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The White House press corps is the group of journalists, correspondents, and members of the media usually assigned to the White House in Washington, D.C., to cover the president of the United States, White House events, and news briefings. Its offices are located in the West Wing.
The White House press secretary, or a deputy, generally holds a weekday news briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, which currently seats 49 reporters. Each seat is assigned to a news gathering organization, with the most prominent organizations occupying the first two rows. Reporters who do not have an assigned seat may stand. Often a smaller group of reporters known as the "press pool" is assembled to report back to their colleagues on events where the venue would make open coverage logistically difficult. [1] There can be different pools assembled on any given day to include a pool covering the president, vice president, first lady, and other prominent members of the staff.
When a new U.S. president is elected, some news organizations change their correspondents, most often to the reporter who had been assigned to cover the new president during the preceding campaign. For example, after the 2020 United States presidential election, Peter Doocy, Fox News' lead campaign reporter during the two years that Joe Biden campaigned for president, [2] moved on to be the chief White House correspondent for the cable news channel, [3] replacing John Roberts, who had been chief correspondent during the presidency of Donald J. Trump. [4]
The White House press corps had their first duties in the White House in the early 1900s. An urban legend exists of President Theodore Roosevelt noticing a group of correspondents in the rain looking for sources for their stories and inviting them into the White House. Subsequent historical research outlines how reporters were able to start with small stories in the White House and then grew their presence and influence over a span of many years. [5]
The White House press "pool" gets its name from the briefing room which used to be a pool until President Richard Nixon converted the pool into a briefing room. The pool, which was covered, still remains under the briefing room. [6]
In 1977, a court ruled in Sherrill v. Knight that the White House had a limited right to deny a press pass. [7] [8] [9] In 2018, the White House withdrew the pass of Jim Acosta of CNN. CNN sued, and a federal judge temporarily ordered the pass to be restored, on grounds of due process. [10] In May 2019, under a new standard, the White House revoked dozens of press passes. [11]
The White House Correspondents' Association organizes the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room seating chart (viewable at the bottom of this page). Several outlets have had reporters covering the White House full time and a permanent assigned seat in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room. [12]
John David Roberts is a Canadian-American television journalist currently working for the Fox News Channel, as the co-anchor of America Reports. Roberts formerly worked as the Fox News Chief White House Correspondent from 2017 to 2021, covering the Donald Trump presidency.
Stephen James Doocy is an American television host, political commentator, and author. He is a co-anchor of Fox & Friends on the Fox News Channel.
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 James S. Brady Press Briefing Room is a small theater in the West Wing of the White House where the White House press secretary gives briefings to the news media and the president of the United States sometimes addresses the press and the nation. It is located between the workspace assigned to the White House press corps and the office of the press secretary.
Abilio James Acosta is an American broadcast journalist, anchor and the chief domestic correspondent for CNN.
Peter James Doocy is an American opinion correspondent and a Senior White House correspondent for Fox News.
Peter Marvin Alexander is an American journalist and television presenter who currently works for NBC News. He obtained the title of NBC News White House correspondent covering the White House and the President of the United States in December 2012.
One America News Network (OANN), also known as One America News (OAN), is a far-right, pro-Trump cable channel founded by Robert Herring Sr. and owned by Herring Networks, Inc., that launched on July 4, 2013. The network is headquartered in San Diego, California, and operates news bureaus in Washington, D.C., and New York City.
Sean Michael Spicer is an American former political aide who served as the 30th White House Press Secretary and as White House Communications Director under President Donald Trump in 2017. Spicer was communications director of the Republican National Committee from 2011 to 2017, and its chief strategist from 2015 to 2017.
Sarah Elizabeth Huckabee Sanders is an American politician serving since 2023 as the 47th governor of Arkansas. Sanders is the daughter of Mike Huckabee, who served from 1996 to 2007 as Arkansas's 44th governor. A member of the Republican Party, she was the 31st White House press secretary, serving under President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2019. Sanders was the third woman to be White House press secretary. She also served as a senior advisor on Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. Sanders became the Republican nominee in the 2022 Arkansas gubernatorial election and won, defeating Democratic nominee Chris Jones.
Lucian Baxter Wintrich IV is an American artist, photographer, writer, and media personality. He received widespread attention in 2017 as the White House correspondent for the conservative news and opinion site The Gateway Pundit. At age 28, he was one of the youngest members of the White House Press Corps, and among the first to be openly gay. During this time, Wintrich attracted significant controversy for his outspoken views on politics and culture. Many of his public appearances and art pieces have been met with protests ranging from civil disobedience to violent demonstrations.
Andrew Feinberg is an American journalist and White House Correspondent whose work has appeared in The Independent, Newsweek, Politico, Washington Business Journal, and other news outlets.
Stephanie Ann Grisham is an American former White House official who was the 32nd White House press secretary and served as White House communications director from July 2019 to April 2020. She was chief of staff and press secretary for the first lady of the United States, Melania Trump from 2020 to 2021, after previously serving as her press secretary from 2017 to 2019.
Kaitlan Collins is an American journalist who is a news anchor on CNN. She is the former co-anchor of CNN This Morning. She has hosted The Source at 9 p.m. since July 2023. She also served as the network's Chief White House Correspondent from January 2021 until November 2022. Previously, she was the White House correspondent for the website The Daily Caller. She will resume her role as CNN's Chief White House Correspondent for the second Trump presidency.
CNN v. Trump is a lawsuit filed on November 13, 2018, in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The plaintiffs are the Cable News Network (CNN) and their chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta, and the defendants are members of the Donald Trump administration and United States Secret Service. Citing Sherrill v. Knight, Pursuing America's Greatness v. Federal Election Commission, and Elrod v. Burns, the suit argued that the White House wrongfully revoked Acosta's press credentials in violation of the First Amendment right to freedom of the press and Fifth Amendment right to due process, respectively; and, additionally citing federal regulations, the suit successfully sought immediate relief from damage to CNN and Acosta by way of a temporary restraining order for the return of Acosta's press pass. CNN dropped the suit on November 19.
Annie Karni is an American journalist who is a White House correspondent for The New York Times. She is a contributor on MSNBC.
Chanel Rion is an American broadcaster, political cartoonist, and children's book author. She was formerly the chief White House correspondent for One America News Network (OAN), a far-right American cable channel. She is known for promoting conspiracy theories.
Weijia Jiang is a Chinese-American television journalist and reporter. She is based in Washington, D.C., and has served as the Senior White House Correspondent for CBS News since July 2018. Jiang's question to President Donald Trump about the COVID-19 testing program in the United States during a White House press briefing received global attention and coverage.
Paula Reid is an American journalist and attorney who is the CNN chief legal affairs correspondent. She joined CNN in March 2021 after working at CBS News. She is based in Washington, D.C.
I'll Take Your Questions Now: What I Saw at the Trump White House is a nonfiction tell-all book written by former White House Press Secretary for the first Trump Administration, Stephanie Grisham. It was published in October 2021 by HarperCollins.
