be plentiful this year.

Tina Brown is bringing Weinstein and Kidman on behalf of Newsweek and the Daily Beast. Her other Hollywood-oriented guests include Barry Diller, “The Newsroom’s” Olivia Munn and Joel Kinnaman of “The Killing.”

Time and Fortune are bringing Spielberg and Katzenberg as well as Julia Louis-Dreyfus and husband Brad Hall, and Olympics gymnast Gabby Douglas.

CNN, meanwhile, is hosting Banks, Rudd, Navid Negahban and Justin Bartha as well as University of Louisville guard Kevin Ware, who broke his foot in the March Madness college basketball finals.

Also read: Conan O’Brien Returns As Host of White House Correspondents Dinner

Arianna Huffington’s Huffington Post/AOL guests include Jon Bon Jovi, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Shaquille O’Neal, M.C. Hammer and super angel investor Ron Conway.

ABC News’ guests include “Modern Family” stars Sofia Vergara, Eric Stonestreet, Ty Burrell and Julie Bowen; “Nashville’s” Connie Britton, Hayden Panettiere and Charles Esten; and Shonda Rhimes, Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn of “Scandal.”

At CBS News, the guests include Claire Danes from Showtime’s “Homeland” and Daniel Dae Kim from “Hawaii Five-0.” Ryan Zimmerman of Major League Baseball’s Washington Nationals and celebrity chef José Andrés.

NBC News is bringing Michael Douglas (who voices the introduction of NBC’s “Nightly News”), Fox (who will star in an NBC comedy series next year loosely about his life), his wife Tracy Pollan and Matthew Perry, star of the network’s “Go On” series.

USA Today is bringing Courtney Cox, Kristin Chenoweth, Kate Walsh and Josh Gad.

The media outlets inviting Hollywood guests bring them to compliment more traditional Washington and their business guests.

CBS for instance is bringing several congressmen and retired Admiral Mike Mullet, former chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff. NBC’s other guests include members of the Federal Communications Commission, several senators and congressmen and several present and former White House officials.

Even as the event attracts glamor, it regularly attracts two kinds of criticism. Some question whether it replaces the picture of an adversarial and always questioning Fourth Estate with one in which reporters appear too chummy with the public officials they cover. Other critics point to the dinner’s Hollywood element and question whether raising reporters’ celebrity quotient hurts the press’s image with the public.

Last year The Washington Post’s Reliable Source column called the event, “decadent and depraved. It is elitist and shallow, smug and insidery, a three-day orgy of corporate preening and celebrity suck-up so far removed from its earnest D.C. journalism roots as to be completely meaningless.”

The column immediately dismissed its own criticism, suggesting the event was unchangeable, “so make the best of it.”

Other critics have been less sanguine. Jay Rosen, commenting on a decline in public confidence in the press showcased in a Gallup poll last year, called the dinner “ground zero” of concerns that the press is becoming part of the power structure.

“The glamorization of journalism after Watergate, combined with the influence of celebrity within the news tribe, plus the growing concentration of media ownership in a few large companies that themselves seek influence, [has] made mockery of the journalist as a courageous truthteller standing outside the halls of power,” Rosen wrote, saying all those concerns are on “vivid display” at the correspondents’ dinner.

Brokaw raised his concerns immediately after last year’s dinner. Speaking on NBC’s Meet the Press, he suggested the celebrities’ glamour disserves the media — increasing concerns the public has about “mainstream media” not fulfilling its traditional independent role.

“If there’s ever an event that separates the press from the people that they are supposed to serve, symbolically, it is that one,” said Brokaw. “It is time to rethink it.”

“I think George Clooney is a great guy. I would like to meet Charlize Theron. I don’t think the big press event in Washington should be that kind of glittering event where the whole talk is about Cristal champagne, taking over the Italian embassy, who had the best party, who got to meet the most people.

“That’s another separation between what we’re supposed to be doing and what the people expect us to be doing, and I think the Washington press corps has to look at that. It’s gone beyond what it needs to be,” Brokaw added.

