White House Press Corps

The White House press corps consists of those journalists from various news media who primarily cover the presidency. In covering the president as well as other administration officials, they rely on daily briefings and news releases for information, ideally hold officials accountable, and give the White House communication entrée into the presidential news cycle by deadline.

Journalists have covered the president from the nation's beginning, along with other news from the nation's capital. As the power of the presidency grew in the 19th century, two factors led to a White House press corps. First, the number of Washington correspondents increased from four, during James Madison's administration, to several hundred by the 20th century and to almost 10,000 by the 21st century. Because of this, journalists had to specialize their coverage. Second, by the latter part of the 19th century a number of major city newspaper editors and publishers concentrated on reportage of the president so much so that a designated White House space was allotted to waiting journalists. A secretary would give daily briefings on everyday information and advance copies of speeches and arrange for conferences and interviews with the president.

With more and more direct contact with Washington correspondents and a desire to sway public opinion, the White House developed additional techniques to influence its political communication. Theodore Roosevelt held informal press meetings with his “newspaper cabinet,” as he called them, when he went over his mail or had his morning shave. For the most part, he gave the journalists background [Page 837]information, without attribution, and threatened to stop all briefings and press releases for erring journalists. Woodrow Wilson initiated semiweekly talks and was surprised when a hundred reporters attended. Although the meetings were useful for both the president and the correspondents, even with rules of confidentiality, Wilson found it difficult to be open with the journalists during peacetime and impossible during war; by the end of 1916, he stopped.

President Gerald Ford talks with reporters, including Helen Thomas, during a press conference at the White House, Washington, D.C.

Source: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca-08532.

To separate from the huge Washington Correspondents' Association, a White House Correspondents Association began in 1914 as a social organization with a dozen or so members; it also acted as a screening mechanism for admission to the president's press conferences. The impetus was President Wilson's threat to cease his press meetings after several journalists published his “off-the-record” comments about a 1913 diplomatic crisis with Mexico. The association accredited members, weeded out rule violators, and negotiated with the White House over their working conditions. Membership was initially limited to those whose duty was to cover the White House (then, print journalists) and who had membership in the accredited press galleries of Congress. During the Franklin Roosevelt years, the association began annual dinners for the president. Today, all kinds of media are represented in the White House press corps.

New technologies impacted the White House press corps membership and communication. Radio correspondents were included in the 1940s, television in the 1950s, and more recently reporters for online publications. Now, the press corps relies on the White House Web site for press releases, the daily briefings, the president's schedule, and pooled reports from those journalists who travel with the president. The president's press conferences have gone from taped television during the Eisenhower years to live television beginning with John F. Kennedy to live press secretary's briefings during the Clinton era. Website updates meant that Washington correspondents can follow White House news.

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