Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Event plans less glitz, more journalism
The annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner — traditionally a glittery night on the Washington social calendar, with celebrities as guests of media organizations — will have a different vibe this year.
With President Donald Trump staying away, organizers say the focus will not be on the red carpet but on the bedrock principles of the event: the First Amendment and the role of the press in a democracy.
Not that those principles haven’t always been central to the mission of an event that began in 1921, notes Jeff Mason, White House Correspondents’ Association president. But, he said, “the focus will be entirely on that this year, and I think that’s a great thing.”
The absence of Trump, who has called the media “fake,” “dishonest” and “the enemy of the people,” marks the first time a president has declined since Ronald Reagan in 1981 — and he was recovering from an assassination attempt (but phoned in some friendly, humorous remarks nonetheless). Trump has decided to hold a rally in Pennsylvania instead, and his White House staff also will be absent in what was described as “solidarity” with their boss.
But even if Trump had decided to attend, this year’s event would have been different, Mason said, “based on the tension that has existed in the relationship and some of the things he has said about the press. We were preparing for a different dinner either way.”
So as opposed to last year, when guests at President Barack Obama’s final dinner included Emma Watson, Kerry Washington, Helen Mirren, the late Carrie Fisher, and model Kendall Jenner, this year’s big stars seem to be Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein — not Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, who played the famous reporting duo, but the men themselves, who’ll be presenting journalism awards. Woodward told
The Washington Post the two will speak about “the First Amendment and the importance of aggressive but fair reporting.”
There will be, as usual, a comedian emceeing the event, which will air on C-SPAN: Hasan Minhaj of
The Daily Show.
There’s also a traditional garden brunch co-hosted by media consultant Tammy Haddad — who will be attending the correspondents’ dinner too. “What you’re going to see Saturday is more journalists per square inch than ever before, united in showing what they do and how they do it,” she said.
“Those celebrity spots will now be taken by journalists,” Haddad said. “There’s going to be more interest in what they do. I mean, look at David Fahrenthold,” she said of the Pulitzer-winning Washington Post reporter, one of the dinner’s award recipients. “He’s the Bono of journalism. Journalists are heroes now.”
The dinner didn’t start out as a multiday, celebrity-studded event. Most trace that development to 1987, when then-Baltimore Sun reporter Michael Kelly brought Fawn Hall, the secretary in the center of the Iran-Contra affair. That began a tradition. In 2012, Lindsay Lohan came as the guest of Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren, a development that earned scorn from Tom Brokaw.
The glitz factor, not to mention the schmoozing of administration officials and journalists who cover them, led a few news organizations to stop attending in recent years. But other guests have seen it as a good opportunity to get some business done.
“There’s always business going down,” said Robin Bronk, CEO of The Creative Coalition. “In Washington, you’d be hard-pressed to find a party that doesn’t have a purpose. It tastes good, but it’s good for you.”
Bronk said the correspondents dinner “does a fine job of reminding us why a free press is so important. They always do a great job protecting this great amendment that we have.”
Mason said Trump may be sending a signal with his absence, but that’s up to him: “The signal that we are sending is that we will uphold the principles of the First Amendment and we will celebrate that at this dinner.”
Still, it won’t be all serious, he said, promising that Minhaj will be using his comedy chops — without “roasting the president in absentia.”
“People don’t want to come to a dinner and feel bored or preached at. Hopefully neither of those things will happen,” Mason said.
Trevor Noah, the Daily Show host, said he was excited to see what Minhaj brings to the weekend’s festivities.
“Maybe there’s something different that we’ll get to see from the correspondents’ dinner,” he said.