1. This is the most elegant night in Washington.
The picture you see is: the commander-in-chief in a dress and the comedian are laughing at each other, and the media tycoons are paying attention to this radiant young actress.
But if you pull the camera back, the charm value will drop sharply-they are in a hotel ballroom the size of an airplane hangar, and there are about 2,600 others present. Some Hollywood VIPs were shocked to learn that they were not invited to the White House for dinner.
Besides, a room full of celebrities often do strange things. In 2006, when George Clooney walked through the corridor of the Hilton Hotel in Washington, he was drowned by the onlookers. To make matters worse, in 20 12, a group of people gathered around lindsay lohan's desk, pointing and staring blankly, or whispering and laughing.
This is a nerd's party.
A few years ago, the writer Ana Marie Cox first used this ridiculous word to refer to the White House Journalists' Dinner, and then it quickly became popular. It's not appropriate, because well-known radio reporters will also attend. But it really caught the point: the dinner brought together the pen-writers and their political colleagues on the ring road in Washington, and everyone dressed up happily, ate a big meal and spent a rare night together.
But gradually, other celebrities joined in, and people who have little or no relationship with journalism are also eager to be invited. Many media organizations that spend money to book tables reserve more and more seats for their own company bosses or important advertisers, that is to say, fewer and fewer seats are reserved for real nerds.
This is a good opportunity to make friends with celebrities.
At the dinner party, the old-timers will talk about chatting with barbra streisand in the ladies' room, or discussing the script of The West Chamber with rob lowe in the bar. At that time, it was easy to chat with visiting stars, which almost flattered those who were obviously a little out of place. But now, there are too many celebrities at dinner, and most people are calm.
Media organizations will also invite the whole class of popular programs in Washington, such as House of Cards, to attend again as guests of other news organizations next year. Try to talk to them in the past, and you will feel that you are ruining a family gathering.
This is entirely for noble motives.
Some critics complain that the dinner party has become too bloated, full of celebrities and hype. In this regard, the Association of Journalists always replies: hype is selling tickets, and all the proceeds from selling tickets are used as scholarships.
However, charity performance is not the most effective form of fund-raising, and the dinner of the White House Journalists Association is no exception. At first, this dinner was an out-and-out social activity. It was not until 199 1 that the income was used as a scholarship for journalism students (last year, the total amount was $86,550). After consulting the tax records, the Washington post reporter found that although the dinner can now keep the income of more than 700,000 US dollars, which is always higher than the expenditure, the operating costs in the past few years have spent part of the income that should have been used for charity, and it is speculated that the amount used for scholarships has decreased.
This is a popular tradition of the ring road.
It has a long history, which is true, but journalists in Washington love and hate it. Admittedly, it is not easy to take photos with Hollywood stars and give them to your children, but bah, make friends with celebrities! Wow, the president's speech was funny, but should we really cheer for him? Appearing with important political sources is certainly useful for reporting, but, alas, there is a photo of me laughing with the cabinet minister I reported on Twitter. For whatever reason, it is embarrassing to feel that they are close to government officials-whether it is true or not.