While celebrities join Washington’s media and political elite for the Annual White House Correspondents dinner, the stated purpose of the dinner is to honor the great work of Washington’s best reporters.
This year, ABC White House Correspondent Jake Tapper will receive the Merriman Smith award for “excellence in presidential coverage under pressure” in the broadcasting category. Tapper was chosen for breaking the news that “rating agency Standard & Poor’s was on the verge of downgrading America’s triple-A credit rating because of concerns over political gridlock in Washington.”
In the print category, Politico’s Glenn Thrush, Carrie Budoff Brown, Manu Raju and John Bresnahan won for their reporting on the deal to raise the U.S. debt ceiling.
The award “recognizes presidential news coverage under deadline pressure,” comes with a $2,500 prize and will be presented at the April 28th dinner.
Check out a clip from Tapper’s recent ABC interview he scored with President Clinton: