White House Correspondents Insider

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

WHCA Announces 2022 Journalism Awards Recipients 

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The White House Correspondents’ Association announced the winners of its 2022 journalism awards yesterday, Jonathan Swan, Zeke Miller and Mike Balsamo, Jonathan Karl, and Brendan Sialowksi.

The winners for presidential news coverage include journalists from ABC News, AFP, the Associated Press and Axios. The winning work covered the efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, The U.S. Capitol Insurrection, COVID-19, and a meeting between President Joe Biden and Vladmir Putin.

In addition, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, The Washington Post and an international consortium of other media partners was honored for work exposing financial secrets of more than 330 current and former heads of state as well as the U.S. role in offshore financial systems.

“Our panel of independent judges had a formidable task, reviewing dozens of worthy entries,” said White House Correspondents Association president Steven Portnoy. “We are grateful for the panel’s efforts in identifying these winners, and we are excited to honor the recipients at our annual dinner.” The awards will be presented at the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday, April 30.

These are the following winners from the White House Correspondent Association’s press release:

JONATHAN SWAN, AXIOS, THE ALDO BECKMAN AWARD FOR OVERALL EXCELLENCE IN WHITE HOUSE COVERAGE

See the coverage here 

From the Judges:

The judges select Jonathan Swan for the Aldo Beckman award from a competitive list of entries that demonstrated the impact of White House policies and decisions on people’s lives. Swan’s riveting “Off The Rails” series describing the post-election turmoil in the White House illuminated, with speed and detail, the last-ditch efforts to overturn the election. The series also revealed President Trump’s ongoing attempts to put a loyalty stamp on the government’s national security apparatus. The stories, and their accompanying podcast, have been source material for the Jan. 6 investigating committee and have remained relevant amid continued revelations about the events surrounding the assault on the Capitol. 

ZEKE MILLER AND MIKE BALSAMO, ASSOCIATED PRESS, THE AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN PRESIDENTIAL NEWS COVERAGE UNDER DEADLINE PRESSURE – PRINT

See the story here. 

From the Judges:

It started with a tip that led Mike Balsamo and Zeke Miller to the news most of America had been waiting for: The CDC was finally ready to relax the COVID-19 mask requirements. Balsamo and Miller drew on their sources to get the scoop, then they kept reporting through the day to deliver a tight, informative news stories on deadline that spelled out details of the new policy while capturing the mood of the moment, with voices from Capitol Hill to Sioux Falls. They also managed to look ahead to the challenges that lay ahead for enforcement of the new policy. 

JONATHAN KARL, ABC NEWS, AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN PRESIDENTIAL COVERAGE UNDER DEADLINE PRESSURE – BROADCAST

See the story here.

From the Judges:

While the insurrection was still unfolding, Jonathan Karl was delivering a comprehensive, even-keeled and thorough piece of television that was visually powerful and compelling. Karl’s richly sourced reporting provided his viewers with a sense of what he so accurately described as the “chaos and lawlessness striking at the heart of American democracy.” Karl was ahead of the curve, delivering in real time a detailed narrative that doesn’t hit one false note, even with a year’s perspective. His work on Jan. 6 defines “reporting under deadline pressure.” 

BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, THE AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN PRESIDENTIAL NEWS COVERAGE BY VISUAL JOURNALISTS

The winning photo.

From the Judges: 

A quick glance at this photo might give the impression of a dull overall shot of men in dark suits. However, the Biden-Putin meeting in Geneva was a major story, and this image captured the underlying drama. Look closely. The body language and each game face tell the story. These summit photo ops are fast. In seconds, the handlers would be yelling “lights” and pushing the photographers out the door. Brendan Smialowski of Agence France-Presse had to read the room quickly and go for the one picture that told the story.  Smialowski did just that and captured a prize-winning photograph below. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, President Joe Biden, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov wait for a meeting at Villa La Grange June 16, 2021, in Geneva, Geneva.

THE KATHARINE GRAHAM AWARD FOR COURAGE AND ACCOUNTABILITY

International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, The Washington Post and media partners around the world

From the Judges:

The committee found the breadth and depth of the reporting and production of the Pandora Papers undertaken by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, The Washington Post and media partners around the world to be a major feat by itself, managing 600 journalists from 151 countries, working in a dozen languages with interpreters to analyze, verify and report on information from 11.9 million documents and produce a series of stories across a wide variety of media platforms.

And then there is the impact of the reporting, which exposed financial secrets of more than 330 current and former heads of state, and the U.S. role in the offshore system, led to electoral and legislative change around the globe, but also physical threats against and jailing of some journalists. The project underscored the strength of collaborative reporting and overcoming technological obstacles to produce powerful journalism.

