White House Correspondents' Association facts for kids

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White House Correspondents' Association

Abbreviation	WHCA
Formation	February 25, 1914; 111 years ago (1914-02-25)
Legal status	501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
Location	Washington, D.C.
President	Tamara Keith (NPR News)
Executive Director	Steven Thomma
Revenue (2015)	$366,481
Expenses (2015)	$311,090
Employees (2015)	0

The White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) is an organization of journalists who cover the White House and the president of the United States. The WHCA was founded on February 25, 1914, by journalists in response to an unfounded rumor that a United States congressional committee would select which journalists could attend press conferences of President Woodrow Wilson.

The WHCA operates independently of the White House. Among the more notable issues handled by the WHCA are the credentialing process, access to the president and physical conditions in the White House press briefing rooms. Its most high-profile activity is the annual White House Correspondents' dinner, which is traditionally attended by the president and covered by the news media. Except for Donald Trump, every president has attended at least one WHCA dinner, beginning with Calvin Coolidge in 1924.

Association leadership, 2022-2023
Association presidents
White House press room
White House Correspondents' dinner
- Gallery
Awards
See also

Association leadership, 2022-2023

The leadership of the White House Correspondents' Association includes:

Officers
- President: Tamara Keith, NPR
- Vice President: Kelly O'Donnell, NBC News
- Treasurer: Eugene Daniel, Politico
Board members
- Todd J. Gillman, The Dallas Morning News
- Doug Mills, The New York Times
- Justin Sink, Bloomberg News
- Karen Travers, ABC News
- Sara Cook, CBS News
- Jacqui Heinrich, Fox News
Executive Director
- Steven Thomma

Association presidents

Year	Name	Employer
1914–20	William Wallace Price	The Washington Star
1921–22	Frank R. Lamb	The Washington Star
1922–23	J. Russell Young	The Washington Star
1923–24	E. Ross Bartley	Associated Press
1924–25	Isaac Gregg	The Sun
1925–26	George E. Durno	International News Service
1926–27	John Edwin Nevin	The Washington Post
1927–28	John T. Lambert	Universal Service
1928–29	J. Russell Young	The Washington Star
1929–30	Wilbur Forrest	New York Herald Tribune
1930–31	Lewis Wood	The New York Times
1931–33	Paul R. Mallon	syndicated columnist
1933–34	George E. Durno	International News Service
1934–35	Francis M. Stephenson	Associated Press
1935–36	Albert J. Warner	New York Herald Tribune
1936–37	Frederick J. Storm	United Press Associations
1937–38	Walter J. Trohan	Chicago Tribune
1938–40	Earl Godwin	The Washington Times
1940	Felix Belair Jr.	The New York Times
1940–41	Thomas F. Reynolds	United Press Associations
1941–42	John C. O'Brien	The Philadelphia Inquirer
1942	John C. Henry	The Washington Star
1942–43	Douglas B. Cornell	Associated Press
1943–44	Paul Wooten	The Times-Picayune
1944–45	Merriman Smith	United Press Associations
1946–47	Edward T. Folliard	The Washington Post
1947–48	Felix Belair Jr.	The New York Times
1948–49	Ernest B. ("Tony") Vaccaro	Associated Press
1949–50	Robert G. Nixon	International News Service
1950–53	Carlton Kent	Chicago Sun-Times
1953–54	Robert J. Donovan	New York Herald Tribune
1954–55	Anthony H. Leviero	The New York Times
1955–56	Laurence H. Burd	Chicago Tribune
1956–58	Francis M. Stephenson	Daily News
1958–59	Marvin Arrowsmith	Associated Press
1959–61	Garnett D. Horner	The Washington Star
1961–62	William H.Y. Knighton Jr.	The Baltimore Sun
1962–63	Robert Roth	Philadelphia Bulletin
1963–64	Merriman Smith	United Press International
1964–66	Alan L. Otten	The Wall Street Journal
1966–67	Robert E. Thompson	Hearst Newspapers
1967–68	Frank Cormier	Associated Press
1968–69	Carroll Kilpatrick	The Washington Post
1969–70	Charles W. Bailey II	Minneapolis Tribune
1970–71	Peter Lisagor	Chicago Daily News
1971–72	John P. Sutherland	U.S. News & World Report
1972–73	Edgar A. Poe	The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
1973–74	Ted Knap	Scripps Howard Newspapers

