White House Correspondents' Association (Redirected from White House Correspondents' Association Dinner)

White House Correspondents' Association
AbbreviationWHCA
FormationFebruary 25, 1914; 109 years ago (1914-02-25)
52-0799067
Legal status501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
Location
Coordinates38°53′52″N 77°03′18″W / 38.89778°N 77.05500°W / 38.89778; -77.05500
Tamara Keith (NPR News)
Steven Thomma
Revenue (2015)
$366,481
Expenses (2015)$311,090
Employees (2015)
0
Websitewww.whca.press

The White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) is an organization of journalists who cover the White House and the president of the United States. The WHCA was founded on February 25, 1914, by journalists in response to an unfounded rumor that a United States congressional committee would select which journalists could attend press conferences of President Woodrow Wilson.

The WHCA operates independently of the White House. Among the more notable issues handled by the WHCA are the credentialing process, access to the president and physical conditions in the White House press briefing rooms. Its most high-profile activity is the annual White House Correspondents' dinner, which is traditionally attended by the president and covered by the news media. Except for Donald Trump, every president has attended at least one WHCA dinner, beginning with Calvin Coolidge in 1924.

Association leadership, 2022-2023

The leadership of the White House Correspondents' Association includes:

Association presidents

White House press room

The WHCA is responsible for assigned seating in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room in the White House.

White House Correspondents' dinner

The WHCA's annual dinner, begun in 1921, has become a Washington, D.C. tradition, and is traditionally attended by the president and vice president. Except for Donald Trump, every president has attended at least one WHCA dinner, beginning with Calvin Coolidge in 1924. The dinner is traditionally held on the evening of the last Saturday in April at the Washington Hilton.

Until 1962, the dinner was open only to men, even though WHCA's membership included women. At the urging of Helen Thomas, President John F. Kennedy refused to attend the dinner unless the ban on women was dropped.

Prior to World War II, the annual dinner featured singing between courses, a homemade movie, and an hour-long, post-dinner show with big-name performers. Since 1983, the featured speaker has usually been a comedian, with the dinner taking on the form of a comedy roast of the president and his administration.

The dinner also funds scholarships for gifted students in college journalism programs.

Many annual dinners have been cancelled or downsized due to deaths or political crises. The dinner was cancelled in 1930 due to the death of former president William Howard Taft; in 1942, following the United States' entry into World War II; and in 1951, over what President Harry S. Truman called the "uncertainty of the world situation." In 1981, Ronald Reagan did not attend because he was recuperating after the attempted assassination the previous month, but he did phone in and told a joke about the shooting.

During his presidency, Donald Trump did not attend the dinners in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Trump indicated that he might attend in 2019 since this dinner did not feature a comedian as the featured speaker. However, on April 5, 2019, he announced that he again would not attend, calling the dinner "so boring, and so negative," instead hosting a political rally that evening in Wisconsin. On April 22, Trump ordered a boycott of the dinner, with White House Cabinet Secretary Bill McGinley assembling the agencies' chiefs of staff to issue a directive that members of the administration not attend. However, some members of the administration attended pre- and post-dinner parties.

Dinner criticisms

The WHCD has been increasingly criticized as an example of the coziness between the White House press corps and the administration. The dinner has typically included a skit, either live or videotaped, by the sitting U.S. president in which he mocks himself, for the amusement of the press corps. The press corps, in turn, hobnobs with administration officials, even those who are unpopular and are not regularly cooperative with the press. Increasing scrutiny by bloggers has contributed to added public focus on this friendliness.

After the 2007 dinner, New York Times columnist Frank Rich implied that the Times would no longer participate in the dinners. Rich wrote that the dinner had become "a crystallization of the press's failures in the post-9/11 era" because it "illustrates how easily a propaganda-driven White House can enlist the Washington news media in its shows".

Other criticism has focused on the amount of money actually raised for scholarships, which has decreased over the past few years.

The dinners have drawn increasing public attention, and the guest list grows "more Hollywood". The attention given to the guest list and entertainers often overshadows the intended purpose of the dinner, which is to "acknowledge award-winners, present scholarships, and give the press and the president an evening of friendly appreciation". This has led to an atmosphere of coming to the event only to "see and be seen". This usually takes place at pre-dinner receptions and post-dinner parties hosted by various media organizations, which are often a bigger draw and can be more exclusive than the dinners themselves.

