White House Correspondents Insider

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

Celebrating the 20th Annual White House Garden Brunch

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This year marks the 99th Anniversary of the White House Correspondents Association’s Annual Dinner, which means our Annual Garden Brunch is 20 years old! Our brunch goes back to a time when White House Correspondents Weekend meant only a dinner and no time for old friends to meet with new ones before convening at the Washington Hilton.

Originally held at the Palisades home of Haddad Media CEO and veteran Washington TV executive Tammy Haddad, the brunch has since moved to the historic Beall-Washington House in Georgetown. Over the years the brunch has been co-presented and honored such prestigious organizations like CURE epilepsy, The White Ribbon Foundation and this year The Miss America Foundation. Co-hosts include a bi-partisan list of media and political notables including Hilary Rosen, Alex Castellanos, Steve McMahon, Kevin Sheekey, Anita Dunn, Bill Knapp, David Adler, Mark Ein, Franco Nuschese and now Steve and Jean Case. The Brunch provides the first time that many new faces for Correspondents’ Weekend meet their dinner sponsors.

Barbra Streisand attended the first brunch along with Tim Russert, former Bush 41 White House aide Anna Perez and a bunch of reporters. There are too many famous friends who have attended to list here. Take a look at last year’s video below:

The Brunch is an essential kick-off for the day’s festivities, which will continue into the night when Conan O’Brien introduced President Barack Obama at the dinner.

PR Firm asks Politico's Mike Allen "Are You Media?"

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Politico's Mike Allen recording the program
edit: Yes, in the original we said “Mike Ryan.” It’s because we were reading HuffPost Entertainment.

This seems to be too crazy even for the week leading up to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday. Politico reports that the actual White House Correspondents’ Association overnighted a trademark lawsuit to GBK Productions (which Politico provides here). The source of the lawsuit? A gifting suite that GBK is co-partnering with The Creative Coalition that’s called “GBK & The Creative Coalition White House Correspondence [sic] Weekend Gift Lounge.”

This goes against the trademark of the WHCA and gives visiting celebs the false impression that their dinner hosts would be providing free swag from “the St. Regis Bora Bora, Made by Survivors handmade jewelry, Lovelinks by Aagaard jewelry, EyeWalker Elements Aromatic Botanical Alchemy (a.k.a.., perfume) , Jorg Gray watches ‘and more'” according to today’s Playbook.

To further dig a knife into the wound, when Mike Allen tried to inquire further he was met with the age-old response given to online journos since 2004: “Are you media?” And given the always charming response from another GBK representative: “If you’d like to RSVP, follow the instructions on the email. Any other questions, we have no comment.”

It seems silly that a gifting firm wouldn’t look into possible legal issues if they name themselves after the weekend festivities they’re attending. Even sillier is asking whether or not a company like Politico are press. Maybe Tom Brokaw wasn’t wrong when he took the encroaching celebrity aspect of the dinner to task? Or maybe it’s far too late as our annual fete for journalists–now the worst ranked job of 2013–comes calling.

POLITICO Scores With Bradley Cooper at Allbritton White House Correspondents Sunday Brunch

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George Clooney and Barbara Walters

Big News on the White House Correspondents Weekend Soiree front. In a release from Politico this morning, eyes widen and hearts raced with the name Bradley Cooper in the final paragraph. The Georgetown graduate who once worked at Cafe Milano is expected as a guest, so is top White House aide Alyssa Mastromonaco at the Sunday Allbritton brunch. Lucky Lady.

Here is Politico’s rundown.

POLITICO ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR 2013 WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS’ DINNER

Below are details on POLITICO’s coverage and involvement with this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner – beginning Friday with the release of POLITICO’s must-read WHCD guide and culminating on Sunday with the annual Allbritton-POLITICO Garden Brunch.

FRIDAY, APRIL 26:

WHCD GUIDE – Celebrity Politics: The Lines Blur Between Hollywood and D.C.
This annual magazine edition of POLITICO offers influential dinner attendees and readers alike a sneak peek inside Washington’s biggest weekend. The ultimate guide includes an exclusive interview with comedian and dinner headliner Conan O’Brien, an introduction to the WHCA board, profiles of scholarship and award winners, a look behind the scenes of the Washington Hilton and more. Nearly 40,000 copies of the magazine will be distributed around Washington including at more than 100 Starbucks locations. Stories from the magazine will also be available here.

