Dear colleagues,

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its guidance on mask wearing for fully vaccinated individuals, citing the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines. We can all agree that is an important step closer to returning to normal after 15 months of disruption.

Effective immediately, pursuant to the new CDC guidance, mask-wearing requirements are lifted at the White House complex for those who are 14 days after their last required dose of one of the COVID-19 shots.

The WHCA is working in earnest with the White House on a range of other changes to safely bring things closer to ‘normal’ for journalists on the complex. We anticipate being able to outline additional significant adjustments in the coming days. In the interim, all other current guidance remains in place.

Sincerely,

The WHCA Board

We regret to announce that we are unable to hold our annual dinner this year.

We have worked through any number of scenarios over the last several months, but to put it plainly: while improving rapidly, the COVID-19 landscape is just not at a place where we could make the necessary decisions to go ahead with such a large indoor event.

Dinner or not, we will spend the next few months celebrating and honoring the First Amendment, the remarkable journalism produced over the last year and the promising young reporters who will serve as the next generation in our ranks.

–We will soon announce our annual awards for the very best in presidential news coverage, not to mention the second annual Katharine Graham Award for Courage and Accountability of national significance;

–In the coming weeks we’ll be announcing our latest cohort of WHCA Scholarship winners from around the country, a truly impressive group of up-and-coming journalists;

–We have planned a series of events to showcase the best of journalism, in part for those very students;

–And last but surely not least, we will do all this in person next year, with the WHCA annual dinner on April 30, 2022.

Our top priority remains ensuring that journalists can continue to safely work from the White House and fulfill their vital role in keeping the public informed. Expect information in the coming weeks about our annual membership town hall, at which we will outline plans to safely begin easing some virus-related restrictions.

-The White House Correspondents’ Association

The White House Correspondents’ Association is very happy to announce the creation of a new scholarship in partnership with the Asian American Journalists Association.

“We’re thrilled to be joining with the AAJA in this new partnership and excited about the chance to help not only a promising student, but to encourage and assist a whole new generation of  young journalists who represent the diversity of the country and increasingly the newsrooms of America,” said WHCA President Zeke Miller.

“We are honored and excited to launch this partnership alongside the WHCA,” said Michelle Lee, AAJA President. “Providing Asian American and Pacific Islander student journalists an opportunity to be mentored by an experienced AAJA member is core to our mission of building a pipeline of AAPI journalists and supporting students with scholarship assistance, guidance and a professional network.”

The new scholarship adds to partnerships the WHCA already has with 10 universities around the United States. They are American University, Arizona State University, Columbia University, Howard University, Northwestern University, Ohio University, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Kansas, the University of Maryland and the University of Missouri.

It also has a scholarship partnership with the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

And the WHCA honors an independently financed scholarship recipient from Iowa State University, in partnership with the White House Historical Association.

The new WHCA-AAJA scholarship will be for $2,000 each year, with the WHCA contributing half and the AAJA contributing half. The student also will be matched with a volunteer mentor from the White House press corps for a year.

Since the WHCA started helping students in 1991, it has awarded more than $1.4 million in scholarships and leveraged an additional $1.2 million in aid. Scholarships are financed by donations – anyone can help by donating here – and by proceeds from the association’s annual dinner.

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

About the WHCA

The White House Correspondents’ Association exists to promote excellence in journalism as well as journalism education, and to ensure robust news coverage of the president and the presidency. We support awards for some of the best political reporting of the past year, and scholarships for young reporters who carry our hopes for vibrant journalism in the years to come. Each day, we work to ensure that the men and women who cover the White House have the ability to seek answers from powerful officials, up to and including the President.

On Twitter @whca

Online at www.whca.press:

About AAJA 

The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) is a membership nonprofit advancing diversity in newsrooms and ensuring fair and accurate coverage of communities of color. AAJA has more than 1,500 members across the United States and Asia. AAJA’s four-fold mission is to increase AAPI perspectives and representation in newsrooms, media, and storytelling. We do so by the following: 

• To provide a means of association and support among Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) journalists, and to advance AAPI journalists as news managers and media executives.
• To provide encouragement, information, advice and scholarship assistance to AAPI students who aspire to professional journalism careers.
• To provide to the AAPI community an awareness of news media and an understanding of how to gain fair access.
• To research and point out when news media organizations stray from accuracy and fairness in the coverage of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and AAPI issues.