The public airings of the controversies around the dinner from the mid-2000s onward gradually focused concern about the nature of the event. While interest in the event from entertainers, journalists, and political figures was high during the Obama administration, by the period of the Trump administration, interest gradually slowed in attending, especially after President Trump announced he would not attend, nor his staff. Business related to the weekend event slowed considerably, including at hotels, high-end restaurants, salons, caterers, and limo companies. During the Trump administration, some media companies stopped hosting parties, while other of the roughly 25 events held during the three-day period gained more prominence as signs of social status. By 2019, the dinner and associated parties had returned somewhat to their previous nature as networking and media functions, with packed houses of media industry employees and Washington political figures.

After the April 30, 2022 dinner, where comedian Trevor Noah joked it would be "the nation's most distinguished superspreader event," several attendees including Secretary of State Antony Blinken tested positive for COVID-19. No cases of serious illness were reported as a result of the dinner.

List of dinners

Date Performer(s) Notes
May 7, 1921
May 3, 1924 President Coolidge becomes the first President to attend the dinner
March 15, 1941
March 14, 1942[citation needed]
February 12, 1943
March 4, 1944 Bob Hope, Fritz Kreisler, Gracie Fields, Pedro Vargas, Fred Waring, Elsie Janis, Ed Gardner, Nan Merriman, Robert Merrill, and Frank Black
April 28, 1945[citation needed] Frank Sinatra, Danny Thomas, Jimmy Durante, Fanny Brice, Danny Kaye, and Garry Moore
March 23, 1946[citation needed] Ed Sullivan (host); featured performers included Herb Shriner, Señor Wences, Paul Draper, Larry Adler, and Sugar Chile Robinson.
March 6, 1948 Spike Jones
March 14, 1949
May 1953 Bob Hope
1954 Milton Berle, The Four Step Brothers, Jaye P. Morgan, The McGuire Sisters, and Irving Berlin performed. Berlin performed an original song, "I Still Like Ike," to honor President Eisenhower.
March 1955 Duke Ellington, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Channing Pollock
May 1956 James Cagney emceed; Nat King Cole, Patti Page, and Dizzy Gillespie performed.
October 12, 1959[citation needed]
February 25, 1961 The Peiro Brothers (jugglers), Julie London, Dorothy Provine, Mischa Elman, and Jerome Hines
April 27, 1962 Peter Sellers, Gwen Verdon, Richard Goodman, and Benny Goodman shared hosting duties. Event opened to female correspondents for the first time.
May 24, 1963 Merv Griffin emceed; Barbra Streisand performed.
May 21, 1964 Duke Ellington, the Smothers Brothers
May 11, 1968 Richard Pryor
May 3, 1969 The Disneyland Golden Horseshoe Revue
May 2, 1970[citation needed] George Carlin
May 8, 1971 President Nixon was in attendance; he later described the dinner as "probably the worst of this type that I have attended," and called the attendees "a drunken group; crude, and terribly cruel."
1972 President Nixon declined to attend and sent his wife, Pat Nixon, in his place.
April 14, 1973 Held in the International Ballroom of the Washington Hilton Hotel
May 4, 1974 Nixon again declined to attend; Vice President Ford came in his place.
May 3, 1975 Danny Thomas and Marlo Thomas
May 1, 1976 Bob Hope emceed and Chevy Chase performed. When President Ford rose to speak, he pretended to fumble, and began his speech with "Good evening. I'm Gerald Ford and you're not"—a reference to Chase's catchphrase from Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update.
April 30, 1977
April 29, 1978 President Carter declined to attend, sending press secretary Jody Powell in his place.
April 28, 1979
May 3, 1980
April 25, 1981
April 24, 1982
April 23, 1983 Mark Russell Russell's stand-up bits replaces the traditional cabaret
April 13, 1984 Rich Little
April 27, 1985 Mort Sahl
April 17, 1986 Dick Cavett
April 22, 1987 Jay Leno
April 21, 1988 Yakov Smirnoff
April 29, 1989 Jim Morris (Bush impersonator) Garry Shandling made a surprise appearance.
April 28, 1990 Jim Morris
May 4, 1991[citation needed] Sinbad
May 8, 1992 Paula Poundstone Poundstone was the first solo female host.
May 1, 1993 Elayne Boosler This was the first year that the dinner was televised on C-SPAN.
April 23, 1994 Al Franken
April 29, 1995 Conan O'Brien
May 4, 1996 Al Franken
April 26, 1997 Jon Stewart Norm Macdonald delivered a Weekend Update parody.
April 25, 1998 Ray Romano
