The White House Correspondents’ Association is very happy to announce that it is creating a new scholarship, and increasing its overall financial support of college scholarships to the highest level in more than a decade.

The new scholarship grant will award $5,000 to a student at the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications at Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia.

“The additional scholarship not only provides financial support and opportunities for our students to begin building industry relationships, but it also encourages and reaffirms their talent, commitment, and potential as future journalists,” said Julia Wilson, dean of the Scripps Howard School.

“Strong, ethical journalism and the pursuit of truth is more important than ever these days, and the WHCA’s ongoing commitment to fostering diverse storytellers helps to ensure that the future of our industry remains bright. Thank you for your unwavering support of our student journalists at Hampton University.”

At the same time, the WHCA is increasing its financial support of 8 other scholarships around the country helping students at American University, Northwestern University, Ohio University, the University of Illinois, the University of Kansas, and the University of Tennessee.

All of the students from those schools and others receiving 2025 scholarships are invited as guests at the WHCA’s annual dinner on April 26.

They also will attend a luncheon and program the day before in Washington. And they will be paired with volunteer mentors from the White House press corps.

“The WHCA scholarship committee is proud of our continued and expanded support for the next generation of journalists,” said Weijia Jiang, vice president of the WHCA and chair of its Scholarships Committee. “This financial growth comes at a time when the American public needs dogged reporters more than ever. We are looking forward to recognizing and celebrating the scholars for their hard work and dedication to journalism.”

Overall, the association will spend $139,000 on scholarships in 2025, an 11.6 percent increase from 2024. It is the highest total since a 1-year spike in 2009, and the second highest in the association’s 34-year history of giving scholarships.

The association in 2025 also will leverage another $56,042 in aid and grants.

Including this year, the WHCA has awarded $2.1 million in scholarships, and leveraged another $1.6 million in aid.

“One of the most important objectives of the WHCA is to help mentor the next generation of White House reporters and I’m so thrilled we have been able to add a new scholarship and increase spending of eight others,” said Eugene Daniels, president of the association. “It’s vital that we invest in young people who want to cover Washington, DC without fear or favor.”

After a spike in spending in 2009 proved unsustainable, the association has followed a strategy of assuring future financial aid to aspiring and promising young journalists.

In 2014, it created a reserve fund to ensure that it could continue awarding scholarships without cuts or interruption even in challenging times. And since 2014, it has followed a strategy of growth including new partnerships to help students in more parts of the country.

It’s added scholarships in Arizona, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia. And it created new partnerships with the Asian American Journalists Association and National Association of Hispanic Journalists that provide scholarships at various schools.

For more on the WHCA Scholarship program, contact Executive Director Steve Thomma at director@whca.press

“This move tears at the independence of a free press in the United States. It suggests the government will choose the journalists who cover the president.  In a free country, leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps.

“For generations, the working journalists elected to lead the White House Correspondents’ Association board have consistently expanded the WHCA’s membership and its pool rotations to facilitate the inclusion of new and emerging outlets.

“Since its founding in 1914, the WHCA has sought to ensure that the reporters, photographers, producers and technicians who actually do the work – 365 days of every year – decide amongst themselves how these rotations are operated, so as to ensure consistent professional standards and fairness in access on behalf of all readers, viewers and listeners.

“To be clear, the White House did not give the WHCA board a heads up or have any discussions about today’s announcements. But the WHCA will never stop advocating for comprehensive access, full transparency and the right of the American public to read, listen to and watch reports from the White House, delivered without fear or favor.”

From WHCA President Eugene Daniels

“The WHCA has filed a motion seeking to submit an amicus brief in a case contesting the White House’s viewpoint discrimination of one of our members.

“The brief reiterates our position that the government cannot dictate how news organizations report or penalize journalists for not advancing the government’s preferred language. White House aides and the president have explicitly admitted this is why The Associated Press has been barred from the Oval Office, Air Force One and other events. This situation is, as it has been from the beginning, unacceptable and has already had a chilling effect on journalists who simply want to do their job on behalf of the American people.

From the Brief:

“The government should never interfere with the operation of an independent press, nor should it demand that reporters adopt the government’s messaging, framing, and, indeed, ideological worldview.  Such conduct is wholly at odds with the Constitution and cannot be permitted to persist.”

Read the Full WHCA brief here.

“The White House’s decision to bar Associated Press reporters from today’s press conference with President Trump and Prime Minister Modi is outrageous and a deeply disappointing escalation of an already unacceptable situation. Let me be clear: the White House is seeking to curtail the press freedoms enshrined in our Constitution, and has admitted publicly they are restricting access to events to punish a news outlet for not advancing the government’s preferred language.

“Free speech and a free press are among the defining values of American democracy and must be preserved and protected. Our pool system is critical to ensure all of our members can cover the presidency, and prohibiting journalists from access because of their editorial decisions is viewpoint discrimination.