Defenders of the dinner dismiss the criticisms suggesting that Washington reporters oft fierce and skeptical questioning of public officials hardly belies a press that has become part of the power structure. Instead they picture the dinner as a one night truce between the parties in 364 ¾ days of sustained conflict, a truce to raise money for a worthy cause.

Brokaw’s comments got an immediate push back last year from the correspondents’ group president Ed Henry, who noted in a radio interview that the event raised $100,000 for scholarships and that the Italian embassy event Brokaw mentioned was sponsored by Brokaw’s own MSNBC, not the correspondents association.

“I do think that there are challenges … that it sometimes looks too much like a celebrity fest and we have to do things to make sure that that doesn’t overshadow it, but we give a lot of money to needy students who are the next generation of journalists so there is a balance there,” said Henry.

Did Greta Start a Trend? The Hill Declares Less Glitz at White House Correspondents Dinner

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Special guests tweet "Let's find a Cure!"

First Greta Van Susteren announces she will not attend the 99th Annual White House Correspondents Dinner and now The Hill reports it will not be as star-driven. Here is Judy Kurtz report: “The White House Correspondents’ Association dinner — considered the glitziest and most buzzworthy event of Washington’s party season — appears to be a bit more low-key this year. Between the guest list absences of some of Hollywood’s brightest stars and a more subdued party scene, many folks working behind the scenes agree this year’s dinner will be decidedly more subdued. One shindig noticeably void from the soiree circuit this year is Funny or Die’s annual First Amendment Party. Last year’s high-caliber bash on the eve of the dinner had partygoers bumping and grinding at the event’s huge downtown space well into the wee hours of the morning.
The Hollywood Reporter, which last year held star-studded affair with Google at the W Hotel, is also ducking out of the Correspondents’ dinner limelight this time around. A publicist tells us “we aren’t doing anything this year.”

“I don’t know if it’s toned down or not,” Hollywood on the Potomac editor Janet Donovan said of the mood in town, “but it feels that way.” Donovan pointed to the lack of Anthony Weiner-sized headlines as a possible reason for the drop-off, saying that “perhaps because Hollywood celebrities are now more frequently in town, and we don’t really have a huge ‘five minutes of fame’ scandal-type this year.”

One veteran party planner, who wanted to remain anonymous so as not to upset clients, tells ITK that the nation’s capital could be suffering from presidential inauguration fatigue: “You know, we just had a major event in Washington. And then to have this, three months later almost to the day, and to do all the wrangling and all the huge productions again, it’s just kind of like — I think people will do it again big next year.” Fox News Channel’s Greta Van Susteren, who has brought head-turning guests such as Lindsay Lohan and Kim Kardashian to prior dinners, says she’s “taking a pass” on attending the fete this year. In a recent blog post, Van Susteren said she made another commitment out of town the weekend of the April 27 dinner. “I am sure everyone will have fun,” Susteren wrote, “it is the one day of the year that the media, politicians, entertainers etc. socialize together — but it can also be a bit exhausting as it is a 2½ day affair.” Donovan says Susteren’s tabloid-worthy guests always made for a colorful weekend, calling the time the “On the Record” host brought Ozzy Osbourne to the swanky dinner “one of the biggest celebrity gawking years.” Others tell ITK that political conventions and inaugural coverage broke the bank for many news organizations around town, allowing for fewer resources for the glam event. While big names such as Nicole Kidman, Jessica Alba and George Lucas are confirmed to attend as guests of various media companies — and there’s still time for more A-listers to be announced as VIP guests — the party planner tells ITK many celebs feel they’ve “done” the whole D.C. thing already: “If you look at the list of celebrities that have been here or attended since [President Obama has] been president, it’s like looking at an Academy Awards event. When they’ve been here once, they think they’ve checked the box.”