May 1, 1999 Aretha Franklin A non-comedian was chosen to host because of the recent impeachment of President Clinton. NBC's Brian Williams performed a skit.
April 29, 2000 Jay Leno President Bill Clinton also mocked himself in the short film President Clinton: The Final Days, which depicted him as a lonely man closing down a nearly deserted White House, riding a bicycle, and learning about the Internet with the help of actor Mike Maronna.
April 28, 2001 Darrell Hammond
May 4, 2002 Drew Carey
April 26, 2003 Ray Charles President George W. Bush decided to eschew a comedian that year, given the recent invasion of Iraq.
May 1, 2004 Jay Leno
April 30, 2005 Cedric the Entertainer First Lady Laura Bush also performed some jokes.
April 29, 2006 Stephen Colbert Colbert performed while being in character of his television satire of a right-wing cable television pundit. Colbert also screened a video featuring Helen Thomas. Several of President Bush's aides and supporters walked out during Colbert's speech, and one former aide said that the President had "that look that he's ready to blow". Steve Bridges also performed a Bush impersonation.
April 21, 2007 Rich Little David Letterman appeared by video with a Top 10 list of "favorite George W. Bush moments".
April 26, 2008 Craig Ferguson Like his Late Late Show monologues, Ferguson appeared to go off script and started improvising new jokes. It was noted that President Bush had difficulty understanding Ferguson's Scottish accent.
May 9, 2009 Wanda Sykes
May 1, 2010 Jay Leno Leno hosted for the fourth time, more than any other individual in the dinner's history. Leno had been chosen several weeks before his controversial Tonight Show conflict, and his use of recycled jokes was noted by critics.
April 30, 2011 Seth Meyers Both President Barack Obama and then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates were seen laughing at Meyers' jokes about the government's apparent inability to track down Osama bin Laden, even though they were a day away from the operation to assassinate him.President Obama and Meyers also mocked then-Celebrity Apprentice host Donald Trump's role as the face of the birther movement. Trump (who was present at the dinner) would go on to be elected President of the United States five years later in the 2016 United States presidential election. Journalists that were present at the dinner say that being mocked by President Obama and Meyers led him to decide to run for President of the United States, but Trump would later deny this, saying that he had been considering a run for the Presidency for many years prior to the dinner.
April 28, 2012 Jimmy Kimmel
April 27, 2013 Conan O'Brien
May 3, 2014 Joel McHale
April 25, 2015 Cecily Strong Keegan-Michael Key made a guest appearance as President Obama's "anger translator", Luther, a recurring character from the Comedy Central show Key & Peele.
April 30, 2016 Larry Wilmore Wilmore delivered a controversial, searing routine targeting the president, elite media, lobbyists, politicians, and celebrities. At the end of the speech, Wilmore ended his set by thanking President Obama for having been the country's first black President and finished his speech by calling him "my nigga" on live television. This remark sparked controversy among the media, with some calling it disrespectful.
April 29, 2017 Hasan Minhaj President Donald Trump did not attend the dinner. The last time a sitting president did not attend in person was Ronald Reagan in 1981, who was recovering from an assassination attempt.The Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein presented awards and spoke about the importance of the First Amendment.
April 28, 2018 Michelle Wolf President Trump did not attend the dinner for the second consecutive year. Instead, he sent his press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.Several attendees walked out in reaction to Wolf's "brutal" comments.Wolf received both praise and criticism for her monologue. The association released a rare statement regarding the monologue. After the dinner, newspaper The Hill informed the WHCA that it would no longer participate in the event, saying, "In short, there's simply no reason for us to participate in something that casts our profession in a poor light. Major changes are needed to the annual event."
April 27, 2019 Ron Chernow President Trump did not attend the dinner for the third consecutive year. Additionally, Trump ordered some of his staff and administration members to boycott the dinner.

The WHCA chose historian Ron Chernow as the featured speaker instead of a comedian after Wolf's controversial set.

