http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/white-house-correspondents-partiers-say-tom-brokaws-got-it-wrong-90698.html
SO FAR ONLY TOM BROKAW GETS WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO MAIN STREAM NEWS...
SO FAR ONLY TOM BROKAW GETS WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO MAIN STREAM NEWS...
White House correspondents partiers say Tom Brokaw’s got it wrong
White House correspondents just want to have fun.
That was the message that members of the media and others making the rounds at Friday night’s parties had for Tom Brokaw in the face of his renewed criticism of theCorrespondents’ Association dinner.
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“As a former White House Correspondent, it’s really nice for people in politics and media to come together and have a little weekend of fun,” MSNBC host Alex Wagner told POLITICO at a reception at the Hay Adams hotel. “I understand the idea of the ‘celebrification’ of the event but I think it’s more of a testament to how interesting and compelling Washington politics is to the outside world.”
Former Mitt Romney spokesman Ryan Williams said, “Tom’s obviously entitled to his opinion. It’s a fun event for everybody, it’s for people from outside Washington [to] come see how things work in the capital and how people in this town operate.”
He added, “Hollywood will get their own chance to get a look at the dysfunction and gridlock in this town.”
Brokaw touched off the debate over the dinner when he told POLITICO’s Patrick Gavin in an interview that he won’t be attending this year’s gathering and that the last straw for him was when Lindsay Lohan was invited in 2012. The veteran newsman bemoaned the number of celebs at the dinner and worried how it all looks.
“What kind of image do we present to the rest of the country?” Brokaw asked. “Are we doing their business, or are we just a group of narcissists who are mostly interested in elevating our own profiles? And what comes through the screen on C-SPAN that night is the latter, and not the former.”
Some journalists said they didn’t see any downside to the dinner on Saturday night and the weekend of parties and events.
New Yorker editor David Remnick, whose magazine threw a Friday night soirée on the roof of the W Hotel, told POLITICO he doesn’t think the White House Correspondents’ Dinner undermines the press.
“Look at what we publish,” he said. “Does it seem like it corrupts us?”
Over the years, Remnick noted that the New Yorker has published groundbreaking stories on torture, drone strikes and other sensitive topics in D.C.
“If one party can corrupt you,” he said. “You probably shouldn’t be in the game.”
Others noted that the money raised from the dinner itself goes to give scholarships to aspiring journalists.
“I think it’s very lovely to kind of honor the correspondents who I deal with a lot who I think do very important work and give scholarships,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told POLITICO. “That’s really the purpose. I think to keep the attention on that purpose is important but it also is one of the very fun…there are lots of dinners in Washington, there’s lots of events but this is always a best of it, fun weekend because people don’t take themselves very seriously. That’s always a good time.”
Even international guests were having a blast.
“I think it’s a wonderful celebration of democracy and free speech and it’s pure fun and it’s part of what makes America great,” Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren told POLITICO.
Kevin Robillard, Breanna Edwards and Katie Glueck contributed to this report.
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