What about Kevin Spacey and the House of Cards cast? That’s glitz! Follow all the White House Correspondents Dinner action at WHCinsider.com

Chris Hayes Takes Ed Schultz' Primetime Slot at MSNBC

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Ed Schultz

MSNBC has outed Ed Schultzand replaced him at the 8 o’clock hour with Chris Hayes. The two on-air talents will be trading roles as Hayes moves to weekdays and Schultz goes off to host weekend blocks according to Dylan Byers. The changeover is scheduled for April 1, a scant 26 days before the White House Correspondents Dinner in D.C.

Brian Stelter theorizes the shift is age and lead-in to Rachel Maddow:

“The change is predicated on the belief that MSNBC can win a wider audience with Mr. Hayes than it did with Mr. Schultz, a champion of the working class whose bluster didn’t always pair well with Ms. Maddow and the channel’s other prime-time program, ‘The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell.’ Mr. Hayes, on the other hand, is just as wonky as Ms. Maddow and Mr. O’Donnell, and is a regular contributor to both of their programs.”

Schultz, who has spearheaded a blue-collar vibe for MSNBC, will become host of a series of weekend specials for MSNBC. While the network has been trying to get the established anchor out from his slot for a while–remember when Ezra Klein was a bold-faced name floated for this in November? Hayes has gained steam and popular press with how he’s formatted his weekend program “Up with Chris Hayes,” especially when it comes to conservative commentators. It’s apparent MSNBC hopes he’ll be the last nail in order to drive away Fox News’ O’Reilly juggernaut. Until then, here’s hoping Hayes will join Maddow behind the bar at the White House Correspondents Dinner after-party in April.

Maddow’s MIA responses on Reddit AMA

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Rachel Maddow's 2nd Floor Bar

Why has Reddit forsaken MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow? Was it because the evening host wouldn’t answer the age-old question of battling a hundre duck-sized horses or a single horse-sized duck? (She was never asked a single fight question!)TPM pointed out the ire of the scorned Redditors yesterday.

Instead the anger seems to stem from Maddow answering a paltry 20 questions instead of the expected amount by most Redditors during her Ask Me Anything. The expected result of answering every single question is common among Redditors since their expectations are only met by either Barack Obama or Bill Gates. Failure to do so results in inevitable comparisons to Woody Harrleson, r/Pyongyang and whatever else is hated on the Internet.

The questions that Maddow did answer are summed up over at her blog. Nothing may ever compare to her legendary bartending skills at last year’s White House Correspondents Dinner, but Maddow should get the benefit of a doubt. Reddit is a fickle mistress. The fact she had time for 20 questions alone is impressive when considering the speed at which the little blue alien can post. Maddow did fine. After all, you could compare her to the President of the United States or the lonely life of a butcher.

White House Correspondents Weekend Parties Start To Roll Out

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Kerry Washington and Hilary Rosen

The annual land-grab for talent and venues has officially, or at least publicly, begun for the 2013 White House Correspondents Dinner Weekend. Yeas and Nays found out that on April 25 that Marie Claire will host their first party in the 99 years of the Correspondents Dinner. Indeed there’s a certain type of magic to be found during the WHCD Weekend. Where else can you find, like last year, Kerry Washington and Hilary Rosenside-by-side on a Grin-and-Grip?

The where, when and how are TBD even by party co-hosts Meredith Fineman and Jessica Hoy. Hoy, however, talks up a few more potential parties at her entry on Examiner–no relation to the Yeas and Nays’ own Washington Examiner–when it comes to break-ups and strange sponsor bedfellows:

  • Time and People will be back at the St. Regis, despite recent news that Time titles into publicly traded companies.
  • The Atlantic ditched Funny or Die for Our Time as a co-partner and chose Jessica Alba and Warren Cash as their co-hosts. Hopefully they’ll be doing it for free since The Atlantic doesn’t have the funds to pay anyone these days.
  • Bloomberg/Vanity Fair, Capitol File, Google, Allbritton and Washingtonian all are going to do something Saturday or Sunday. This news is as shocking as the Metro being broken down or Conan O’Brien being tall.