Year	Name	Employer
1974–75	James Deakin	St. Louis Post-Dispatch
1975–76	Helen Thomas	United Press International
1976–77	Lawrence M. O'Rourke	Philadelphia Bulletin
1977–78	Paul F. Healy	Daily News
1978–79	Aldo Beckman	Chicago Tribune
1979–80	Ralph Harris	Reuters
1980–81	Robert C. Pierpoint	CBS News
1981–82	Clifford Evans	RKO General Broadcasting
1982–83	Thomas M. DeFrank	Newsweek
1983–84	James R. Gerstenzang	Associated Press
1984–85	Sara Fritz	Los Angeles Times
1985–86	Gary F. Schuster	CBS News
1986–87	Bill Plante	CBS News
1987–88	Norman D. Sandler	United Press International
1988–89	Jeremiah O'Leary	The Washington Times
1989–90	Johanna Neuman	USA Today
1990–91	Robert M. Ellison	Sheridan Broadcasting
1991–92	Charles Bierbauer	CNN
1992–93	Karen Hosler	The Baltimore Sun
1993–94	George E. Condon Jr.	Copley News Service
1994–95	Kenneth T. Walsh	U.S. News & World Report
1995–96	Carl P. Leubsdorf	The Dallas Morning News
1996–97	Terence Hunt	Associated Press
1997–98	Laurence McQuillan	Reuters
1998–99	Stewart Powell	Hearst Newspapers
1999–2000	Susan Page	USA Today
2000–01	Arlene Dillon	CBS News
2001–02	Steve Holland	Reuters
2002–03	Bob Deans	Cox Newspapers
2003–04	Carl M. Cannon	National Journal
2004–05	Ron Hutcheson	Knight Ridder
2005–06	Mark Smith	Associated Press TV and Radio
2006–07	Steve Scully	C-SPAN
2007–08	Ann Compton	ABC News
2008–09	Jennifer Loven	Associated Press
2009–10	Edwin Chen	Bloomberg
2010–11	David Jackson	USA Today
2011–12	Caren Bohan	Reuters
2012–13	Ed Henry	Fox News
2013–14	Steven Thomma	McClatchy
2014–15	Christi Parsons	Tribune Media
2015–16	Carol Lee	Wall Street Journal
2016–17	Jeff Mason	Reuters
2017–18	Margaret Talev	Bloomberg
2018–19	Olivier Knox	Sirius XM
2019–20	Jonathan Karl	ABC News
2020–21	Zeke Miller	Associated Press
2021–22	Steven Portnoy	CBS News Radio
2022–23	Tamara Keith	NPR
2023–24	Kelly O'Donnell (Elect)	NBC News

White House press room

The WHCA is responsible for assigned seating in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room in the White House.

White House Correspondents' dinner

The WHCA's annual dinner, begun in 1921, has become a Washington, D.C. tradition, and is traditionally attended by the president and vice president. Except for Donald Trump, every president has attended at least one WHCA dinner, beginning with Calvin Coolidge in 1924. The dinner is traditionally held on the evening of the last Saturday in April at the Washington Hilton.

Until 1962, the dinner was open only to men, even though WHCA's membership included women. At the urging of Helen Thomas, President John F. Kennedy refused to attend the dinner unless the ban on women was dropped.

Prior to World War II, the annual dinner featured singing between courses, a homemade movie, and an hour-long, post-dinner show with big-name performers. Since 1983, the featured speaker has usually been a comedian, with the dinner taking on the form of a comedy roast of the president and his administration.

The dinner also funds scholarships for gifted students in college journalism programs.

Many annual dinners have been cancelled or downsized due to deaths or political crises. The dinner was cancelled in 1930 due to the death of former president William Howard Taft; in 1942, following the United States' entry into World War II; and in 1951, over what President Harry S. Truman called the "uncertainty of the world situation." In 1981, Ronald Reagan did not attend because he was recuperating after the attempted assassination the previous month.

