White House Correspondents Insider

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

Women in the World Summit features Hilary Clinton and Sarah Brown

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International Women’s Day finally has a global powerhouse to champion, Tina Brown,  editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast and Newsweek and one of the greatest women’s voices in the United States and around the world.   The Women in the World Summit was launched by Brown and joining with her were Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, Sarah Brown, wife of former UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown and maternal health advocate, Meryl Streep and Diane von Furstenberg.  The gathering included women of all generations talking about issues that rarely make it into the headlines.

Juju Chang led the “Girls Can Change the World” panel with Sarah Brown, Dr. Ida Odinga, wife of Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, and Shelly Esque discussing the need for a global education plan for all children, especially girls.  During the panel, Sarah Brown, a global patron of the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood, spoke on the recent release of her campaign launched with her husband to reduce the number of child brides. The report shows that 1.5 million girls are married at age 15 or younger every year but “if that girl is in school, she’s not out there married or facing… any of the other things that might come her way,” says Brown.

Dr. Odinga and Brown also talked about their new initiative, Educators Without Borders, which looks “at the 300,000 children who are coming as refugees across the Somalian border into Kenya [and sets up] an early pilot program to create essentially pop-up schooling” for children who will be there for many years.” They are working with government and non-profits to raise the rates of girls education in post-conflict zones. “Some [children] are as old as 13 years and have never seen the inside of a classroom” said Odinga when talking about the young refugees.

Watch the video of the panel below:

The last day of the conference included an exciting keynote by Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton who was surprise-introduced by Oscar winner, Meryl Streep.  Also in attendance were Angelina Jolie, former house speaker Nancy Pelosi, Oprah, Chelsea Clinton, Barbara Bush, Lauren Bush Lauren, Kim Cattrall, Desiree Gruber and many more!

Check out photos from the exciting events below:

Newsweek and Daily Beast Bring the Big Names #WHCD

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The combined forces of Newsweek and Daily Beast strike gold again. Take a look at their invites for the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.

Actress Anna Paquin, and husband Stephen Moyer (HBO’s True Blood), Colin Powell & wife Alma, Russell Simmons, Meghan McCain, German Ambassador Klaus Scharioth, and Rep. Aaron Schock.

This may also be the best dressed group, with designers Michael Kors and Diane von Furstenberg.

President Obama and WHCD host Seth Meyers will have their own cheering section with WH Speechwriter Jon Favreau and fellow SNL funnyman Jason Sudeikis.

Plus Tina Brown, Barry Diller, Jane Harman join NewsBeasters Howie Kurtz, Andrew Sullivan, Lois Romano, Peter Beinart, John Avlon, Lloyd Grove and Kathy O’Hearn.

Jon Meacham Joins Random House

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Jon Meacham

Jon Meacham

The collective shout of joy from political reporters around the Beltway is well deserved: Jon Meacham’s an editor once again.

The ex-Newsweek editor joins Random House as Executive Vice President and Executive Editor according to a press release published today via the AP. Mike Allen fleshed it out a bit more in his Playbook citing the new role will start in 2011. More important?

Washington now has a powerful new friend in New York publishing. Meacham will have a big checkbook and a huge appetite for great political books, but with high standard (will only take on three or so books a year, which means lots of retail attention to the authors he chooses to work with). A longtime observer of the New York/Washington literary world, when he heard the announcement: “Meacham just became arguably the most influential nonfiction editor in American letters.”

Meacham’s own catalog at Random House includes American Lion on the life of President Andrew Jackson, which also took the Pulitzer Prize.

Washington Post Co. Sells NEWSWEEK to Sidney Harman

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It’s official: The Washington Post Company has signed a contract to sell Newsweek to businessman Sidney Harman, 91, the founder and chairman emeritus of Harman International.

Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham has agreed to step down as part of the ownership transition.

According to the post on Newsweek.com, Meacham announced his departure in an e-mail to staff this afternoon: “It has been a privilege beyond measure to have worked for NEWSWEEK and for The Washington Post Company for the past 15 years. I will always be grateful for the opportunity the magazine gave me to serve alongside all of you. For half a century the Graham family created and sustained a culture in which we were able to do good, important work, and I know NEWSWEEK will continue to do so.”