    And that’s it. Invitations are still secretly being rolled out as Washington media elites struggle to keep their guest wants out of prying eyes. We’ll wait and see what other parties or confirmed info happens to come out now that we’re just about 46 days away from the “nerd prom” that’s become popular with the Outer Beltway folks not used to the magic of the Hinckley Hilton.

    • Obama Scores With Gridiron Club Dinner

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    Obama Waves to Press

    Not only was this weekend unseasonably nice compared to the Snowquester,but President Barack Obama attended the 125th Gridiron Club and Foundation Dinner. (Technically the fifth for the combined Club and Foundation, but as if memories go back that far in Washington these days).

    Attending for the second time since 2011, President Barack Obama opened up with remarks that brought the Beltway press to be responsible for their pleas about access and Bob Woodward’s recent fear of threats. Or, as scarily brought up by The Reliable Source, “Is it possible he’s beginning to like these dinners?”

    “Before I begin, I know some of you have noticed that I’m dressed a little differently from the other gentlemen. Because of sequester, they cut my tails. My joke writers have been placed on furlough,” the president said. That’s what happens when your star speechwriter goes off to Tinseltown. Other politicans that stopped by this year include Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, Senator Amy Klobuchar and Senator Al Franken (“How do you start off being one of the original writers for Saturday Night Live and end up being the second-funniest Senator in Minnesota? How the mighty have fallen.”)

    Some of the choicer cuts with a Favreau–although we can’t imagine he didn’t have at least one pass at this–less Obama:

    On Woodward:
    “Now I know that some folks think we responded to Woodward too aggressively. But hey, when has — can anybody tell me when an administration has ever regretted picking a fight with Bob Woodward? What’s the worst that could happen?”

    On White House Correspondents Dinner Chairman Ed Henry:
    “While we’re on this subject, I want to acknowledge Ed Henry, who is here — who is the fearless leader of the Washington press corps now. And at Ed’s request, tonight I will take one question from the press. Jay, do we have a question? Surprisingly, it’s a question from Ed Henry. ‘Mr. President, will you be taking any questions tonight?’ I’m happy to answer that. No, Ed, I will not.”

    Proof That Favreau Must’ve Written Something:
    “But all these changes to my team are tough to handle, I’ve got to admit. After nine years, I finally said goodbye to my chief speechwriter, Jon Favreau. I watched him grow up. He’s almost like a son to me, he’s been with me so long. And I said to him when he first informed me of his decision, I said, ‘Favs, you can’t leave.’ And he answered with three simple words — ‘yes, I can.’ Fortunately, he did not take the prompter on his way out. That would have been a problem.”

    And just to show the President is well aware of his Internet status, he ended his speech on a nerd note:
    “So I want to thank everybody for not just a wonderful evening — and, Chuck [Lewis], I want to thank you for your outstanding presidency — but I also just want to thank you for the work that you do each and every day. And in the words of one of my favorite Star Trek characters — Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise — ‘May the force be with you.'”

    The First Super #Seriously White House Correspondents Dinner Request of 2013

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    Forget the upcoming sequester/spendopocalypse. 2013 is officially the year it’s ok to ask out potential dates to Nerd Prom.

    Daily Inteligencer caught the first awkward advances through Twitter earlier this morning. Buzzfeed was standing on the other side of the Internet, fiddling with their cat-laden Trapper folder filled with notes about 15 things from 15 years ago, rumors about Bobby Jindal and a list of 42 people you won’t believe exist copied on every page of their Trapper Keeper. And then he came in.

    A legendary figure on the sports team. A titan of self-promotion and popularity, able to disappear and reappear without a second thought. Jose Canseco showed up on the Internet. So Buzzfeed–rather their press director–asked the jock out. And in true Buzzfeed fashion it worked (except when it didn’t but it probably did). While Canseco did say he has “always wanted to go to that dinner” he also “bet I could track dick lugar down there. set it up!”

    Canseco went further when Buzzfeed political reporter Andrew Kaczynski stressed the former baseball star should show. “wouldnt [sic] miss it buddy. while there point out some super committee members so I can kick their ass for this damn sequester,”Canseco tweeted.

