Radio and Television Correspondents' Association
The Radio and Television Correspondents' Association of Washington, D.C. (RTCA)[1] is an American broadcast journalism group of news reporters from around the world who cover the United States Congress.[2] Founded in 1939,[2] RTCA is best known for holding an annual dinner in Washington, D.C.,[3] not to be confused with the higher profile White House Correspondents' Association Dinner.
Chair of the Association
- 2008-2009: Heather Dahl, Feature Story News.
- 2009-2010: Linda Scott, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
- 2010-2011: Peter Slen, C-SPAN
- 2011-2012: Jay McMichael, CNN News Photographer
- 2012-2013: John Wallace, III, FOX News photographer
- 2013-2014: Lisa Desjardins, CNN
- 1998-1999: Jim Mills, Fox News
Awards
- David Bloom Award[4]
- Jerry Thompson Award
- Joan Shorenstein Barone Award
- Lifetime Achievement Award
RTCA Dinners
As is the case with the similar but more exclusive WHCA Dinner,[5] the attention given to the Association's activities are far outweighed by the focus on the dinner's guest list and pre-dinner receptions and post-dinner parties hosted by various media organizations.[5][6]
Also as is true of the WHCA Dinner and Gridiron Club Dinner, the RTCA Dinner has been subject to criticism that it encourages journalists to engage in undue coziness with the political officials they are supposed to fairly cover, and also that the public spectacle of "playing footsie" with reporters' main subjects is bringing the political press into disgrace.[7]
Notable RTCA dinners
In 1983, the RTCA compiled a videotape of various bloopers made in the news, and even music videos about the news, entitled "Tapes of Wrath". A sequel, "Tapes of Wrath II", followed in 1991. In 1995, President Bill Clinton[what?].[8] In 1996, speaker Don Imus made coarse jokes[9][10][11] about President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, which White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry termed "tasteless". [12]
During the 2004 dinner, President George W. Bush mocked himself in a slideshow including images of him searching under furniture in the Oval Office for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, which liberal commentator David Corn termed a "callous and arrogant display".[13]
In 2007, President George W. Bush attended the event for the third time,[3] and JibJab premiered its latest satiric animation, What We Call The News[14][15]
On Tuesday, June 16, 2009, president Barack Obama and humorist, author, and actor John Hodgman were the headline speakers at the 2009 RTCA Dinner.[16] At the dinner, JibJab premiered its animated video, "He's Barack Obama."[17][18]
Brief timeline of recent dinners
- 1995: Bill Maher[19]
- 1997: Darrell Hammond[20][21]
- 1999: President Clinton attends just six weeks after his Senate Impeachment Trial. Jackie Judd wins award for reporting on Monica Lewinsky. Jim Mills of Fox News MC's the event.
- 2001: President Bush makes fun of his own grammar.[22]
- 2002: No one from White House attends.[23]
- 2003: Vice President Cheney jokes about President Bush's flight suit.[24]
- 2004: President Bush jokes about WMDs. Controversy erupts.[25]
- 2005: Vice President Cheney talks about then recently deceased Pope John Paul II.[26]
- 2006: Vice President Cheney jokes about hunting.[27]
- 2007: "MC Rove" performs rap onstage.[28][29]
- 2009 John Hodgman[30][31]
- 2010: Comedian Joe Wong performs at RTC Dinner.[32][33][34]
- 2011: Seth Meyers[35]
- 2012: Wayne Brady[36]
- 2013: Conan O'Brien[37]
- 2015: Aasif Mandvi.[38][39]
- 2016: Comedian Hasan Minhaj performs at RTC Dinner. [40][41]
References
- RTCA Constitution. RTCA official website. Retrieved 2017-02-25.
- About Us. RTCA official website. Retrieved 2017-02-25.
- Associated Press, A President walks into a journalists' dinner, March 29, 2007
- Awards. RTCA. Retrieved 2017-02-25.
- Ana Marie Cox, Radio and Television Correspondents' Association Dinner, Time Magazine Swampland blog, March 29, 2007 Archived October 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- RTCA Field Report: Geraldo Came To Party, Jossip.com, March 29, 2007 Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- Hamilton Nolan, Joke is on the press at annual DC dinners, PRWeek, April 3, 2007 Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- clintonlibrary42 (10 December 2012). "President Clinton at the 1995 Radio & TV Correspondents' Association Dinner". Retrieved 30 April 2017 – via YouTube.