On Twitter: @aaja 

Online at www.aaja.org

“At a moment when the world already has watched an assault on our democratic institutions, the Trump administration has chosen to send another message – with an assault on the First Amendment. It did so at the Voice of America, a taxpayer-supported service tasked by Congress with broadcasting uncensored journalism to the world to demonstrate freedoms – particularly freedom of the press – that the United States hopes all nations will emulate. VOA’s reassignment of Patsy Widakuswara for doing her job, asking questions, is an affront to the very ideals Secretary of State Pompeo discussed in his speech Monday. The move, mere hours before Widakuswara was to fly with the president as a member of the travel pool on Air Force One, harms the interests of all Americans who depend on the free press to learn about the actions of their government and gives comfort to efforts to restrict press freedom around the world.”

–Zeke Miller, president, White House Correspondents’ Association, on behalf of the board of the WHCA

The White House Correspondents’ Association is pleased to announce the creation of a new scholarship in partnership with the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

“The White House Correspondents’ Association is excited to begin this partnership with NAHJ, as we look to foster the next generation of journalists that reflects the diversity of the nation,” said Zeke Miller, president of the WHCA.

The new scholarship adds to partnerships the association already has with 10 universities around the United States. They are American University, Arizona State University, Columbia University, Howard University, Northwestern University, Ohio University, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Kansas, the University of Maryland and the University of Missouri.

The WHCA also honors an independently financed scholarship recipient from Iowa State University, in partnership with the White House Historical Association.

All are assigned volunteer mentors for a year from among the veteran journalists of the White House press corps.

“Historically, NAHJ and the White House Correspondents’ Association have a shared priority in each organization’s work to nurture the next generation of journalists,” said Alberto B. Mendoza, executive director of the NAHJ. “This scholarship will significantly increase the impact, as representation is crucial to the press corps’ role in providing access to the public and ensuring equal access to all news sources.”

The WHCA-NAHJ Scholarship will be awarded each year to a student with a demonstrated interest in a career in journalism and proven academic performance. The student must be aware of the issues facing the Latino community and Latinos in the newsroom while also striving to portray all people in a fair and accurate manner in coverage of stories.

The scholarship will be for $2,000 each year, with the WHCA contributing half and the NAHJ contributing half.

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

About the WHCA

Founded in 1914, the White House Correspondents’ Association exists to promote excellence in journalism as well as journalism education, and to ensure robust news coverage of the president and the presidency. We support awards for some of the best political reporting of the past year, and scholarships for young reporters who carry our hopes for vibrant journalism in the years to come. Each day, we work to ensure that the men and women who cover the White House have the ability to seek answers from powerful officials, up to and including the President.

Our association comprises hundreds of members from the worlds of print, television, radio and online journalism. Their work, for outlets based in the United States and overseas, reaches a global audience.

About the NAHJ

The National Association of Hispanic Journalists is the largest organization of Latino journalists in the United States and dedicated to the recognition and professional advancement of Hispanics in the news industry. The mission of NAHJ is to increase the number of Latinos in the newsrooms and to work toward fair and accurate representation of Latinos in the news media. Established in April 1984, NAHJ created a national voice and unified vision for all Hispanic journalists. NAHJ has over 3,200 members, including working journalists, journalism students, other media-related professionals, and journalism educators. For more information please visit NAHJ.org or follow on Twitter @NAHJ. 

Since the onset of the pandemic, the WHCA has made it its primary mission to facilitatethe safest possible working environment for journalists at the White House. From reducing seating in the briefing room and workspaces to enforcing a face-covering requirement, we have acted to reflect the latest CDC and local government guidance. Since March, we have advocated publicly, but also privately, for measures to protect journalists and their ability to do their work in these uncertain times. 

The events of the past week have understandably raised concerns and sparked frustrations about working conditions at the White House. We share them. We bring you this update in hopes that it will help you all prepare for the days and weeks ahead.

First off, our thoughts are with our three colleagues who are dealing with the coronavirus. We wish them a quick and complete recovery.

Since Friday, dozens and dozens of tests have been conducted on members of our press corps who were potentially exposed. At this moment, we do not have any additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 among White House journalists nor any indications of journalist-to-journalist spread. While we are awaiting additional test results for some members, it appears clear that our safe behavior has helped contain this virus. We haven’t just been lucky, we have followed science and we have been vigilant. 