2020 The dinner was originally scheduled for April 25, 2020, with comedian Kenan Thompson hosting and political entertainer and former WHCD host Hasan Minhaj as the featured entertainment. On March 22 the dinner was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, without naming a substitute date. On April 13 a new date of August 29 was announced.On June 23 WHCA President Jonathan Karl announced that the dinner itself would be canceled, but that the WHCA was working on a virtual presentation format to honor award winners and scholarship recipients. On August 14 Hasan Minhaj spoke privately via Zoom with the WHCA 2020 scholarship recipients, who also attended a private online panel discussion by three veteran Washington political reporters that day.
2021 On April 14, 2021, WHCA executive director Steven Thomma announced that improvements in the pandemic situation had not been sufficient to allow the association to proceed with a large indoor event, and that no dinner would be held in 2021. However, the association still intended to select recipients for its annual journalism awards and student scholarships, and announced that it planned to go ahead with the dinner the following year, on April 30, 2022.
April 30, 2022 Trevor Noah The dinner was held in person for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. President Joe Biden attended the dinner, making him the first president to attend the dinner since Trump boycotted the event throughout his presidency.
April 29, 2023 Roy Wood Jr.

Gallery

Awards

Note: Award years represent the date the work was published/broadcast, which is always one year before the prize was awarded.

The Aldo Beckman Memorial Award

Established in 1981 in memory of Aldo Beckman (1934–1980), the "late Chicago Tribune Washington bureau chief, a past president of the association.... Given annually to a Washington reporter 'who personifies the journalistic excellence as well as the personal qualities exemplified by Mr. Beckman, an award-winning White House correspondent.'" Awarded for overall excellence in White House coverage.

Year Recipient Employer Ref
1981 Helen Thomas UPI
1982 Rich Jaroslovsky The Wall Street Journal [citation needed]
1983 Lou Cannon The Washington Post
1984 David Hoffman The Washington Post
1985 Robert Timberg The Baltimore Sun
1986 W. Dale Nelson Associated Press
1987 Gerald F. Seib The Wall Street Journal
1988
1989 Ann Devroy The Washington Post
1990 Kenneth T. Walsh U.S. News & World Report
1991 Timothy J. McNulty Chicago Tribune
1992 Thomas DeFrank Newsweek
1993 Jeffrey Birnbaum The Wall Street Journal
1994 Kathy Lewis The Dallas Morning News
1995 John A. Farrell The Boston Globe
1996 Todd Purdum The New York Times
1997 Michael K. Frisby The Wall Street Journal
1998 John Harris The Washington Post
1999 Jeanne Cummings The Wall Street Journal
2000 Steve Thomma Knight Ridder
2001 Anne E. Kornblut The Boston Globe
2002 Dana Milbank The Washington Post
2003 David Sanger The New York Times
2004 Susan Page USA Today
2005 Carl Cannon National Journal
2006 Kenneth T. Walsh U.S. News & World Report
2007 Alexis Simendinger National Journal
2008 Michael Abramowitz The Washington Post
2009 Mark Knoller CBS News
2010 Peter Baker The New York Times
2011 Scott Wilson The Washington Post
2012 Ryan Lizza The New Yorker
2013 Glenn Thrush Politico
Brianna Keilar CNN
2014 Peter Baker The New York Times
2015 Carol Lee The Wall Street Journal
2016 Greg Jaffe The Washington Post
2017 Maggie Haberman The New York Times
2018 McKay Coppins The Atlantic
2019 Yamiche Alcindor PBS NewsHour
2020 Philip Rucker The Washington Post
2021 Jonathan Swan Axios
2022 Matt Viser The Washington Post

Award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure

The award was established in 1970 as the Merriman Smith Memorial Award for outstanding examples of deadline reporting. (Smith died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1970.) The award was renamed in 2022 after the WHCA determined that Smith had supported excluding Black and female journalists from membership in the National Press Club and from attending the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

