Trump-bashing was the theme in the annual awards given out by the White House Correspondents’ Association on Tuesday.
Of the five awards announced, four went to reporters and stories some consider critical of President Trump. The fifth was unrelated to the White House.
WHCA President Jonathan Karl, the ABC White House reporter who recently wrote the book Front Row at the Trump Show, said, “This year’s winners represent the best of the kind of journalism America needs now more than ever — fact-based reporting that holds those in power accountable without fear or favor.”
Still, two journalism school professors said the press corps has to do more to fight Trump.
The awards were to be presented at a dinner last month. It has been rescheduled to late August due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Congratulations to @DougMillsNYT of the New York Times, winner of the inaugural Award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage by Visual Journalists from the #WHCA. To see more about the winning entry – and all of 2020 award winners – go to https://t.co/yE7xhy7CMI
— WHCA (@whca) June 9, 2020
Leading the winners was PBS reporter Yamiche Alcindor, who Trump has called “nasty.” She won the Aldo Beckman Award for Overall Excellence in White House Coverage. The association said she is “serious, incisive,” and that her “qualities reflect integrity, impartial analysis, breadth and depth of knowledge of the presidency and a love of the institution.”
The Merriman Smith Memorial Award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure for Print went to three Wall Street Journal reporters who wrote the story on Trump’s Ukraine phone call that led to his impeachment.
President Trump: No one has done for the black community what I have done. Look at HBCUs.
Context: President Abraham Lincoln.
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) June 5, 2020
Said the association: “As described by the New York Times three months later, the Journal’s ‘explosive’ story was the final straw for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Within days, the once-reluctant Pelosi initiated an impeachment investigation. The story illuminated what until then had been provocative but vague reports of a whistleblower’s complaint about a Trump call with a foreign leader.”
The Merriman Smith Memorial Award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure for Broadcast went to CNN for a story catching the FBI arrest of Trump confidant Roger Stone.
The association explained: “CNN’s viewers saw the raid unfold in real time, the product of a team or reporters, producers and photojournalists tracking the investigation over months, connecting the dots and scooping the rest of the press corps. They even scooped Stone’s own lawyers, who only found out when CNN called for a comment. In addition to the exclusive video, the team produced a compelling, supportive package that explained the charges against Stone. On deadline.”
And longtime and respected New York Times photographer Doug Mills won the Award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage by Visual Journalists for capturing Pelosi’s mocking State of the Union clap.
“Doug Mills’ photograph of Nancy Pelosi and President Trump at the State of the Union Address is a visual representation of one of the most contentious political relationships in recent memory. The Speaker of the House lets the nation know exactly what she thinks of Trump as she claps with outstretched arms, tilting her head with a smirk across her face. The image brilliantly displays the tension, the personal animus and the power clash among branches of government that tells the story of this time and of this presidency,” said the WHCA.
