Announcing the New WHCA Executive Director

Dear WHCA members,

I am pleased to share with you today that the White House Correspondents’ Association has hired a new executive director to succeed Julia Whiston, who is stepping down in May after two decades of stellar service. After conducting a nationwide search, fielding over 100 applications and conducting interviews with more than 10 candidates, we are happy to announce that Steve Thomma, former White House Correspondent and former Politics and Government Editor at McClatchy, will be taking over as executive director of the WHCA next month. Like Julie, Steve will report to the WHCA board and help us carry out our mission of pushing for press access at the White House, administering our student scholarship and mentorship program, and planning our annual dinner.

Steve is uniquely qualified for this role. Having served both as a board member and as board president, he is intimately familiar with the work of the White House press corps and our association. He is an award-winning journalist, having received the Gerald R. Ford Foundation’s Prize for Distinguished Reporting in 2010 and the Aldo Beckman Memorial Award in 2000. You would be hard-pressed to find someone more passionate about what we do.

Steve has a wealth of ideas about how to help the association move forward and is eager to support the board and our membership in as many ways as he can. He will start in the WHCA office this week, shadowing and assisting Julie as she helps to plan her final White House Correspondents’ Dinner as executive director. I will have more to say about her phenomenal contributions to the association in the coming weeks. For now, please join me in welcoming Steve to this role and let us know if you have any questions.