White House Correspondents Insider

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

Campaign 2010 Prep Storms D.C.

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It may feel like a balmy day in the District, but vacation is about to drop out for a storm the likes of which the Beltway has rarely seen–at least every two or so years.

The big news comes from the New York Times with Politico’s unveiling of two weekly opinion columns from Joe Scarborough and Michael Kinsley; the buried lede, however, is Kinsley will depart The Atlantic to do this. As Jeremy Peters notes, “[Kinsley’s] departure will be a blow to the Atlantic Media Company, which has been establishing a stable of journalistic talent in an effort to broaden its reach in Washington.”

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Debating the Off-the-record Lunch

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While Robert Gibbs may be becoming the August cable poster boy, the President has been meeting the press.

Last Thursday, eleven White House reporters sat down with President Obama for an off-the-record lunch. The President has talked off-the-record recently with commentators like MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and The Washington Post’s Eugene Robinson, so what makes it so newsworthy this time?

Is it because it took some digging to find out who the Lunching 11 were? The Upshot outed them last week (Associated Press, Bloomberg, Los Angeles Times, Politico, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and USA Today). Or is it because the New York Times has been so outspoken about refusing the White House invite?

Times reporter Peter Baker tells Howard Kurtz in the Washington Post these off-the-record sessions are “to be avoided if possible. It can too easily turn into a substitute for on-the-record….”

“We’re not trying to be haughty,” he adds, but “White House reporters get relatively few opportunities to talk to the president on the record.”

White House Rock

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President Barack Obama will be striking up the band tonight when he presides over an all-star tribute to Sir Paul McCartney at the White House. The famed Beatle is being honored with the Library of Congress’ Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.

The prize, named after the American songwriting team of brothers George and Ira Gershwin (“I Got Rhythm,” “S’Wonderful”), celebrates McCartney’s fifty years in the music business. 2009 Gershwin Prize winner Stevie Wonder will be on hand to mark the occasion, as will Herbie Hancock, Elvis Costello, and the Jonas Brothers (who dazzled fans with a free concert at Warner Theatre early this morning).

McCartney is the first non-American to receive the prize after Wonder in 2009 and Paul Simon in 2007. Tonight’s concert will be televised on July 28.

Obama Tweets, Media Follow

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1562488393_210c6f0377With a president who addresses the nation weekly via YouTube, can you really be surprised that the White House is now on Twitter? The account name is — surprise again — WhiteHouse, and it’s yet another way the Obama administration is trying to get its message out beyond the usual avenue of the White House press corps.

As of this moment, there are nearly 33,000 followers, including at least one White House correspondent — Jake Tapper of ABC News. The media at large have noticed with articles (Washington Post and USA Today, for instance). Doubtlessly more news organizations will as well.

The question: Is a Twittering White House a good thing? Let us know what you think in a comment.

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