FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON INSIDER GIVES BEHIND-THE-SCENES LOOK WITH TWO NEW PODCAST SERIES

FIRST PODCAST SERIES SHARE INSIDERS’ PERSPECTIVES ON THE ANNUAL WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS’ DINNER

“TRAIL TALK” – A REGULAR SERIES CO-HOSTED WITH BETSY FISCHER MARTIN, TALKING TO THE CANDIDATES AND POWER PLAYERS ON THE 2016 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN TRAIL.

WASHINGTON, DC – April 21, 2015 — Tammy Haddad, CEO of Haddad Media, Simon Marks, CEO of Feature Story News, and documentary filmmaker Julianne Donofrio announce the launch of WASHINGTON INSIDER, a new podcast channel that looks at how money, power and celebrity drive politics and policy in America’s capital city.

The WASHINGTON INSIDER inaugural podcasts, White House Correspondents Weekend focus on the personalities and ambition that fuel politics, power and elections – and ultimately drive policy inside the Beltway. The first seven WASHINGTON INSIDER podcasts are timed to the upcoming 2015 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner weekend, which begins later this week.

“The mix of power, glamour, influence and money in Washington — for good and bad — is fascinating to behold. WASHINGTON INSIDER offers candid and engaging conversations from people inside the system — politicians and journalists, actors, writers and policymakers — each of whom has a different take on power and celebrity in Washington, which often culminates in the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner,” said Tammy Haddad, CEO of Haddad Media and creator of WASHINGTON INSIDER.

WASHINGTON INSIDER will also present TRAIL TALK, a regular series of political podcasts led by two television news producers that will take listeners behind the scenes and inside the action along the stops of the 2016 presidential campaign. Betsy Fischer Martin, the former longtime executive producer of NBC’s MEET THE PRESS, now an executive in residence at American University and a contributing editor for MORE Magazine, will co-host TRAIL TALK, along with Tammy Haddad. The first episodes of TRAIL TALK will be released later this week.

“As veteran political TV producers, Tammy and I have been on countless campaign trails over the years and what we find most exciting is seeing the candidates up close, talking frankly with brilliant strategists and getting the latest insights from intrepid campaign reporters,” said TRAIL TALK co-host Betsy Fischer Martin. “That’s what we want to bring our listeners – an authentic look at the candidates and life on the campaign trail during this exciting presidential election season.”

“We designed these podcasts to give the public a greater sense of what drives the electoral and political process in this country,” added Simon Marks, CEO of Feature Story News, and an executive producer of WASHINGTON INSIDER and TRAIL TALK. “So much of what people see is scripted and pre-cooked, which turns many of them off. We aim to provide a fresh and up-close look and, in the process, encourage people to become better informed about how our system works.”

The first podcasts can be found on AudioBoom and iTunes under the WASHINGTON INSIDER banner beginning today.

The premiere episodes of WASHINGTON INSIDER presents fascinating stories that focus on the history of the White House correspondents; the ongoing battles with the White House for press access; an interview with Jon Lovett and John Favreau, former presidential speechwriters; the “accidental” Washington celebrity Captain Richard Phillips; actor Tim Daly; and comedian and HBO VEEP co-executive producer Chris Addison, who offers behind-the-scenes stories about shooting the Julia Louis Dreyfus/Vice President Biden video for the 2014 dinner.

The first seven episodes of WASHINGTON INSIDER White House Correspondents Weekend podcasts are as follows:

A Candid History of the White House and the Press
George Condon, White House correspondent for National Journal and unofficial historian of the White House Correspondents’ Association, shares a candid and humorous history of the White House and the press and tells us there used to be more celebrities in the old days.

The Quest for “Vigorous, Adversarial” Coverage of the President
Tribune and L.A Times White House Correspondent Christi Parsons, who also serves as president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, offers a no-holds-barred plea for the urgent need for greater media access to the President and the White House. Parsons also shares how she convinced SNL‘s Cecily Strong to perform at the 2015 WHCA Dinner.

Using Celebrity to Drive Policy Change in Washington, D.C.
Tim Daly, star of the CBS drama Madam Secretary, and Robin Bronk, CEO of the Creative Coalition, discuss the important role Hollywood celebrities play in shining a light on policy issues important to them and millions of other Americans while mesmerizing Washingtonians when they join the White House Correspondents weekend activities.

Mixing Hollywood and Washington for Hilarious Results
Actor, director, writer and producer Chris Addison talks about the peril and benefit of creating the hilarious video that teamed U.S. Vice President Joe Biden with Selina Meyer, fictional vice president of HBO’s VEEP, played by comic genius Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The result was a masterpiece that brought down the house at last year’s dinner.

The Role of Race in Covering the White House
April Ryan, a White House correspondent since 1997, Washington bureau chief for American Urban Radio Networks, and author of The Presidency in Black and White, shares her thoughts about covering three presidents and representing those who for too long have been removed from America’s power centers.

Mixing Politics with Comedy to Create the Comedian-in-Chief
Jon Favreau and Jon Lovett, former speechwriters for President Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton – who also helped create the comedic presentations for President Obama at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner – discuss what it takes to make the President the funniest person in the room.

Captain Richard Phillips and the Impact of Accidental Celebrity
Captain Richard Phillips, the hero of the Maersk Alabama hijacking, shares his thoughts on what happened when he attended the White House Correspondents Weekend and was thrust into the media spotlight.

CREDITS
Tammy Haddad, Simon Marks and Julianne Donofrio are co-executive producers of WASHINGTON INSIDER. This programming is a production of Haddad Media, a multi media consulting and production company, and Feature Story News, the world’s largest independent custom news agency, serving television, radio and digital clients from a growing network of global bureaus.

Episodes written and edited by Julianne Donofrio, executive producer and director of upcoming documentary feature, Pieced Together.

Follow us on the 2016 campaign trail at @TrailTalkPod and get the inside scoop at @WHCInsider and Facebook.com/WHCInsider.

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For transcripts, bios, photos and additional background, contact Hailey Sheldon at 202-464-9526 or hsheldon@skdknick.com