Year Recipient Category Employer Article / Show Notes & Ref
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974 Douglas C. Wilson Print The Providence Journal Resignation of President Nixon
1975 Aldo Beckman Print Chicago Tribune "Sarah Jane Moore's assassination attempt on President Ford"
1976
1977 Michael J. Sniffen and Richard E. Meyer Print AP Bert Lance used the same stock as collateral for two different loans.
1978 Edward Walsh Print The Camp David Summit Conference
1979
1980 John Palmer Broadcast NBC News "...the failed attempt by President Jimmy Carter’s administration to rescue the American hostages in Iran."
Lars-Erik Nelson and Frank Van Riper Print New York Daily News "deadline coverage of the negotiations to free American hostages held in Iran during the Carter administration."
1981
1982
1983 Staff Print Newsweek "Coverage of the bombing of Marine headquarters in Lebanon"
1984 David Hoffman Print The Washington Post "President Reagan's blaming a terrorist attack on the U.S. Embassy annex in Beirut on the 'near destruction' of U.S. intelligence during the Carter administration."
1985
1986 Owen Ullmann Print Knight Ridder "The Reykjavík Summit"
1987 Gerald F. Seib Print The Wall Street Journal
1988
1989 Norman D. Sandler Print UPI
1990 Steve Taylor Broadcast Unistar Radio Networks "President Bush's trip to Saudi Arabia."
Norman D. Sandler Print UPI "1990 Helsinki summit"
1991 Susan Page Print Newsday Gulf War
1992 Peter Maer Broadcast Mutual-NBC Radio Live coverage of President George Bush's collapse at an official dinner in Tokyo
David Espo Print AP Deadline reporting on Election Day 1992
1993 Mara Liasson Broadcast National Public Radio
Terrence Hunt Print Associated Press
1994 Mara Liasson Broadcast NPR
William Neikirk Print Chicago Tribune
1995 Mark Knoller Broadcast CBS News "Writing and broadcasting multiple breaking stories ... about a White House intruder."
Peter Maer Mutual/NBC Radio "Outstanding broadcast of President Clinton's attendance at the funeral of the Israeli Prime Minister."
Susan Cornwell Print Reuters America President Clinton and taxes: "For getting a scoop from an on-the-record presidential speech.... Cornwell's entry was the only one that caused second-day stories (and more) to be written. It not only covered news; it created news."
1996 Mara Liasson Broadcast National Public Radio "Spot news coverage of the 1996 election campaign"; "she found time to ... deliver an insightful audio portrait of a small California town that President Clinton visited last October."
Ron Fournier Print Associated Press "An exclusive on President Clinton's new cabinet choices for the second term."
1997 Peter Maer Broadcast NBC Radio/Mutual News "Evocative radio account of President Clinton's visit to Little Rock Central High School, 40 years after the school was integrated."
Ron Fournier Print Associated Press "President Clinton's knee injury that sent him to the hospital in the middle of the night."
1998 Jodi Enda Print Knight Ridder "President Clinton's meeting with survivors of genocide in Rwanda...."
1999 Gary Nurenberg Broadcast KTLA-TV, Tribune Broadcasting "Monica Lewinsky Deposed"
Jodi Enda Print Knight Ridder Newspapers "A poignant story about an emotional day in Kosovo."
2000 Jim Angle Broadcast Fox News Channel
Sandra Sobieraj Print Associated Press
2001 Peter Maer Broadcast CBS News
Ron Fournier Print Associated Press
2002 Jim Angle Broadcast Fox News Channel
David Sanger Print The New York Times
2003 Mike Allen Print The Washington Post
2004 Ron Fournier Print Associated Press
Jackie Calmes Print The Wall Street Journal Honorable Mention
2005 Terry Moran Broadcast ABC News
Deb Riechmann Print Associated Press
2006 Martha Raddatz Broadcast ABC News
David Sanger Print The New York Times
2007 Ed Henry Broadcast CNN
Deb Riechmann Print Associated Press
2008 David Greene Broadcast NPR
Sandra Sobieraj Westfall Print People magazine
2009 Jake Tapper Broadcast ABC News
Ben Feller Print Associated Press
2010 Jake Tapper Broadcast ABC News
Dan Balz Print The Washington Post
2011 Jake Tapper Broadcast ABC News Reporting that "Standard & Poor was on the verge of downgrading America's triple-A credit rating because of concerns over political gridlock in Washington"
Glenn Thrush, Carrie Budoff Brown, Manu Raju and John Bresnahan Print Politico "The deal between Barack Obama and congressional Republicans to raise the U.S. debt ceiling."
2012 Terry Moran Broadcast ABC News On-air interpretation of the Supreme Court ruling of Obama's Health Care Reform Law
Julie Pace Print Associated Press 2012 Obama campaign's get-out-the-vote strategy
2013 Peter Maer Broadcast CBS News "Sequestration"
Peter Baker Print The New York Times "Obama Seeks Approval by Congress for Strike in Syria"
2014 Jim Avila Broadcast ABC News Cuba/Alan Gross
Josh Lederman Print Associated Press Fence Jumper
2015 Norah O'Donnell Broadcast CBS News "60 Minutes interview with Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden on his decision not to run for president" in 2016.
Matt Viser Print The Boston Globe "An Inside Look at How the Iran Talks Unfolded"
2016 Edward-Isaac Dovere Print Politico "How Obama set a trap for Raul Castro"
2017 Evan Perez, Jim Sciutto, Jake Tapper and Carl Bernstein Broadcast CNN Intelligence community's briefing of Obama and Trump "that Russia had compromising information about Trump."
Josh Dawsey Print Politico "Resignation of White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer"
2018 Ed Henry Broadcast Fox News Interview with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt
Josh Dawsey Print Washington Post
2019 Alan Cullison, Rebecca Ballhaus, and Dustin Volz Print The Wall Street Journal "Trump Repeatedly Pressed Ukraine to Investigate Biden's Son"
Broadcast CNN "FBI. Open the door."
2020 Michael Balsamo Print Associated Press "Disputing Trump, Barr says no widespread election fraud"
Jonathan Karl Broadcast ABC News Trump getting COVID and being rushed to the hospital
2021 Zeke Miller and Mike Balsamo Print Associated Press CDC mask order
Jonathan Karl Broadcast ABC News January 6 United States Capitol attack coverage
2022 Jeff Mason Print Reuters "Exclusive: Biden to waive tariffs for 24 months on solar panels hit by probe"
Phil Mattingly Broadcast CNN Zelensky's White House visit

