The White House Correspondents’ Association will host their annual dinner on Saturday night. Fondly known as “nerd prom,” this dinner is a lighthearted event where media luminaries, celebrities and politicians all gather to toast the First Amendment and support future journalists. Proceeds from this star-studded event go to scholarships for promising student journalists. It’s customary for the president to be in attendance, to speak and to be lampooned. All jokes are made in good fun because the primary focus of the dinner is to celebrate the First Amendment.
Donald Trump will be the first president to be absent from the event in 36 years. In typical Trump fashion, he announced his plans via Twitter on Feb. 25, tweeting, “I will not be attending the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!” On April 22, Trump tweeted that he would be holding a rally in Harrisburg, Pa. to celebrate the first 100 days of his presidency, the same day as the correspondents’ dinner.
It’s unsurprising that Trump has decided to skip the event in light of his acrimonious relationship with the press. In years past, Trump has been subject to mockery at this event and perhaps this year he is too sensitive to take a joke. Trump’s communications team has said that they will also skip the event in “solidarity” with the president. Deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders commented on the administration’s absence on ABC’s “This Week” saying, “It’s kind of naive of us to think that we can all walk into a room for a couple of hours and pretend that some of that tension isn’t there.” She added, “You know, one of the things we say in the South, if a Girl Scout egged your house, would you buy cookies from her? I think that this is a pretty similar scenario.” It’s incredibly unfortunate that the relationship between the White House and press has deteriorated to this level.
The only other president to miss the correspondents’ dinner in recent history was Ronald Reagan. He was not in attendance in 1981 because he was recovering from an assassination attempt, however, he attended in the years after his recovery.
The tradition of the correspondents’ dinner goes back 103 years, and over the past eight years some critics claim that this event has strayed from its roots as a scholarship benefit, turning into more of a celebrity roast. The critique isn’t entirely off base. The popularity of President Barack Obama attracted a great deal of celebrity attendees and event coverage. This year, the dinner will certainly have a lower profile and more somber tone. Susan Page, USA Today’s White House bureau chief, contrasted this year with past years by taking note of who her fellow guests are, saying “Last year, I was at a table with Kendall Jenner, and this year I’m at a table with Madeleine Albright.” She went on to say that the lack of celebrities in attendance is not necessarily a bad thing saying, “In a way it refocuses the dinner . . . on the role we want the press to play in a democracy.”
Even though it’s a legitimate grievance to question the ethical nature of celebrities, politicians and the press rubbing shoulders, the event is not about them. The correspondents’ dinner is about the future of journalism. It’s about raising money to support and encourage the truth seekers of tomorrow. The notoriety of this event is thanks to the famous attendees, and perhaps reinforces the fact that as a society, Americans value the work of journalists.
As student journalists, we find Trump’s choice to skip the dinner disheartening. We are unpaid journalists who spend countless hours seeking truth and telling stories while balancing a full course load. It is disappointing that the president is sending the signal that student journalists are not a priority of his. However, we also acknowledge that we as university students have social capital and a level of privilege that most Americans do not enjoy. Perhaps Trump’s choice to skip the dinner would be justifiable if he was attending another event that supported young people in this country or a cause close to his heart.
With the exception of his rallies, Trump routinely isolates himself from the public. He hasn’t made an effort to reach across the aisle or engage with those outside his base. If he were to attend the correspondents’ dinner, pundits and commentators would likely praise him for showing up. Perhaps more importantly, the best and brightest student journalists would receive the recognition from the nation’s highest office.
At past Trump rallies the president has encouraged the crowd to boo and hiss at the dishonest mainstream media. Only time will tell if he does that on Saturday night. Hopefully, in light of the correspondents’ dinner, he will refrain because more often than not there are student journalists in the bullpen.