WATCH LIVE: WHCA SCHOLARSHIP LUNCH – The White House Correspondents’ Association will honor its scholarship recipients at a luncheon on Friday at 1 p.m. POLITICO will livestream the luncheon’s panel discussion with the winners. Watch the event at POLITICO.com/live.

‘THE SCRUM’ PODCAST – POLITICO reporters will preview the weekend’s festivities, examine key moments from past dinners and analyze why Hollywood makes the pilgrimage to the nation’s capital each year in ‘The Scrum,’ POLITICO’s weekly podcast. Subscribe to each weekly installment of ‘The Scrum’ on iTunes.

SATURDAY, APRIL 27:

COMPLETE COVERAGE – As the one-stop destination for coverage of the WHCD weekend, POLITICO will have reporters at each of the biggest events, offering intel on everything from pre-dinner parties to late-night celebrations. Coverage will include live blogging, celebrity interviews, on-the-ground videos and must-see photo galleries. Get the latest in one click: POLITICO WHCD Complete Coverage.

WATCH LIVE: DINNER PROGRAM – Tune in to POLITICO to watch this year’s dinner, including red carpet arrivals, the president’s remarks and entertainment headlined by Conan O’Brien. Watch here: POLITICO.com/live.

POLITICO DINNER GUESTS – POLITICO is honored to host more than two dozen leading names in business at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. Some guest highlights include: Marty Durbin, incoming CEO, ANGA; Steve Case, co-founder, AOL; Jim Cicconi, Executive Vice President, AT&T; Brian Moynihan, CEO, Bank of America; Don Baer, CEO, Burson-Marsteller; Tita Freeman, Executive Vice President, Business Roundtable; Clyde Tuggle, Senior Vice President, and Matt Echols, Vice President, Coca-Cola; Maria Pica Karp, Vice President and General Manger, Chevron; Lorenzo Simonelli, CEO, GE Transportation; Gary Cohn, COO, and John Rogers, Executive Vice President, Goldman Sachs; David Drummond, Senior Vice President, Google; James Murren, CEO, MGM Resorts; Mark Penn, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft; Wes Bush, CEO, Northrop Grumman; Peggy Johnson, Executive Vice President, Qualcomm; and Eric Spiegel, CEO, Siemens. Additionally, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro and celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck will be joining POLITICO.

SUNDAY, APRIL 28:

ALLBRITTON-POLITICO GARDEN BRUNCH – For the fourth consecutive year, POLITICO Publisher Robert Allbritton and his wife, Dr. Elena Allbritton, will open the doors of their Georgetown home for an exclusive, invitation-only brunch. Invited guests include: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), actress Kerry Washington, White House Social Secretary Jeremy Bernard, Hollywood couple Ed Burns and Christy Turlington Burns, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Director of the National Economic Council Gene Sperling and Allison Abner, actor Bradley Cooper, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, actor Daniel Day-Lewis, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Alyssa Mastromonaco, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren, CBS President David Rhodes, Jordanian Ambassador Alia Bouran, British Ambassador Peter Westmacott.

No Lucky Lottery Winner for White House Correspondents’ Dinner

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The New Republic has backed off plans for a contest to award 1 ticket to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner for a lucky new subscriber.  The contest included a roundtrip ticket and hotel accommodations for the April 28th event, but the magazine canceled the contest after being told it violated the rules of the White House Correspondents’ Association.

According to a written statement, “After being informed by W.H.C.A. that our offer was in conflict with their policies, The New Republic has suspended this campaign. Our editors look forward to attending the dinner at the end of the month.”

The annual dinner raises money for scholarships and to “honor the professional recipients of the WHCA’s journalism awards” and the association does not approve of other organizations raffling off tickets for commercial purposes.

Hollywood stars descending on DC for the dinner include George Clooney and his girlfriend Stacy Keibler; Steven Spielberg and his wife, actress Kate Capshaw; Academy award winning actresses Reese Witherspoon and Viola Davis, and more.

