President Donald Trump’s expected attendance at the annual White House Correspondents Association dinner this weekend has brought renewed scrutiny to the event that honors the press.
The administration’s animus toward journalists has been a fixture of Trump’s second term, from berating individual reporters, fighting organizations like The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Associated Press in court to restricting press access to the Pentagon.
It’s another layer of complexity for the so-called “nerd prom,” given the name for the sight of reporters in tuxes. Some people are already squeamish about journalists toasting and laughing with people they regularly cover.
“This is sort of a critical moment for these dinners and it will be interesting to see what happens going forward,” said former ABC News reporter Lisa Stark.
Journalists urged to ‘speak forcefully’ on freedom of press
She and longtime colleague Ian Cameron have circulated a petition urging journalists at Saturday’s event to “speak forcefully” in defense of the press with Trump in attendance.
Dan Rather and former ABC White House reporter Sam Donaldson are among more than 350 former journalists to sign. Reporters have talked about a visible protest like lapel pins touting the First Amendment.
Calvin Coolidge, in 1924, was the first president to attend the dinner. Chief executives usually appear, requiring them in recent years to appear to be good sports as comics like Stephen Colbert, Colin Jost and Trevor Noah make jokes about them.
Trump attended in 2011, glaring from the audience at President Barack Obama’s barbs about him. This will be the first year he attends as president, however.
“The only thing more insulting for the press than Trump not coming is Trump coming,” Kelly McBride, NPR ombudsman and head of the Poynter Institute’s ethics and leadership center, wrote last week.
“This man mocks you, sues you, and targets you for prosecution,” former Associated Press White House reporter Ron Fournier wrote on Substack. He detailed a list on Trump’s actions against the press, finishing with: “and you’re having dinner with him?” The top editor at HuffPost — a news website clearly hostile to Trump — said its journalists wouldn’t attend Saturday as a protest.
The president of the WHCA, CBS News’ Weijia Jiang, had no immediate comment. But Todd Gilman, a former White House bureau chief for the Dallas Morning News and now a journalism professor for Arizona State University, suggested it wasn’t the press’ role to make news itself by snubbing Trump. The president will make news either way depending on what he says there, he said.
There’s a misperception, Gilman said, that the correspondents are honoring Trump by having him at the dinner.
Some potential uncomfortable moments
Meanwhile, CBS owners Paramount are reportedly hosting a dinner to honor Trump Thursday at the Institute of Peace, which was renamed for Trump last year. Paramount is awaiting government approval of its deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery.
The president, if he chooses to stay at the correspondents dinner Saturday, will also face some uncomfortable moments as the WHCD gives awards to journalists he has criticized, like CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. The Wall Street Journal is being honored for its story about Trump’s birthday message to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — for which the president sued the newspaper. The AP, which is battling Trump in court over access, is also being honored.
Debate over the appearance of partying with the president and his staff isn’t new. The New York Times stopped attending the event in 2011 for that reason. The Atlantic magazine wrote about the “slow, awkward death” of the correspondents dinner in 2018.
Correspondents should acknowledge that “a red-carpet schmoozefest with the powerful sources they cover was never a good idea,” McBride wrote. News organizations will also be watched this weekend for administration officials sitting at their tables as guests, such as CBS News reportedly inviting Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Many journalists who have attended, however, said the opportunity to have personal interactions with people they cover can help them later in their jobs. Gilman has brought ambassadors from Mexico as guests— an important contact for a reporter at a Texas newspaper. NPR journalist Eric Deggans wrote on Substack that he got an interview with media mogul Byron Allen after making a connection at the WHCD dinner.
“Even if you’re not sitting with an administration official, you have the opportunity to walk up to someone, say hi, break the ice and give them a business card,” Gilman said. “It puts a face to the name, so maybe they’ll return your call the next time.”
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