The WHCA has repeatedly pressed the White House at all levels to take steps to improve the safety conditions for journalists working there — and specifically to avoid knowingly putting in unnecessary jeopardy those serving in the pool who must be present as the eyes and ears of the American public. At a bare minimum, that should entail following the administration’s own guidelines on protecting people from the spread of the virus.

We are alarmedthat multiplestaffers in the White House press office have tested positive in recent days. We are informed that the latest positive cases in the press office have not been on the complex since Friday, and as such no journalists were deemed to be “close contacts” under CDC guidelines, which look back 48 hours from a positive test sample collection or the onset of symptoms. 

We have communicated to the White House that, as a press corps, we would like more information to evaluate our own potential exposure. We have pressed for them to provide updates on known and suspected infections so that reporters can as soon as possible know if they and their families have been put at risk. The administration, citing privacy concerns, has not provided additional details.

In the immediate days ahead, we continue to insist that journalists who are not in the pool and do not have an enclosed workspace refrain from entering the indoor press areas of the White House. We would also strongly encourage all journalists to avoid working from the White House grounds entirely if it can be avoided.

For those who must work at the White House, a mask continues to be required in any shared indoor press areas and we strongly suggest working outdoors as much as possible.

We again encourage journalists who have been at the White House since 9/26 to avail themselves of other testing options, through their local health department, personal physician, employer or other accommodation before returning to the White House complex.

We expect daily testing for the in-town, and eventually out-of-town, pools to continue. But as we all know, and as recent events have shown, frequent testing is a necessary but not sufficient condition for containing the virus.

Still, despite everything we’ve experienced in recent days, it would be foolish of us to assume that the situation at the White House or on the campaign trail will improve dramatically over the coming four weeks.

That means that we as a press corps, and each of us individually, must be clear-eyed about the potential risks of COVID-exposure on the job, taking every precaution we can to fulfill our coverage obligations while being prepared for situations with which we may not be comfortable. For instance, if you’re going to want an N95-type mask or goggles in a crowded room, don’t show up to pool duty without them.

We are an association of individuals with different risk tolerances, health statuses, family obligations, and corporate policies, and it is critical that we consider all of those before embarking on a pool assignment. If you have specific concerns, please reach out to us.

We are also all committed professionals who have worked under challenging circumstances to sustain the pool for the last seven months. Being there to ask the important questions is vital to the American public that relies on us for information.

Thank you for your cooperation and professionalism during these challenging times. And please don’t hesitate to reach out to Zeke (zmiller@ap.org) or the rest of the board if you have specific questions or concerns.

—The WHCA Board

Dear colleagues,

First off, I want to thank you all for your professionalism under these difficult and uncertain circumstances. Despite it all, we have maintained the protective pool around the president, a responsibility that is now more important than ever.

An update on where we stand: As of this moment, three White House journalists tested positive for COVID-19 today.

Individual 1 (Numbered in order of notification) received a preliminary positive test this morning at call time in the White House. The individual subsequently left the complex and received a confirming positive test. This individual was also at the White House briefing this past Sunday.

Individual 2 was most recently part of the out-of-town travel pool on Saturday for the trip to Pennsylvania but was briefly at the White House earlier in the day for a COVID test. That individual began experiencing symptoms on Thursday and tested positive earlier today.

Individual 3 was most recently part of the in-town travel pool on Sunday, which included a presidential news conference and a trip to the golf course. They also were in the in-town pool on Saturday, which included the Rose Garden event. That individual began experiencing symptoms late Wednesday and received a positive test result this afternoon.

The White House Medical Unit is beginning the process of contact tracing for these cases. We do not yet have an estimated time of completion for that process.

Given these positive cases, the president’s diagnosis and positive cases among other members of the White House staff, a number of White House journalists are self-isolating pending diagnostic testing.

Where do we go from here: Due to cases linked to the pools last weekend and the large number of press credentialed for the 9/26 Rose Garden event, we ask that if you were on the White House grounds or in the pools those days, that you pay extra attention to any changes in your health.

As of now, the White House has committed to testing those who were on Air Force One in the last week on Monday morning at call time. We strongly encourage other journalists who may have been exposed this week to avail themselves of other testing options, through their local health department, personal physician, employer or other accommodation before returning to the White House complex.

For seven months, we have been clear-eyed about the inherent risks in fulfilling our obligation to keeping the American public informed. Today those risks are more evident than ever, but our work is only growing more vital.

To allow that work to continue, we are insisting that journalists who are not in the pool and do not have an enclosed workspace to refrain from working out of the White House at this time. We must lower our exposure to possible further infections. When in the shared press areas, including at desks, please wear a mask at all times.