During his presidency, Donald Trump did not attend the dinners in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Trump indicated that he might attend in 2019 since this dinner did not feature a comedian as the featured speaker. However, on April 5, 2019, he announced that he again would not attend, calling the dinner "so boring, and so negative," instead hosting a political rally that evening in Wisconsin. On April 22, Trump ordered a boycott of the dinner, with White House Cabinet Secretary Bill McGinley assembling the agencies' chiefs of staff to issue a directive that members of the administration not attend. However, some members of the administration attended pre- and post-dinner parties.

Gallery

President Gerald Ford (left) with White House Correspondent Helen Thomas at the 1975 Dinner.
President Bill Clinton (right) with television actor Mike Maronna (left) celebrating a successful online purchase in a comedic short film recorded for the 2000 Dinner.
President George W. Bush (left) with Bush impersonator Steve Bridges in character (right) at the 2006 Dinner.
President Barack Obama ending his final Correspondents' Dinner speech with a mic drop at the 2016 Dinner.

Awards

Note: Award years represent the date the work was published/broadcast, which is always one year before the prize was awarded.

The Aldo Beckman Memorial Award

Established in 1981 in memory of Aldo Beckman (1934–1980), the "late Chicago Tribune Washington bureau chief, a past president of the association.... Given annually to a Washington reporter 'who personifies the journalistic excellence as well as the personal qualities exemplified by Mr. Beckman, an award-winning White House correspondent.'" Awarded for overall excellence in White House coverage.

Year	Recipient	Employer
1981	Helen Thomas	UPI
1982	Rich Jaroslovsky	The Wall Street Journal
1983	Lou Cannon	The Washington Post
1984	David Hoffman	The Washington Post
1985	Robert Timberg	The Baltimore Sun
1986	W. Dale Nelson	Associated Press
1987	Gerald F. Seib	The Wall Street Journal
1988
1989	Ann Devroy	The Washington Post
1990	Kenneth T. Walsh	U.S. News & World Report
1991	Timothy J. McNulty	Chicago Tribune
1992	Thomas DeFrank	Newsweek
1993	Jeffrey Birnbaum	The Wall Street Journal
1994	Kathy Lewis	The Dallas Morning News
1995	John A. Farrell	The Boston Globe
1996	Todd Purdum	The New York Times
1997	Michael K. Frisby	The Wall Street Journal
1998	John Harris	The Washington Post
1999	Jeanne Cummings	The Wall Street Journal
2000	Steve Thomma	Knight Ridder
2001	Anne E. Kornblut	The Boston Globe
2002	Dana Milbank	The Washington Post
2003	David Sanger	The New York Times
2004	Susan Page	USA Today
2005	Carl Cannon	National Journal
2006	Kenneth T. Walsh	U.S. News & World Report
2007	Alexis Simendinger	National Journal
2008	Michael Abramowitz	The Washington Post
2009	Mark Knoller	CBS News
2010	Peter Baker	The New York Times
2011	Scott Wilson	The Washington Post
2012	Ryan Lizza	The New Yorker
2013	Glenn Thrush	Politico
2013	Brianna Keilar	CNN
2014	Peter Baker	The New York Times
2015	Carol Lee	The Wall Street Journal
2016	Greg Jaffe	The Washington Post
2017	Maggie Haberman	The New York Times
2018	McKay Coppins	The Atlantic
2019	Yamiche Alcindor	PBS NewsHour
2020	Philip Rucker	The Washington Post
2021	Jonathan Swan	Axios
2022	Matt Viser	The Washington Post

Award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure

The award was established in 1970 as the Merriman Smith Memorial Award for outstanding examples of deadline reporting.