“The attempted government censorship of a free press risks a chilling effect on journalists doing their job without fear or favor on behalf of the American people.

“This is a textbook violation of not only the First Amendment, but the president’s own executive order on freedom of speech and ending federal censorship. We again call on the White House to immediately reverse course and restore access to AP journalists.”

-Eugene Daniels, White House Correspondents’ Association President

In the relationship between the press and the Office of the President, coverage and standards are entirely in the purview of individual organizations.

The White House cannot dictate how news organizations report the news, nor should it penalize working journalists because it is unhappy with their editors’ decisions. The move by the administration to bar a reporter from The Associated Press from an official event open to news coverage today is unacceptable.

The WHCA stands with The Associated Press and calls on the administration to immediately change course.

-Eugene Daniels, president of the WHCA

NOTE to those who cover the Red Carpet:

March 14 – we will send a form out to apply for credentials. Space is extremely tight, and ONLY those approved for credentials will be allowed to enter and cover the red carpet.

April 1 -we will notify those approved for credentials.

For information, contact Executive Director Steve Thomma, director @whca.press

We are happy to share information about a new award for White House reporting.

The Center for Integrity in News Reporting Award will be “for the most fair, impartial, objective news reporting that has the courage to not fear and the discipline to not favor.”

It will honor White House coverage by members of the WHCA. It will be sponsored and administered by the Arkansas-based Center for Integrity in News Reporting.

It comes with a prize of $25,000.

It will be presented at the WHCA annual dinner, along with the WHCA’’s own Journalism Awards. This is similar to the Collier Prize for State Government Accountability, which also is administered independently and presented at the WHCA dinner.

For more about the center or the award, www.cfinr.org and https://www.cfinr.org/awards-2025

You may submit your entries here: https://www.cfinr.org/awards-2025

NOTE: The deadline for submissions is now Feb. 15.

Any questions about the award should go to should go to Rufus Friday, Executive Director of the Center for Integrity In News Reporting. Reach him at rfriday@cfinr.org

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About the Center:

The Center for Integrity in News Reporting, based in Little Rock, was started by Walter Hussman, the publisher of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in Little Rock, Arkansas, and chairman of WEHCO Media, Inc., which operates eleven daily newspapers and cable television companies across six states.

From the center’s website: “The Center for Integrity in News Reporting is dedicated to recognizing and awarding excellence in journalism that embodies impartiality, objectivity, and fairness. Our mission is to restore and maintain public trust in news reporting. We honor those who demonstrate these core values in their reporting.

# # #

For any questions about the WHCA or its own awards, contact Executive Director Steve Thomma at director@whca.press

Throughout this election cycle, the WHCA has grown increasingly concerned about the lack of a media access inside debate halls. The unprecedented backsliding in access has limited our ability to chronicle the on-camera debate, in addition to the moments during commercial breaks. The American people deserve to have a clear view of these moments.

The problem stems from the campaigns’ decision to bypass the longstanding tradition of working through the Commission on Presidential Debates. Instead, they are operating directly with news organizations. For tonight’s debate, CBS is only allowing one print representative, one television representative and six still photographers, who won’t be permitted to move around to take photos during the event.

While we do appreciate ABC and CBS for the good faith negotiations that led to notable progress, the end results fell short of the WHCA’s expectations. They also broke traditions of access from decades of presidential debates. These restrictions are part of an alarming trend: as you may remember, there was no editorial presence in the debate hall at all during the CNN debate, other than CNN.

News organizations that choose to host presidential debates should adhere to the precedent of transparency. At the end of the day, the host chooses the venue for the debate. Spatial restrictions are completely in their control, so a shortage of space should not be an excuse to limit press access.

The WHCA’s insistence on having a full pool inside the room isn’t just about reporters being able to witness the debates. This is about the public having multiple sets of eyes and ears to properly record these moments for history.

As president, my expectation is that if there is another debate this election cycle, news organizations will commit to upholding the long standing precedent of press access.

-Eugene Daniels, President of the White House Correspondents’ Association.

“My understanding is that the current posture of the administration is for the press to only see the leaders drive in with no eyes, or cameras on POTUS in this historic moment. I can’t remember a time where this president has had a bilateral meeting on US soil and the press and therefore the American people were blocked from seeing it.

“And the WHCA’s position is that shouldn’t be the case this time either. [We] have talked through different scenarios and possibilities for the pool to be able to cover these moments. While we understand that there are security concerns, it’s essential for the public to have direct and independent press accounts of the greetings at the very least.

“[Press staff] has also walked me through what’s happening at the high school and all of that sounds very in line with these kinds of summits, but I request the administration rethink its posture on the bilateral access to adhere to the long-established standards of press access for these kinds of events.”

-Eugene Daniels, President, WHCA