There’s something truly awe-inspiring about the Washington media’s resumption of the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in all its tacky, wince-worthy depravity. It’s as if they hadn’t spent the last several years pretending to have gone through a profound reckoning, acknowledging it as a decadent and unnecessary affair that bred suspicion of journalists being too in bed, literally, with the people they’re supposed to be holding accountable on behalf of the public.
All it took was one election to go the media’s way, and boy, did that farce end fast.
CNN ran a promo for its coverage of the event, referring to the dinner as “the unforgettable, star-studded event.” The flashy spot featured clips of the channel’s anchors in pricey formal wear, posing for photos with celebrities on a red carpet, beaming in their most pathetic environment.
It was just six years ago that the very same CNN made a big statement about its “commitment to the health and longevity of a free press” by foregoing the usual celebrity guests at its reserved table and instead inviting journalism students. It was “Make A Wish,” but with a heaping of self-reverence.
During that same time, NPR ran a segment titled “Journalists Reconsider Purpose Of The White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” though the reconsidering of the event was something that happened every single year — the media would take a week in the beauty of springtime to party it up with celebrities (mostly B- and C-List) and highlight their close, personal