Year	Recipient	Category	Employer	Article / Show	Notes & Ref
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974	Douglas C. Wilson	Print	The Providence Journal	Resignation of President Nixon
1975	Aldo Beckman	Print	Chicago Tribune	"Sarah Jane Moore's assassination attempt on President Ford"
1976
1977	Michael J. Sniffen and Richard E. Meyer	Print	AP	Bert Lance used the same stock as collateral for two different loans.
1978	Edward Walsh	Print		The Camp David Summit Conference
1979
1980	John Palmer	Broadcast	NBC News	"...the failed attempt by President Jimmy Carter’s administration to rescue the American hostages in Iran."
1980	Lars-Erik Nelson and Frank Van Riper	Print	New York Daily News	"deadline coverage of the negotiations to free American hostages held in Iran during the Carter administration."
1981
1982
1983	Staff	Print	Newsweek	"Coverage of the bombing of Marine headquarters in Lebanon"
1984	David Hoffman	Print	The Washington Post	"President Reagan's blaming a terrorist attack on the U.S. Embassy annex in Beirut on the 'near destruction' of U.S. intelligence during the Carter administration."
1985
1986	Owen Ullmann	Print	Knight Ridder	"The Reykjavík Summit"
1987	Gerald F. Seib	Print	The Wall Street Journal
1988
1989	Norman D. Sandler	Print	UPI
1990	Steve Taylor	Broadcast	Unistar Radio Networks	"President Bush's trip to Saudi Arabia."
1990	Norman D. Sandler	Print	UPI	"1990 Helsinki summit"
1991	Susan Page	Print	Newsday	Gulf War
1992	Peter Maer	Broadcast	Mutual-NBC Radio	Live coverage of President George Bush's collapse at an official dinner in Tokyo
1992	David Espo	Print	AP	Deadline reporting on Election Day 1992
1993	Mara Liasson	Broadcast	National Public Radio
1993	Terrence Hunt	Print	Associated Press
1994	Mara Liasson	Broadcast	NPR
1994	William Neikirk	Print	Chicago Tribune
1995	Mark Knoller	Broadcast	CBS News	"Writing and broadcasting multiple breaking stories ... about a White House intruder."
	Peter Maer	Broadcast	Mutual/NBC Radio	"Outstanding broadcast of President Clinton's attendance at the funeral of the Israeli Prime Minister."
	Susan Cornwell	Print	Reuters America	President Clinton and taxes: "For getting a scoop from an on-the-record presidential speech.... Cornwell's entry was the only one that caused second-day stories (and more) to be written. It not only covered news; it created news."
1996	Mara Liasson	Broadcast	National Public Radio	"Spot news coverage of the 1996 election campaign"; "she found time to ... deliver an insightful audio portrait of a small California town that President Clinton visited last October."
1996	Ron Fournier	Print	Associated Press	"An exclusive on President Clinton's new cabinet choices for the second term."
1997	Peter Maer	Broadcast	NBC Radio/Mutual News	"Evocative radio account of President Clinton's visit to Little Rock Central High School, 40 years after the school was integrated."
1997	Ron Fournier	Print	Associated Press	"President Clinton's knee injury that sent him to the hospital in the middle of the night."
1998	Jodi Enda	Print	Knight Ridder	"President Clinton's meeting with survivors of genocide in Rwanda...."
1999	Gary Nurenberg	Broadcast	KTLA-TV, Tribune Broadcasting	"Monica Lewinsky Deposed"
1999	Jodi Enda	Print	Knight Ridder Newspapers	"A poignant story about an emotional day in Kosovo."
2000	Jim Angle	Broadcast	Fox News Channel
2000	Sandra Sobieraj	Print	Associated Press
2001	Peter Maer	Broadcast	CBS News
2001	Ron Fournier	Print	Associated Press
2002	Jim Angle	Broadcast	Fox News Channel
2002	David Sanger	Print	The New York Times
2003	Mike Allen	Print	The Washington Post
2004	Ron Fournier	Print	Associated Press
2004	Jackie Calmes	Print	The Wall Street Journal		Honorable Mention
2005	Terry Moran	Broadcast	ABC News
2005	Deb Riechmann	Print	Associated Press
2006	Martha Raddatz	Broadcast	ABC News
2006	David Sanger	Print	The New York Times
2007	Ed Henry	Broadcast	CNN
2007	Deb Riechmann	Print	Associated Press
2008	David Greene	Broadcast	NPR
2008	Sandra Sobieraj Westfall	Print	People magazine
2009	Jake Tapper	Broadcast	ABC News
2009	Ben Feller	Print	Associated Press
2010	Jake Tapper	Broadcast	ABC News
2010	Dan Balz	Print	The Washington Post
2011	Jake Tapper	Broadcast	ABC News	Reporting that "Standard & Poor was on the verge of downgrading America's triple-A credit rating because of concerns over political gridlock in Washington"
2011	Glenn Thrush, Carrie Budoff Brown, Manu Raju and John Bresnahan	Print	Politico	"The deal between Barack Obama and congressional Republicans to raise the U.S. debt ceiling."
2012	Terry Moran	Broadcast	ABC News	On-air interpretation of the Supreme Court ruling of Obama's Health Care Reform Law
2012	Julie Pace	Print	Associated Press	2012 Obama campaign's get-out-the-vote strategy
2013	Peter Maer	Broadcast	CBS News	"Sequestration"
2013	Peter Baker	Print	The New York Times	"Obama Seeks Approval by Congress for Strike in Syria"
2014	Jim Avila	Broadcast	ABC News	Cuba/Alan Gross
2014	Josh Lederman	Print	Associated Press	Fence Jumper
2015	Norah O'Donnell	Broadcast	CBS News	"60 Minutes interview with Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden on his decision not to run for president" in 2016.
2015	Matt Viser	Print	The Boston Globe	"An Inside Look at How the Iran Talks Unfolded"
2016	Edward-Isaac Dovere	Print	Politico	"How Obama set a trap for Raul Castro"
2017	Evan Perez, Jim Sciutto, Jake Tapper and Carl Bernstein	Broadcast	CNN	Intelligence community's briefing of Obama and Trump "that Russia had compromising information about Trump."
2017	Josh Dawsey	Print	Politico	"Resignation of White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer"
2018	Ed Henry	Broadcast	Fox News	Interview with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt
2018	Josh Dawsey	Print	Washington Post
2019	Alan Cullison, Rebecca Ballhaus, and Dustin Volz	Print	The Wall Street Journal	"Trump Repeatedly Pressed Ukraine to Investigate Biden's Son"
2019		Broadcast	CNN	"FBI. Open the door."
2020	Michael Balsamo	Print	Associated Press	"Disputing Trump, Barr says no widespread election fraud"
2020	Jonathan Karl	Broadcast	ABC News	Trump getting COVID and being rushed to the hospital
2021	Zeke Miller and Mike Balsamo	Print	Associated Press	CDC mask order
2021	Jonathan Karl	Broadcast	ABC News	January 6 United States Capitol attack coverage
2022	Jeff Mason	Print	Reuters	"Exclusive: Biden to waive tariffs for 24 months on solar panels hit by probe"
2022	Phil Mattingly	Broadcast	CNN	Zelensky's White House visit

