“Why the h**l is There a White House Correspondents’ Dinner?” Boundary Work in Political Journalism

Abstract

Political journalism is a pertinent part of newsrooms across the world. This study aimed to analyze the shifting role conceptions of U.S. political journalists, primarily in reference to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Researchers conducted 32 long-form phone interviews with political journalists from news outlets ranging from the Los Angeles Times to VICE. The study found most journalists uncomfortable with the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, especially after the response to Michelle Wolf's speech at the 2018 event. This particular event helped journalists identify how the event works in opposition to their role conception. Through the lens of boundary work, this study argues the comedy format of the dinner, which ceased following 2018, pushed outside the boundaries of what is considered appropriate journalistic practice within the field.