    Shockingly this marks the first public semi-confirmation for an organization’s guest list to this year’s Correspondents Dinner. While Conan O’Brien was announced yesterday via White House Correspondents Chairman Ed Henry’s Twitter to take another crack at hosting, this marks the first time a media organization reached out so publicly to a potential guest. Even more interesting: does this mean Buzzfeed has a table at this year’s dinner, or just the usual set of tickets a group can purchase? If so, it seems like the cancelation of Reuters TV freed up a ton of space after all.

    A Look Back At Conan O'Brien and the White House Correspondents Dinner

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    We’re hoping the jokes get updated when Conan O’Brien comes back to D.C. in April. The newly announced host for this year’s White House Correspondents Dinner is no stranger to Beltway politics. He first showed up here in 1995 to toast then-President Bill Clinton along with WHC Chairman and former Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau Chief/current columnist Carl Leubsdorf.

    “For God’s sake, it’s Saturday night,” O’Brien said in his earlier monologue. “Go outside! Meet a woman! There are things you can do. I want to say though I am–higher ratings tan mine–very honored to be apart of this event tonight. When I got this invitation, I was thrilled to be speaking in the same room as the most powerful man in the country. But then I heard Judge Ito canceled, but you move on!”

    You can watch the full video below from C-Span and relive Coco’s old mop top:

    Conan O'Brien Returns as Host of White House Correspondents Dinner

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    Late night comes back to the White House Correspondents Dinner with Conan O’Brien. The TBS host that once called NBC home is coming to D.C. to preside over the 2013 WHC Dinner on April 27th according to–of all places–Ed Henry‘s Twitter.

    The 2013 Chairman went on the social media platform rather than the origination’s own website, which still hasn’t been updated. Henry followed up on his Twitter, citing that O’Brien “was terrific at ’95 correspondents dinner w/[sic]Clinton[.]”

    This will mark the second time that the self-described “Basic Cable” host will stand at the Hinckley Hilton dais. Unfortunately, he still has two more times to go until he ties the current record holder for most performances (Jay Leno). Over on O’Brien’s official site, Henry gave a more formal remark:

    “Conan is one of televisions most innovative and influential talents and I am absolutely thrilled that he has agreed to be this year’s featured act,” said Henry. “As social media has changed all aspects of the media business, Conan has embraced this shifting landscape to become a creative force both online as well as in the traditional television model. We are grateful that Conan will be also be using that creativity to bring more attention to the WHCA’s commitment to helping needy journalism students.”

    The Bittersweet Tuesday Job Announcements

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    Daily Beast Bipartisan Brunch
    It’s a rough day if you’re Ray LaHood or a CNN employee–but congratulations John Kerry!

    Starting out with the good news today is John Kerry was unanimously approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. That was the expected announcement this week. CNN, however, decided that such a thing was too boring for a Tuesday and launched a mass exodus/hiring spree just to see if we can keep up.

    Chris Cuomo is leaving ABC for CNN.The younger brother of Andrew will take point as morning anchor for CNN, which is a rough spot since that’s where Soledad O’Brien is supposed to sit. Matt Whitaker,an executive vice president and managing editor, announced this morning that he’s leaving the network due to new CEO Jeff Zucker‘s “forceful ideas about where to take CNN’s reporting, programming and brand.” Also out? Long-time husband-and-wife duo James Carville and Mary Matalin. Erick Erickson is also gone, but where else could he find an opening?

    In the flurry of media news, it seems someone confused Ray LaHood causing him to announce his resignation as transportation secretary.

    “I want to thank Secretary LaHood for his dedication, his hard work, and his years of service to the American people — including the outstanding work he’s done over the last four years as Secretary of Transportation,” the president said in a statement.

    No other information was given from the former republican Representative from Illinois. It’s a strange ebb and flow around CNN and the cabinet these days.

    edit: We mixed our Cuomos up! Andrew Cuomo is Chris’ brother and current governor of New York. Mario is the former governor of New York and father to both Andrew and Chris. We regret the error.