Mid-week announcements are the best when it concerns White House Press Pools.
So without further ado, as Fishbowl DC informs us, Ben Feller is the AP’s new White House Correspondent. Feller covered education for the news organization from 2003 to 2006, switching to the White House since then.
This comes after the AP was awarded Helen Thomas’ seat last week. The official memo is below:
The Memo from Fishbowl after the jump
“Church is full today,” joked Gibbs. “That’s good to see.” Here’s the briefing from C-SPAN.
Most eyes were on the Associated Press who now occupy the front row, center seat once warmed by Helen Thomas – but there were several changes made by the White House Correspondents Association and a whole new seating chart – one that may require a booster seat as Gibbs pointed out to America Urban Radio Networks’ April Ryan who could barely see the podium from her spot behind NPR reporter Ari Shaprio.
“Ms. Ryan, you’re going to have to ask that gentleman in front of you to sit down a little,” joked Gibbs. “He’s a little on the tall side.”
Ryan moved up from the fourth row to the middle of the third row next to Politico, which also moved up from fourth to third row. That put Ryan directly behind NPR, one of the contenders for the Thomas perch. NPR was given Fox’s old seat in the second row, directly behind the newly ensconced AP. Fox moved up to the first row in the old AP seat. Got it?
Ending weeks of speculation, the White House Correspondents Association announced the Associated Press will take the front row, center seat in the James S. Brady Briefing Room at the White House once occupied by Helen Thomas.
The association stated the change will take effect Monday and that it was a “very difficult decision.” Bloomberg, Fox News, and NPR all made public plays for the coveted chair, which did not go unnoticed by the WHCA board. The first few minutes of Monday’s briefing might look like a game of musical chairs since the AP won’t be the only ones with a new vantage point.
The board “was persuaded by Fox’s length of service and commitment to the White House television pool” and moved them to the front row seat previously occupied by AP; NPR will shuffle into the second row seat previously held by Fox, next to Bloomberg News.
Photo: Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images
After a few jokes about who an “unexpected third party” could be, it’s almost unexpected that NPR would emerge as the dark horse for Helen Thomas’ coveted seat.
But that’s exactly what happened, according to The Upshot, when the news organization that recently dropped the “Radio” from its’ name submitted a formal letter to the White House Press Association.
NPR’s reasoning? Its audience size, scope of programming and the subtle burn that they’ve been in the White House Press Room since the 1970s compared to Bloomberg and Fox News. Once again, August 2nd will be a very exciting day.
Photo: Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images
If you like to bet on dark horses, consider August 2nd your derby come early.
Helen Thomas’ valuable front row spot in the White House Briefing Room will be determined by that Friday, according to a report from Fishbowl DC. This means the quiet battle between Fox News and Bloomberg will finally come to an end, likely with a whimper rather than explosive bang.
We already speculated about the shifts in seating, but at least we have something to look forward to when the rest of the Beltway runs away for the August recess.
Photo: Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images
Ed Henry, 2009 Gridiron Dinner. Haddad Media
The 2012-13 White House Correspondents Association election results are in–and so is President-Elect Ed Henry of CNN.
FishbowlDC shares the other incoming elects: Politico’s Carol Lee takes the At-Large Chair, Time’s Michael Scherer the Magazine Chair and Henry also won the TV Chair.
While congratulating Lee, Mike Allen shares the WHCA voting tally, proving the At-Large vote was the closest of the four races. Under the President write-ins, however, it’s hard not to notice one sarcastic vote for Helen Thomas.
Now that a new board has been selected, the eerily-quiet anticipation for who’ll inherit the abandoned front row seat may continue.
Correspondents, DC, News, News Media, Schedules and Announcements, WHCA Dinner
DC is coming out of a devastating heat wave, but we’re five days away from ending another event: which outlet inherits the seat that Helen Thomas built.
Read more…
Reliable Sources brings word that Fox News’ spot in the White House press room is being challenged once again–this time by Bloomberg News’ Managing Editor, Al Hunt.