Avoid congregating in the break room or other areas. We urge you to take meals outdoors to minimize any time spent inside without a mask. This weekend, the weather will be pleasant and I suggest bringing a lawn chair and working from the driveway if you absolutely must be at the White House.

When going about your daily lives, please do your best to minimize risk. Your efforts both in and outside of the White House press work area are critical to maintaining a healthy press corps.

If you are returning from non-essential travel to any of the high-risk states listed in Mayor Bowser’s executive order, we ask that you avoid working from the White House press workspace during the 14 day self-quarantine period. (Journalistic assignments are considered essential.)

Finally, If you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms or test positive for the virus, please notify WHCA President Zeke Miller and Vice President Steven Portnoy immediately. 

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to the WHCA Board if you have any questions.

Thank you for your cooperation,

Zeke

Introducing the 2020 White House Correspondents’ Dinner – With host Kenan Thompson and featured entertainer Hasan Minhaj

WASHINGTON – The White House Correspondents’ Association is pleased to announce the lineup for its annual dinner, to be held on Saturday, April 25, 2020.

Kenan Thompson, the actor and longest-tenured Saturday Night Live cast-member, will serve as the evening’s host.  Hasan Minhaj, the Peabody award-winning host of Netflix’s Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj, will return to the dinner as featured entertainer.

“Kenan and Hasan are two of the most engaged and engaging entertainers in America.  I’m thrilled they’ll help us celebrate the role of a free press in our democracy,” said Jonathan Karl, Chief White House Correspondent for ABC News and president of the WHCA.  “We’re looking forward to a lively evening honoring the most important political journalism of the past year.” 

The WHCA will be presenting two new awards at the 2020 dinner: The Katharine Graham Award for Courage and Accountability and the Award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage by Visual Journalists.  These are in addition to the longstanding Aldo Beckman Award for Overall Excellence in White House Coverage and Merriman Smith Award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure.

This year’s dinner will also include the inaugural presentation of the Collier Prize for State Government Accountability, administered by the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications to recognize outstanding statehouse reporting.

Kenan Thompson began his career as a member of Nickelodeon’s sketch series All That. Thompson is currently in his 17th season on SNL where he has set a record for the most celebrity impressions performed on the show. In 2018, he received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics and a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

Hasan Minhaj has hosted his Netflix show since 2018, drawing critics’ raves, including a Peabody award in 2019, for his humorous and informed examination of issues of domestic and global import. He was the entertainer at the 2017 WHCA Dinner when he was a senior correspondent on The Daily Show.  His one-hour Netflix comedy special Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King was released in 2017, for which he won his first Peabody Award in 2018.

This year the WHCA has partnered with Bob Bain Productions, which has produced such events as the Critics’ Choice Awards, the Teen Choice Awards, the Creative Arts Emmys, Miss America and the Trevor Noah stand-up specials.

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner is a non-partisan event that supports the work of the WHCA to protect the role of independent news media coverage of the president. Proceeds fund the organization’s operating expenses and go toward scholarships and awards aimed at promoting aspiring journalists and recognizing excellence in the journalism profession.

Stay tuned for further announcements about the 2020 White House Correspondents’ Dinner. 

For more information, contact WHCA Executive Director Steve Thomma at director@whca.press or 202-266-7453.

“President Trump met with Saudi Arabia’s Vice Minister of Defense at the White House yesterday, but the public did not learn about the meeting until the Saudi government released a statement about it today.  The Saudi government also released photographs of the President and his senior advisers meeting with the Vice Minister of Defense in the Oval Office.  A meeting with a foreign leader in the Oval Office should, at the very least, be on the public schedule with a read-out of the meeting released after it is over.  This has been the long-standing precedent for presidents of both political parties.  It is disturbing to see the government of Saudi Arabia have more transparency than the White House about a meeting with the President in the Oval Office.”

– Jonathan Karl, President, The White House Correspondents’ Association

The WHCA is horrified by a video reportedly shown over the weekend at a political conference organized by the President’s supporters at the Trump National Doral in Miami. All Americans should condemn this depiction of violence directed toward journalists and the President’s political opponents. We have previously told the President his rhetoric could incite violence.  Now we call on him and everybody associated with this conference to denounce this video and affirm that violence has no place in our society.
– Jonathan Karl, President, White House Correspondents’ Association