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White House Correspondents' Association
White House Correspondents' Association logo.jpg
Abbreviation WHCA
Formation February 25, 1914; 110 years ago (1914-02-25)
Legal status 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
Location
President
Tamara Keith (NPR News)
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

The leadership of the White House Correspondents' Association includes:

Association presidents

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

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 Ref
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
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."
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."
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
David Espo Print AP Deadline reporting on Election Day 1992
1993 Mara Liasson Broadcast National Public Radio
Terrence Hunt Print Associated Press
1994 Mara Liasson Broadcast NPR
William Neikirk Print Chicago Tribune
1995 Mark Knoller Broadcast CBS News "Writing and broadcasting multiple breaking stories ... about a White House intruder."
Peter Maer 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."
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."
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"
Jodi Enda Print Knight Ridder Newspapers "A poignant story about an emotional day in Kosovo."
2000 Jim Angle Broadcast Fox News Channel
Sandra Sobieraj Print Associated Press
2001 Peter Maer Broadcast CBS News
Ron Fournier Print Associated Press
2002 Jim Angle Broadcast Fox News Channel
David Sanger Print The New York Times
2003 Mike Allen Print The Washington Post
2004 Ron Fournier Print Associated Press
Jackie Calmes Print The Wall Street Journal Honorable Mention
2005 Terry Moran Broadcast ABC News
Deb Riechmann Print Associated Press
2006 Martha Raddatz Broadcast ABC News
David Sanger Print The New York Times
2007 Ed Henry Broadcast CNN
Deb Riechmann Print Associated Press
2008 David Greene Broadcast NPR
Sandra Sobieraj Westfall Print People magazine
2009 Jake Tapper Broadcast ABC News
Ben Feller Print Associated Press
2010 Jake Tapper Broadcast ABC News
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"
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
Julie Pace Print Associated Press 2012 Obama campaign's get-out-the-vote strategy
2013 Peter Maer Broadcast CBS News "Sequestration"
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
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.
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."
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
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"
Broadcast CNN "FBI. Open the door."
2020 Michael Balsamo Print Associated Press "Disputing Trump, Barr says no widespread election fraud"
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
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"
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 Notes & Ref
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 Notes & Ref
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."

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Asociación de corresponsales de la Casa Blanca para niños

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