Katharine Graham Award for Courage and Accountability

A $10,000 prize to "recognize an individual or newsgathering team for coverage of subjects and events of significant national or regional importance in line with the human and professional qualities exemplified by the late Katharine Graham, the distinguished former publisher of The Washington Post. Debuted in 2020.

Year	Recipient	Employer	Article / Show
2019		ProPublica	"Death in the Pacific"
2020		The Marshall Project, AL.com, the IndyStar, and Invisible Institute	"Mauled: When Police Dogs are Weapons"
2021		International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, The Washington Post, "and media partners around the world"	Pandora Papers
2022	Josh Gerstein and Alex Ward	Politico

Award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage by Visual Journalists

$1,000 "award recognizes a video or photojournalist for uniquely covering the presidency from a journalistic standpoint, either at the White House or in the field. This could be breaking news, a scheduled event or feature coverage." Debuted in 2020.

Year	Recipient	Employer	Work
2019	Doug Mills	The New York Times	"The Pelosi Clap"
2020	Win McNamee	Getty Images	Trump and Fauci
2021	Brendan Smialowski	Agence France-Presse	"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."
2022	Doug Mills	The New York Times	"President Joe Biden walks between the Marine Honor Guard as he enters an event to celebrate the passage of H.R. 5376, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, on the South Lawn of the White House, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022."