Despite pandemic, annual White House Correspondents Dinner still slated, its leader tells Club

The annual White House Correspondents Dinner is still set as an in-person event on Saturday,  April 30, at the Washington Hilton.

Organizing that event and countless other chores occupy about half of his working hours, White House Correspondents Association President Steven Portnoy told members of the National Press Club Broadcast/Podcast team virtually during the group's monthly meeting Feb. 3.

Portnoy, who is CBS News Radio White House correspondent, said fast-changing COVID-19 recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and restrictions placed on indoor events by the District of Columbia government, add an extra layer of scheduling complexity to an event notable for its size and the presence of so many government officials and celebrities. Decisions still need to be made on whether attendance will be limited, he said. 

COVID-19 restrictions are even more strict at the White House because no one, including credentialed journalists, who has been even close to someone who has tested positive for the virus is allowed to be anywhere close to a Secret Service principal protectee (president, first lady, vice president or second gentleman) for 10 days after potential exposure. This eliminates such a person from serving in the White House press pool rotation, which is governed by WHCA officials. 

The press room itself has toggled between full capacity and being limited to 14 seats for daily briefings.  That decision is another that falls to Portnoy and other officers of the WHCA, not the Press Office.

Comparing Biden administration communications policies to those of recent administrations, Portnoy said President Joe Biden's staff works to focus each day on a single topic. And, he noted, reporters often ignore what the administration wants to talk about and pursue what the journalists believe the public wants or needs to know. That is similar to how things worked under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

Although the staff tries to enforce a strategic discipline on messaging, Portnoy noted that by actual count Biden interacts with the news media representatives more than any recent president but Bill Clinton. But, conversely, he said Biden's encounters are often quite brief and not particularly substantive. 

Portnoy also noted that WHCA has joined with the Club and other media organizations to press for resumption of a policy that allowed the media to embed with American Armed Forces in situations such as the recent U.S. troop buildup in Eastern Europe. 

Membership in the Broadcast/Podcast team is open to all members of the Club. It will next meet either virtually or in a hybrid model in one of the Club rooms and online on Thursday, March 3 at noon.