AP's Ben Feller Moves Up Front

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Mid-week announcements are the best when it concerns White House Press Pools.

So without further ado, as Fishbowl DC informs us, Ben Feller is the AP’s new White House Correspondent. Feller covered education for the news organization from 2003 to 2006, switching to the White House since then.

This comes after the AP was awarded Helen Thomas’ seat last week. The official memo is below:

The Memo from Fishbowl after the jump

White House Reporters Take Their (new) Seats

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White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs wasted no time in pointing out that the press corps was decked out in their “Sunday best” for the debut of the new seating arrangements in the James S. Brady Briefing Room. With the President traveling in Atlanta, GA on Monday there was no daily briefing back in Washington, DC. But on Tuesday it was back to business.

“Church is full today,” joked Gibbs. “That’s good to see.” Here’s the briefing from C-SPAN.

Most eyes were on the Associated Press who now occupy the front row, center seat once warmed by Helen Thomas – but there were several changes made by the White House Correspondents Association and a whole new seating chart – one that may require a booster seat as Gibbs pointed out to America Urban Radio Networks’ April Ryan who could barely see the podium from her spot behind NPR reporter Ari Shaprio.

“Ms. Ryan, you’re going to have to ask that gentleman in front of you to sit down a little,” joked Gibbs. “He’s a little on the tall side.”

Ryan moved up from the fourth row to the middle of the third row next to Politico, which also moved up from fourth to third row. That put Ryan directly behind NPR, one of the contenders for the Thomas perch. NPR was given Fox’s old seat in the second row, directly behind the newly ensconced AP. Fox moved up to the first row in the old AP seat. Got it?

AP Takes Thomas' Seat

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Ending weeks of speculation, the White House Correspondents Association announced the Associated Press will take the front row, center seat in the James S. Brady Briefing Room at the White House once occupied by Helen Thomas.

The association stated the change will take effect Monday and that it was a “very difficult decision.” Bloomberg, Fox News, and NPR all made public plays for the coveted chair, which did not go unnoticed by the WHCA board. The first few minutes of Monday’s briefing might look like a game of musical chairs since the AP won’t be the only ones with a new vantage point.

The board “was persuaded by Fox’s length of service and commitment to the White House television pool” and moved them to the front row seat previously occupied by AP; NPR will shuffle into the second row seat previously held by Fox, next to Bloomberg News.

Photo: Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images

The Helen Thomas Dark Horse Is…NPR!

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After a few jokes about who an “unexpected third party” could be, it’s almost unexpected that NPR would emerge as the dark horse for Helen Thomas’ coveted seat.

But that’s exactly what happened, according to The Upshot, when the news organization that recently dropped the “Radio” from its’ name submitted a formal letter to the White House Press Association.

NPR’s reasoning? Its audience size, scope of programming and the subtle burn that they’ve been in the White House Press Room since the 1970s compared to Bloomberg and Fox News. Once again, August 2nd will be a very exciting day.
Photo: Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images

Helen Thomas Countdown Begins

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If you like to bet on dark horses, consider August 2nd your derby come early.

Helen Thomas’ valuable front row spot in the White House Briefing Room will be determined by that Friday, according to a report from Fishbowl DC. This means the quiet battle between Fox News and Bloomberg will finally come to an end, likely with a whimper rather than explosive bang.

We already speculated about the shifts in seating, but at least we have something to look forward to when the rest of the Beltway runs away for the August recess.

Photo: Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images

Ed Henry Wins WHCA Presidency

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Ed Henry, 2009 Gridiron Dinner. Haddad Media

The 2012-13 White House Correspondents Association election results are in–and so is President-Elect Ed Henry of CNN.

FishbowlDC shares the other incoming elects: Politico’s Carol Lee takes the At-Large Chair, Time’s Michael Scherer the Magazine Chair and Henry also won the TV Chair.

While congratulating Lee, Mike Allen shares the WHCA voting tally, proving the At-Large vote was the closest of the four races. Under the President write-ins, however, it’s hard not to notice one sarcastic vote for Helen Thomas.

Now that a new board has been selected, the eerily-quiet anticipation for who’ll inherit the abandoned front row seat may continue.