Read the winning stories here:

  1. Offshore havens and hidden riches of world leaders and billionaires exposed in unprecedented leak
  2. Foreign money secretly floods U.S. tax havens. Some of it is tainted.
  3. Global hunt for looted treasures leads to offshore trusts
  4. When Latin America’s elite wanted to hide their wealth, they turned to this Panama firm
  5. As a poisoned town sought justice, top chemical giant executive moved millions to tax havens
  6. While his Country Struggles, Jordan’s King Abdullah Secretly Splurges
  7. How America’s biggest law firm drives global wealth into tax havens – ICIJ
  8.  Czech Prime Minister secretly bought lavish French Riviera estate using offshore companies
  9. As Catholic order fought sex abuse claims, secret trusts devoted to it poured millions into American rental properties
  10. How U.S. sanctions take a hidden toll on Russian oligarchs
  11. Secret money, swanky real estate and a a Monte Carlo mystery 

And some reaction stories:

“Pandora Papers investigation prompts new scrutiny of law firms’ role in offshore abuses”

“Lawmakers and regulators around the world take action in the wake of Pandora Papers”

Leading politicians, governments, and elites from all over the world have been roiled by the largest-ever ICIJ investigation, which changed the global conversation on tax havens and financial crime.”

See the complete list of judges for each award here. 

Kevin Bacon and Brother to Play Reporter’s Music Jam at White House Correspondents’ Dinner Weekend

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White House Correspondents’ Jam organizer and Rolling Stone Chuck Leavell playing at the 2017 event, Photo Courtesy Getty Images

Actor Kevin Bacon and his brother Michael Bacon, together known as The Bacon Brothers, are set to headline this year’s annual White House Correspondents’ Jam, which will be held on April 27th, one day before the Correspondents’ Dinner itself.

The concert is organized each year by Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell, who, according to the Washington Post, “usually enlists a bona fide celebrity band to headline, then rounds out the lineup with bands whose members include moonlighting journalists”.

Journalists on the roster of this year’s Correspondents’ Jam include Lester Holt and his band, and Wall Street Journal senior editor Michael Siconolfi’s group. FOX News’ Chief White House Correspondent John Roberts will be emceeing.

The Post mentions a possible reason for the Bacon Brothers’ appearance. The brothers use the opportunity to come to DC in order “to see their sister, local real estate developer Elinor Bacon”.

You can read more about the Bacon Brothers and the Correspondents’ Jam here.

CNN vs FOX: Washington Post Says Networks Are the Hatfields and McCoys of Cable News

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Matt Drudge, Tammy Haddad, Howard Kurtz, Tucker Carlson, Sheri Annis, and Barbara Comstock at the Washington Correspondents’ Garden Brunch in 2004

CNN and Fox are at war when it comes to President Trump, the Parkland school shooting survivors, and even each other’s Winter Olympics coverage, the Washington Post’s Paul Farhi reports in a piece published on Thursday, March 1st.

The inter-network squabbling, writes Farhi, “has taken on new intensity in the Trump era. Hosts at CNN and Fox now trade blows almost daily about whose coverage or commentary about President Trump is more distorted or unfair.”

According to Farhi, “In many ways, the Hatfields-and-McCoys act has become a proxy for the news media’s drift into more polarized camps, especially when it comes to covering Trump. The president has certainly stoked the perception that there are pro- and anti-Trump factions in the news media, singling out CNN and Fox in particular.”

Farhi asked both networks’ respective media correspondents what all the bad blood was about.

Brian Stelter, host of CNN’s “Reliable Sources” said that “Fox influences the president of the United States in a way not seen by any other network. Fox affects society in more ways than it did even three years ago. . . . If you only looked at CNN, MSNBC or CBS and you didn’t acknowledge Fox’s influence on the president, then you’d be missing the story.”

FOX media analyst Howard Kurtz says that, “Sniping by rival cable news hosts is a more polarizing sport in the Trump era and that now includes CNN, which fairly or unfairly is often at odds with the president over its coverage. I get why anti-Trump voices at other outlets try to lump Fox’s opinion hosts in with its news division to make it appear there’s one company line, which is clearly not true.”

Kurtz adds, “I make it my business to report fairly on CNN, criticizing or defending as the situation warrants. I treat Fox the same way, which is the ultimate test of fair media reporting.”

You can read the full Washington Post piece here.

VARIETY Comes to Washington // TRUMP Cover

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Variety Magazine Cover --April 2016

Variety Magazine Cover — April 2016

With the White House Correspondents’ Dinner coming up this weekend, Hollywood and Politics is the topic on the tip of everyone’s tongues – it also happens to be the subject of Variety magazines cover this month.

A few years ago The Hollywood Reporter co-hosted a party with Google during the White House Correspondents weekend and this year Variety, a long time Hollywood entertainment Bible is following in its footsteps with its coverage and events in Washington. Lead political correspondent Ted Johnson and his Variety editors are co-hosting a party with the SAG AFTRA Foundation and the Washington Post to “celebrate journalism” on Friday night in honor of the Correspondents’ Dinner.

