White House press corps


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.

Overview

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 "White House press pool" is assembled to report back to their colleagues on events where the venue would make open coverage logistically difficult.
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 2008 presidential campaign, ABC News moved Jake Tapper, who had covered Barack Obama during his presidential campaign, to the White House correspondent's position.

History

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.

Correspondents

Current

The White House Correspondents' Association organizes the seating chart. Reporters are listed by last name, unless designated as "chief" or "senior" by their news organization, as follows.

Television