White House Correspondents Insider

Behind the scenes of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

Mark Halperin and John Heilemann Sign Deal with Penguin Press for Game Changer 3

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Photo courtesy Haddad Media.

On Thursday, Penguin Press revealed that political journalists and analysts John Heilemann and Mark Halperin will write a third installment of their “Game Change” series.  HBO has also purchased the book for a mini-series, with Jay Roach signing up to direct and produced by Tom Hanks.

Speaking about the book’s focus, Heilemann said “We’ll be looking at all the big unanswered questions of the race, some of them obvious, some of them are less obvious.  But of course we’re interested in breaking news.”

Some interesting areas of focus include WikiLeaks, potential Russian collaboration, FBI Director James Comey’s actions, and more.

“Despite all the coverage, we don’t know the answers to those questions,” Heilemann said in an interview.  “We think there’s still an awful lot to write about here.”

Penguin Press has scheduled the book for publication in early 2018.

First Lady Announces 2017 White House Easter Egg Roll

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First Lady Melania Trump announced the initial details of the 139th annual White House Easter Egg Roll today.   The event is scheduled to take place on April 17th on the South Lawn of the White House.  The President and First Lady are inviting families with children aged 13 and under to join them and White House staff for a day full of festivities and celebrations.

White House Easter Egg Roll tickets are allotted through an online lottery, although tickets are free to the public.

The Easter Egg Roll is a tradition at the White House dating back to President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1878.

Further information surrounding the Easter Egg Roll and the lottery for tickets will be announced later this month.

As White House Tours Resume, President Trump Surprises Visitors With Personal Welcome

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Photo courtesy Pixabay.

First Lady Melania Trump recently announced that White House tours would resume this morning.

“I am excited to reopen the White House to the hundreds of thousands of visitors who come each year. The White House is a remarkable and historic site and we are excited to share its beauty and history. I am committed to the restoration and preservation of our Nation’s most recognizable landmark.”

As the visitors embarked on their 45-minute self-guided tour, one group was surprised when President Donald Trump emerged from behind a screen on the first floor of the White House, near a portrait of former First Lady Hillary Clinton.

Trump welcomed a touring group of grade school children and invited them to pose with him for a photo, which Jack Cornish from Birmingham, Alabama, took the president up on his offer. Before returning to his private quarters, the president told the group of students to “work hard everybody, work hard.”

White House tours are open to the general public and can be obtained by requesting tickets through congressional offices. Tours take place Tuesday through Saturday.

President Trump’s Address to Congress Draws Over 40 Million Viewers

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Photo courtesy likedavid / Pixabay.

According to data provided by Nielsen, President Donald Trump’s initial address to a joint session of Congress reached approximately 43 million television viewers.

Networks such as ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox aired the address live, as did cable news channels including CNN, MSNBC and Fox News.

Comparatively, President George W. Bush’s first address to Congress in 2001 was watched by approximately 39 million viewers, while President Barack Obama’s initial Congressional speech in 2009 averaged approximately 52 million.

More people watched this week’s joint address than President Trump’s inauguration speech, which drew an average of 30.6 million viewers. The inauguration speech was conducted at noon on a Friday, while his address to the joint session was conducted during prime time on Tuesday evening.

The channel C-SPAN is not included in Nielsen measurements, nor does the firm measure viewers that streamed the speech online.

Lafayette Strategies Launches, Focuses on Corporate Responsibility Communications

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Su-Lin Nichols has left her key communications position at JPMorgan Chase to launch a new communications firm, Lafayette Strategies.

She says the mission of the firm is to focus as “a strategic communications firm specializing in corporate responsibility and social purpose communications.”

Nichols is also an alum of Brunswick Group and ABC News.

Samantha Bee to Host Trump Roast Same Night as White House Correspondents Dinner

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The Willard Hotel. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

Samantha Bee, host of TBS “Full Frontal With Samantha Bee,” is planning an roast of President Donald Trump in Washington April 29th titled “Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.”

Scheduled to be held at the Willard Hotel, Ms. Bee and her colleagues stated her event is not designed to compete with the White House Correspondents’ Association annual dinner, to be held the same evening.

“We’re not trying to supersede it.  We just want to be there in case something happens – or doesn’t happen – and ensure that we get to properly roast the president,” Bee said in a telephone interview with the New York Times.