- "Super Imus Links Page - Imus' Speech to the Radio & TV Correspondent's Dinner". archive.org. Archived from the original on 24 August 1999. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
- Richard Binckley (3 November 2016). "Don Imus in 1996 at Radio & TV Correspondents Dinner". Retrieved 30 April 2017 – via YouTube.
- Josh Burdick (11 May 2016). "Don Imus at 1996 Radio & TV Dinner (Mar 1996)". Retrieved 30 April 2017 – via YouTube.
- "MIA WMDs-For Bush, It's a Joke". Archived from the original on 2012-08-27.
- Inc., JibJab Media. "JibJab.com - Holiday eCards, Birthday Cards, and More". jibjab.com. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
- "JibJab Debuts Video Lampooning News Media". Businesswire. March 29, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-17.
- "John Hodgman". Archived from the original on 2012-05-25.
- "He's Barack Obama « The JibJab Blog". jibjab.com. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
- Inc., JibJab Media. "JibJab.com - Holiday eCards, Birthday Cards, and More". jibjab.com. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
- "1995 Radio and Television Correspondents' Association Dinner". CSPAN.
- Caleb Rojas Castillo (28 February 2010). "Bill Clinton with Darrell Hammond". Retrieved 30 April 2017 – via YouTube.
- Josh Burdick (12 May 2016). "Darrell Hammond & Norm MacDonald at 1997 Radio & Tv Dinner (Mar 1997)". Retrieved 30 April 2017 – via YouTube.
- "CNN.com - Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News". Archived from the original on 2009-06-28.
- "CNN.com - Transcripts". Archived from the original on 2013-01-16.
- "CNN.com - Transcripts". Archived from the original on 2013-03-28.
- "Washington Post: Breaking News, World, US, DC News & Analysis".
- "Laughs Are Muted at Radio-TV Fete (washingtonpost.com)". Archived from the original on 2012-10-26.
- "Cheney Hits His Mark At Correspondents' Salute to Congress". Archived from the original on 2008-08-21.
- C-SPAN, 63rd Annual Radio and Television Correspondents' Association dinner, March 28, 2007, rtsp://video.c-span.org/project/iraq/e032807_RTVCdinner.rm
- "Mike Allen, Rove Rap Sheet Brings Down House, The Politico, March 30, 2007". Archived from the original on 2013-05-30.
- C-SPAN (19 June 2009). "John Hodgman at Radio & TV Correspondents' Dinner". Retrieved 30 April 2017 – via YouTube.
- C-SPAN (9 June 2012). "Speaker Boehner at RTCA Dinner". Retrieved 30 April 2017 – via YouTube.
- "Wong's Comedian Performance".
- C-SPAN (18 March 2010). "C-SPAN: Joe Wong at RTCA Dinner". Retrieved 30 April 2017 – via YouTube.
- C-SPAN (18 March 2010). "Vice President Biden at RTCA Dinner". Retrieved 30 April 2017 – via YouTube.
- C-SPAN (Apr 30, 2011). "C-SPAN: Seth Meyers remarks at the 2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner". Retrieved 27 January 2021 – via YouTube.
- C-SPAN (9 June 2012). "Wayne Brady at RTCA Dinner". Retrieved 30 April 2017 – via YouTube.
- C-SPAN (Apr 27, 2013). "Conan O'Brien remarks at 2013 White House Correspondents' Dinner (C-SPAN)". Retrieved 27 January 2021 – via YouTube.
- C-SPAN (26 March 2015). "Aasif Mandvi at 2015 RTCA Dinner (C-SPAN)". Retrieved 30 April 2017 – via YouTube.
- C-SPAN (25 March 2015). "Secretary Castro and Representative Castro at 2015 RTCA Dinner (C-SPAN)". Retrieved 30 April 2017 – via YouTube.
- "Hasan Minhaj to Congress at RTCA Dinner 2016".
- C-SPAN (16 June 2016). "Hasan Minhaj at 2016 RTCA Dinner (C-SPAN)". Retrieved 30 April 2017 – via YouTube.