Katharine Graham Award for Courage and Accountability

A $10,000 prize to "recognize an individual or newsgathering team for coverage of subjects and events of significant national or regional importance in line with the human and professional qualities exemplified by the late Katharine Graham, the distinguished former publisher of The Washington Post. Debuted in 2020.

Year Recipient Employer Article / Show Notes & Ref
2019 ProPublica "Death in the Pacific"
2020 The Marshall Project, AL.com, the IndyStar, and Invisible Institute "Mauled: When Police Dogs are Weapons"
2021 International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, The Washington Post, "and media partners around the world" Pandora Papers
2022 Josh Gerstein and Alex Ward Politico Decision "to report, verify and publish the draft Supreme Court opinion reversing abortion rights – and the organization’s follow-up work exploring the consequences of the decision...."

Award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage by Visual Journalists

$1,000 "award recognizes a video or photojournalist for uniquely covering the presidency from a journalistic standpoint, either at the White House or in the field. This could be breaking news, a scheduled event or feature coverage." Debuted in 2020.

Year Recipient Employer Work Notes & Ref
2019 Doug Mills The New York Times "The Pelosi Clap"
2020 Win McNamee Getty Images Trump and Fauci
2021 Brendan Smialowski Agence France-Presse "US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, President Joe Biden, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov wait for a meeting at Villa La Grange June 16, 2021, in Geneva."
2022 Doug Mills The New York Times "President Joe Biden walks between the Marine Honor Guard as he enters an event to celebrate the passage of H.R. 5376, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, on the South Lawn of the White House, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022."

Discontinued awards

The Edgar A. Poe Memorial Award

Named in honor of the distinguished correspondent Edgar Allen Poe (1906–1998), a former WHCA president unrelated to the American fiction writer of the nearly identical name. Funded by the New Orleans Times-Picayune and Newhouse Newspapers, the award honored excellence in news coverage of subjects and events of significant national or regional importance to the American people. The Edgar A. Poe Memorial Award was presented from 1990 to 2019, when it was replaced by the Katharine Graham Award for Courage and Accountability and the Award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage by Visual Journalists.