Variety 2016 WHCD Friday party

Variety’s “A Celebration of Journalism” White House Correspondents’ Dinner Party on Friday, April 29th

David Adler, WHC Insider Co-founder, Toasted by Washington Post!

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The Washington Post recently profiled the evolving nature of the Washington, D.C. party scene as discussed at the Elevate conference for Washington event planners. Our own David Adler was feted in the Style section cover story.

“Nobody’s an attendee anymore,” says David Adler, founder of BizBash, the events media company that hosted the conference. “You’re all participants — whether you like it or not.”

The article by Roxanne Roberts explains how “the old formula of cocktails, dinner and endless speeches is giving way to artisanal menus, designer mixologists and charging stations. Plus hashtags, live Instagram feeds and anything else that will transform another boring evening into a talker.”

Read the full article on washingtonpost.com: Reinventing the Washington party: Cut the speeches, pump up the schmoozing

Watch the Bloomberg/Washington Post/Dartmouth College Republican Presidential Debate

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Dartmouth College will host, along with Bloomberg and the Washington Post, the Republican presidential candidates tonight to debate the U.S. Economy in what is being tagged as #econdebate.   This is yet another stop on the road to the 2012 election for the candidates who have been debating for the last few months hoping to take a lead in the polls.

“We are pleased to host Republican presidential candidates at Dartmouth,” said President Jim Yong Kim. “The debate on the U.S. economy will take on critical issues of national importance and help us all make informed decisions on Election Day.”

You can watch the debate which begins at 8:00 PM ET  online or on a Bloomberg Television station in your area.

via Politisite.com

White House Leaders and the National Science Foundation Step Forward for Working Women

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Tina Tchen and Valerie Jarrett

Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to the President and  Tina Tchen, FLOTUS Chief of Staff and head of the White House Council on Women and Girls, penned an editorial in the Washington Post promoting the President’s jobs initiative and the importance of his new partnership with the National Science Foundation (NSF).  It detailed initiatives that will help bring a work-life balance to the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields that often see women drop out due to family responsibilities.  They say, “for many women who dream of becoming scientists and researchers, these kinds of simple, common-sense changes will make a world of difference. And our entire economy can benefit, because if more women have the chance to pursue STEM careers, it will lead to more innovation, entrepreneurship and growth.”

Read their entire editorial here.

President Obama Visits His Irish Ancestors

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It’s hard to top a visit from the Queen of England, but President Obama did just that as he began his European tour in Moneygall, the hometown of his Irish ancestors. An American genealogist discovered Obama’s Irish roots back in 2007, tracing the connection on the president’s maternal side. Moneygall is about 90 miles from the capital city of Dublin.

It’s been almost 50 years since President John F. Kennedy was warmly welcomed to Ireland; he called his 1963 journey to the emerald isle “the best four days of my life.” Obama gave a rousing address to an estimated crowd of 100,000 people at Trinity College, the same location at which President Clinton spoke back in 1995.

For more on the president’s homecoming read the Washington Post’s story here.

Unfortunately, the president will be cutting his trip to Ireland short in order to avoid flying in the ash cloud released by an Icelandic volcano. Looming volcanic ash sounds like a good excuse to throw back a pint of Guinness, although it appears the president didn’t need much arm-twisting when he toasted his “fellow” Irishmen.

DC's Biggest Paparazzi Weekend #WHCD

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Paparazzi was seen outside the White House gates for this year’s Easter Egg Roll as Washington prepares for one of the busiest weekends of the year.  With an influx of notables making their way to the city for the White House Corespondents’ weekend, the paparazzi are preparing for, what photographer Colin Drummond says is, their “biggest weekend of the year.”

The recent Washington Post story not only covers what it is like to be a DC paparazzi, but the article also gives recognition to WHC Insider:

“Some news organizations, the New York Times, for example, have made a show of boycotting the [Corespondents’] dinner, but interest in the WHCD weekend remains intense. The number of photographers credentialed for the event has grown from 50 in 2008 to more than 100 this year, organizers say. Fans can follow the consuming details online at the White House Correspondents Weekend Insider site.”

Kurtz Says Goodbye, Then Says Hello

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Yesterday marked the end of Howard Kurtz’ tenure at the Washington Post and his The Daily Beast debut.

At the end of his final Media Notes, Kurtz writes, “I confess that I enjoyed David Carr’s New York Times line about my job switch prompting the most gasps since Dylan went electric in 1965. But that ain’t me, babe. While I would not have made such a leap even two years ago, it is an evolutionary move, not a revolutionary one, as we all grasp for ways to sustain and reinvent journalism.”
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