Bloomberg (via Hunt) claims–in shades of CNN’s previous reasoning–they’ve been around longer, are more established and “[w]e write about matters financial and non-financial.” Fox News’ Vice President of News and Washington Managing Editor Bill Sammon’s plan relies on a 2007 I.O.U. from the last press room restructuring and the assumption that Bloomberg still covers just finances. The Huffington Post has the full letters here.
There’s no buzz on whether this late Bloomberg bid will work, but at least we have a Fishbowl DC poll. And in case you forget the prime real estate in question, check out WHC Insider’s press room seating chart.
Rounding out an already busy weekend, the Allbritton Brunch on Sunday proved to be the next must-attend event surrounding the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.
Held at the Georgetown Mansion of Politico owner and wife, Robert and Elena Allbritton, the posh gathering included stamina-filled notables, such as: WHCA President Ed Chen, Secretary of Health & Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, Senator Scott Brown, T. Boone Pickens, actor Ewan McGregor, and the youthful trio, the Jonas Brothers.
Check out Politico’s take.
It was nice while it lasted, right?
As reported by Politico’s Mike Allen, mere days ago White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs met with a delegation from the White House Correspondents’ Association, headed by Ed Chen, WHCA president and Bloomberg News White House correspondent.
Chen asked for the meeting “to clear the air because in my 10-plus years at the White House, rarely have I sensed such a level of anger, which is wide and deep, among members over White House practices and attitude toward the press.”
The two sides spoke on a number of issues including improved press access. Chen told Politico that he felt “very good about the collegial give and take.” Read the full interview from Politico.
Would Chen still feel that way, however, after watching Gibbs’ interview on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” with Howard Kurtz? Gibbs admitted he does “wonder at times what it would be like if we turned the cameras off and we could just have a discussion. I sometimes joke that I know when somebody thinks they have a good question, because when I walk in they’ve already got their makeup on.”
Gibbs also lamented the cable “spin cycle” and marveled at Twitter, which he called a “fascinating, fast-moving medium.”
Jay Leno’s back at the Tonight Show (in March) and back at the WHCD (in May), a venue he “headlined in 2004, 2000 and 1987,” according to Ed Henry’s report this morning at CNN.
The WH Correspondents Association, which hosts the annual dinner to raise money for college scholarships and journalism prizes, invited the comic weeks ago when “he was simply the host of a prime-time show that was failing five nights a week. But when he appears at the [dinner] … Leno will be the guy who pushed aside Conan O’Brien,” writes Lisa de Moraes in today’s Washington Post.
Click here for Lisa’s write up.
The WH Correspondents Dinner is known for outrageous moments, when a headline comedian roasts the President, who must sit and smile through the jokes. But in 2004, President Bush turned the tables on Jay Leno, giving him a little assist in standing.
John Fox Sullivan by Liz Lynch of National Journal
It was 2004 and Carl Cannon of National Journal was president of the White House Correspondents Association. National Journal Group Publisher John Fox Sullivan was seated on the dais, with a clear view of President and Laura Bush, and late night talk show host Jay Leno.
Sullivan said, “When it comes time for the president and the first lady to be seated, we all stand up, but Jay Leno was a little slow to rise from his seat. President Bush secretly reached over and goosed Leno, while making a funny sound to startle the comic.”
In a ballroom packed with 2000 reporters, a sitting president grabs an American icon — who is about to tell jokes at the president’s expense! This is what makes the White House Correspondents’ Dinner a must-attend event every year.
“The president looked at Leno with a wonderful jocular smile,” said Sullivan. ”Leno burst into laughter. After the speeches people asked what happened. Some thought it looked like Leno tripped.” Sullivan told WHC Insider it was one of the most memorable moments in his 33 years of working in Washington.
Go to the Back Story to watch Leno’s 2004 roast of President Bush, after the president got closer than Leno ever expected.
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