Year Recipient Employer Article / Show Notes & Ref
1989 Keith Epstein The Plain Dealer
1990 Rochelle Sharpe and Marjie Lundstrom Gannett News Service "A series of reports ... on child abuse."
1991 Stewart M. Powell and Charles J. Lewis Hearst Newspapers "A three-part series detailing the magnitude and human impact of the war's friendly fire casualties and chronicling the anguish of the families involved."
1992 Chris Drew and Mick Tackett Chicago Tribune "A series of articles on lobbying... [and] how the system functions."
1993 Richard Whittle The Dallas Morning News
1994 Russell Carollo and Cheryl Reed Dayton Daily News
1995 Joby Warrick and Pat Stith The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) "'The Power of Pork,' their well-researched series on the pork farming business..."
1996 Byron Acohido The Seattle Times "Safety at Issue: The 737", "ferreting out compelling evidence that undoubtedly contributed as much as anything else to safety improvements in the world's most popular aircraft."
1997 Earl Lane and Andrew Smith Newsday Their series "The Leftovers of the Nuclear Age."
1998 Michael Isikoff Newsweek "Clinton–Lewinsky scandal"
1999 Sam Roe The Toledo Blade "Exposing a major health risk to nuclear weapons plant workers that was concealed by the U.S. government for half a century."
2000 Elizabeth Marchak, Dave Davis, and Joan Mazzolini The Plain Dealer
John Barry and Evan Thomas Newsweek Honorable Mention
David Pace Associated Press Honorable Mention
2001 Evan Thomas, Mark Hosenball, Martha Brant, and Roy Gutman Newsweek
Staff The Seattle Times Honorable Mention
Staff The Dayton Daily News Honorable Mention
2002 Sean Naylor Army Times
Staff South Florida Sun-Sentinel Honorable Mention
Michael Berens Chicago Tribune Honorable Mention
2003 Russell Corollo and Mei-ling Hopgood Dayton Daily News
Christopher H. Schmitt and Edward T. Pound U.S. News & World Report Honorable Mention
Michael Hudson Southern Exposure magazine Honorable Mention
Warren P. Strobel and Jonathan S. Landy Knight Ridder Honorable Mention
Rod Nordland and Michael Hirsh Newsweek Honorable Mention
Sami Yousafzai, Ron Moreau, and Michael Hirsh Newsweek Honorable Mention
Fareed Zakaria Newsweek Honorable Mention
2004 Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams The San Francisco Chronicle
Donald Barlett and James Steele Time magazine Honorable Mention
2005 Marcus Stern and Jerry Kammer Copley News Service
Staff Time magazine Honorable Mention
Russell Carollo and Larry Kaplow Dayton Daily News Honorable Mention
2006 Joan Ryan The San Francisco Chronicle
2007 Paul Shukovsky, Tracy Johnson, and Daniel Lathrop Seattle Post-Intelligencer
2008 Michael J. Berens and Ken Armstrong The Seattle Times
2009 Suzanne Bohan and Sandy Kleffman Contra Costa Times, California
2010 Michael Berens The Seattle Times
2011 Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, Eileen Sullivan, Chris Hawley Associated Press
2012 Jim Morris, Chris Hamby, Ronnie Greene The Center for Public Integrity (CPI) Hard Labor
2013 Megan Twohey Reuters "The Child Exchange: Inside America's Underground Market for Adopted Children,"
Chris Hamby, Matthew Mosk, and Brian Ross The Center for Public Integrity (CPI) and ABC News "Breathless and Burdened: Dying from black lung, buried by law and medicine,"
2014 Gary Fields, John R. Emshwiller, Rob Barry, and Coulter Jones The Wall Street Journal "America's Rap Sheet"
Carol D. Leonnig The Washington Post "Secret Service"
2015 Neela Banerjee, John Cushman Jr., David Hasemyer, and Lisa Song Inside Climate News
Terrence McCoy The Washington Post
2016 David Fahrenthold The Washington Post
2017 Jason Szep, Peter Eisler, Tim Reid, Lisa Girion, Grant Smith and team Reuters "Shock Tactics"
Norah O'Donnell CBS This Morning Sexual Assault in the Air Force Academy Honorable Mention
Dan Diamond and Rachana Pradhan Politico Tom Price's Private Jet Travel Honorable Mention
2018 Joshua Schneyer, Michael Pell, Andrea Januta, and Deborah Nelson Reuters "Ambushed at Home"

Raymond Clapper Memorial Award

Named in honor of Raymond Clapper (1892-1944) and given "to a journalist or team for distinguished Washington reporting." The award was presented from 1944 to 2003, usually at the WHCA dinner (although in the period 1951–1965 it was presented at the American Society of News Editors annual dinner).

In 2004, the award passed to the Scripps Howard National Journalism Awards. Under Scripps Howard, the Washington Reporting Raymond Clapper Award was presented until 2011, at which point it was discontinued.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ At the start of his 2007 dinner speech, Little stated that he had previously hosted in 1984, but "had to wait until everybody died" before he was invited back.

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