The television host and comedienne said she and her producers got the idea for their event after November’s election.  “We were talking out loud about whether we thought the White House Correspondents’ dinner would change during a Trump presidency, or if it would even exist.  And then we thought: Why don’t we just do one, just to do it in the way that we would want it done if we were hosting it?”

Although the White House Correspondents Association has not yet announced the entertainment for April’s dinner, Bee said she did not expect to be asked.  “My assumption is that that invitation is not coming, and I don’t blame them for that at all,” she said.

Bee’s roast will likely be broadcast on TBS, although she said the details were still under negotiation.  Attending guests also were still being worked out.  “We have binders full of people, but we don’t have any specifics to offer yet,” Ms. Bee said.

Proceeds from “Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner” will be donated to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

UPDATE: To see past WHCI coverage of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and related events, please click here.

Bloomberg’s Top Trump Reporter Adds TV Reporter to His Portfolio

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Howard Fineman and Kevin Cirilli. Photo courtesy Haddad Media.

Kevin Cirilli is one of the “original reporters” who followed the Donald Trump campaign since Day 1. While most of these reporters joined the White House beat Cirili was named Bloomberg’s Washington Top TV reporter.

A veteran of Politico and The Hill, Cirilii has extensive experience coveraging Congress and the financial committees.

More information can be found here at FishbowlDC.

Superstar Ballerina Misty Copeland Talks Art, Race, and Style with Septime Webre at Georgetown’s Halcyon House

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Misty Copeland and Septime Webre at the Halcyon Stage. 

Septime Webre began his premiere season as artistic director of the brand-new Halcyon Stage arts series in Washington with style, grace, and a dash of humor. He sat down with Misty Copeland, superstar ballerina, for a conversation about her career, her struggles, and her unique popularity, in the concert hall of Georgetown’s Halcyon House.

Among the topics discussed were race, particularly Misty’s role as the first African-American principal dancer with the American Ballet Theater, her new position on the President’s Council on Physical Fitness, and her friendship with former President Barack Obama.

Ms. Copeland told the audience that “everyone deserves art and beauty,” in response to a question from Mr. Webre about funding for the arts and the new Trump administration.

Guests including Sachiko Kuno, Kate Goodall, Jayne Sandman, Lydia Logan, Marvin Bowser, Anne Ashmore-Hudson, and over two dozen ARC Ballet students.

In addition to the ongoing Halcyon Stage series, all Halcyon Stage artists will lead in “community sessions”. Webre said among the themes he intends to address as artistic director is “the nature of creativity and its effect on the world.”

You can find out more about Halcyon Stage here.

Misty Copeland and Septime Webre at the Halcyon Stage. 

 

Satchiko Kuno, Misty Copeland and Septime Webre at the Halcyon Stage. 

Obama Alumni Launch New Media Firm

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Jon Favreau, Ben Rhodes, Cody Keenan, Alyssa Mastromonaco, David Axelrod and Dan Pfeiffer. Photo courtesy Haddad Media.

Several Obama White House alumni and “Keeping it 1600” podcasters have launched a new media company named “Crooked Media.”

Administration veterans Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Tommy Vietor and Dan Pfeiffer plan on expanding their podcast — renaming it to “Pod Save America” — to a multimedia platform for political activism and analysis.

Discussing the new venture, Vietor, formerly Obama’s national security spokesman, said “It’s small and bootstrapped and designed to grow over time… what we noticed is that during the campaign, people looked to us to help narrate and make sense of the day-to-day madness.  And we’re the first ones to admit that we got the results totally wrong. Now they’re asking us, what can we do about Trump? How do we get involved and engaged and be more active?”

Crooked Media plans to expand into additional podcasts, video, and activist recruitment, as a social media counter to efforts on the right.

“I think the lesson from (President-elect Donald) Trump is if you’re filtering every message and idea you have through traditional media, he will swamp you with a Tweet,” Vietor said. “So we need to build up infrastructure that allows people to communicate directly with young people across the country.”

Along with Vietor, Crooked Media brings the experience of Pfeiffer as former White House senior advisor and communications director, Favreau as President Obama’s chief speechwriter, and White House speechwriter Lovett.