The White House Correspondents’ Association is pleased to announce that two trailblazing photojournalists – Susan Walsh and Melissa Young – will be honored with this year’s Dunnigan-Payne Prize.
They will be honored at the 2026 White House Correspondents’ Association Saturday in Washington.
Walsh had a 37-year career in photojournalism, nearly 34 of them with The Associated Press.
Young’s career as a broadcast news photographer spanned more than four decades, including 44 years at ABC News.
“The WHCA lifetime career achievement awards are named in honor of Alice Dunnigan and Ethel Payne, who showed the world what happens when you refuse to be pushed aside to keep bearing witness on behalf of the American public. This year’s winners, Susan Walsh and Melissa Young, spent their careers doing exactly that. Their work has set a benchmark for excellence, dedication, and integrity in documenting the presidency,” said Weijia Jiang, president of the association.
“Their influence extends beyond their own work. As pioneers in the industry, they helped shape a more inclusive and dynamic press corps while earning deep respect across generations of journalists.”
The Dunnigan-Payne Prize was created in 2022 to honor the contributions of the first African American women of the White House press corps, Alice Dunnigan and Ethel Payne, who exhibited persistence, resilience, and tough reporting.
About Susan Walsh
Susan Walsh’s first real photo? A third-grade crush. During Field Day, she begged to bring a camera to school to capture a picture of her classmate. “Basically,” she laughs, “I started out as a paparazzi.”
Later, after internships and freelancing around Boston, she took a staff job at The Springfield Union-News. Her persistence led to a career covering Super Bowls, Boston Marathons, and five Olympic Games.
She officially joined the AP’s Boston staff in 1991, transferring to Washington, D.C., in 1997 after covering President Clinton’s second inauguration. She photographed every U.S. president from Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump, traveling the world as part of the White House press pool with many of them. She also covered Jimmy Carter in his post presidency.
In 1999, she was part of the AP team that won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for coverage of President Clinton’s impeachment.
As president of the White House News Photographers Association (2001–2006), she advocated for increased press access and helped push AP and other outlets to limit the use of government handout photos. In 2025, she received the WHNPA Lifetime Achievement Award.
About Melissa Young
Melissa Young is a retired broadcast news photographer whose career spans more than four decades, including 44 years at ABC News. Beginning in local news in Miami, she went on to cover Capitol Hill and the White House, documenting presidencies from Ronald Reagan through Donald Trump, campaigns, secretaries of state and defense, as well as reporting from disaster zones, war zones, and around the world.
In a field long dominated by men, Melissa built her career with persistence, resilience, and quiet determination—breaking barriers while remaining deeply committed to telling meaningful stories.
She is also proud to have been married for 36 years and is the mother of two adult children.