“In seeking a buyer for Newsweek, we wanted someone who feels as strongly as we do about the importance of quality journalism. We found that person in Sidney Harman,” said Donald E. Graham, chairman and chief executive officer of The Washington Post Company, in a press release issued by the company.

Harman made his fortune in audio equipment and is the husband of Representative Jane Harman (D-CA).

Air Force One: Riding the "Bird" with President Obama and Jon Meacham

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Obama, Meacham, Gibbs, Haddad in

It is always different; the way a White House informs you that you have the President of the United States for an interview. Sometimes it’s a call to warn an important call is coming, and you better agree to the conditions. Often it is four to six people calling to claim credit for making the interview happen. But, as in most things with Obama, this is a drama free process: just an email asking where you can be reached. This email is from Dan Pfeiffer, deputy communications director of the Obama White House, and the cool and collected center of the daily press hub since the beginning of the campaign.

Newsweek, along with everyone else, had a request in to the White House to get more of President Obama’s words on the record. The interview is for Jon Meacham, named Newsweek editor at 29, now just 40. Meacham is a poet-historian and, like Obama, a bestselling author. Pfeiffer’s email advises that we will get our interview and it will be on Air Force One. Despite no video or audio, we were pleased and I reply, “We are in.” There was a quick handover to the operations folks for details of the trip to Phoenix for the President’s commencement address at Arizona State University.

Meacham and AF OneI ask Meacham if he’s ever been on Air Force One, and he said only at the Reagan Library. My only time was during my stint running MSNBC’s 2004 election coverage when 30 Rock was transformed into “Democracy Plaza,” — a piece of an Air Force One plane was part of the plaza-wide exhibition.

Meacham and I meet up with Newsweek star photographer Khue Bui, a White House press corps veteran and delightful campaign trail mate, who will round out the Newsweek Air Force One team. We arrive at Andrews Air Force Base looking like the desk jockeys we are; editors and producers aren’t usually allowed out of their bureaus.

We watch as the entire White House traveling press corps arrives for a security check; however, they’ll be traveling on the press charter plane departing ahead of Air Force One.

[Read more…]

LALLY-PALOOZA

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As hot as the Bloomberg After-Party is, the pre-party action has always belonged to Lally Graham Weymouth and her Newsweek bash celebrating the WHC dinner.

Attorney General Eric Holder

Attorney General Eric Holder

Every year, she is the eye of the media storm because of her remarkable guest list, specializing in the irresistible from Richard Gere to George Clooney.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner

Last year’s Lally-palooza was all politics, as top advisers of each campaign gently schmoozed each other from Obama’s Valerie Jarrett, Greg Craig and Joel Benenson, to McCain’s main men Rick Davis, Mark Salter and Karl Rove, to HR Clinton’s Mark Penn and Melanne Verveer.

Who will be seen sipping cocktails at the Newsweek reception this year? Lally, along with co-hosts Donald Graham and newly Pulitzered Jon Meacham, scored Obama heavyweights again: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Attorney General Eric Holder.

Here’s the Newsweek list, hot off the press:

R. Todd Bradley, Executive Vice President, Personal Systems Group, Hewlett Packard
David Brennan, CEO, AstraZeneca
Representative Eric and Diana Cantor (R-VA)
Fmr. Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig
Amb. Jeffrey Feltman, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner
Amb. Richard Holbrooke, Special Envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Ms. Kati Marton
Attorney General Eric Holder
Representative Steny Hoyer (D-MD)
Arianna Huffington, Editor-in-Chief, The Huffington Post
Jeffrey Kindler, Chairman and CEO, Pfizer, Inc., and Ms. Sharon Sullivan
Michael Kives, Creative Artists Agency
Martin Nesbitt, President and CEO, PRG Parking Management
Natalie Portman
Sir Nigel and Lady Julia Sheinwald, Ambassador of the United Kingdom to the US
Puneet Talwar, National Security Council, Iraq and Afghanistan Affairs
Dr. Eric Whitaker, University of Chicago Medical Center
Owen Wilson
James Berkus, United Talent Agency