Try not to laugh or feel the urge to destroy your electronic devices after reading these quotes. On Tuesday, the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) announced their 2020 award winners, which included the insanely partisan Yamiche Alcindor of taxpayer-funded PBS, the liberal hacks at CNN, and The New York Times.
In a statement, WHCA president and ABC chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl hailed their supposed works of journalism for having — apparently — held “those in power accountable without fear or favor.”
The WHCA illustrated their lack of commitment to sober reporting and instead rewarding journalists who engage in histrionics by handing Alcindor its top award, the Aldo Beckman Award for Overall Excellence in White House Coverage.
The judges called Alcindor someone who’s “serious, incisive and — though she has a quiet demeanor — tough as nails” while providing “interesting new takes on national stories.”
On issues of “immigration and race,” they gushed that those issues “sensitively handled.”
They also wrote this with a straight face: “Alcindor’s qualities reflect integrity, impartial analysis, breadth and depth of knowledge of the presidency and a love of the institution. We look forward to watching her work for decades to come.”
“Quiet demeanor?” “Impartial analysis?” “Interesting takes?” What were the judges smoking?
Yes, they used those terms to describe the reporter who yelled at President Trump on Friday about the jobs report, attacked the Surgeon General (who’s also African-American) for using offensive “language,” called covering Trump a “team sport,” expressed discomfort at hearing God Bless the USA at Trump rallies, and condemned Trump voters as ignorant.
And those are just a small set of examples from the past 13 months.
The honorable mentions? It hailed longtime Swamp figure Peter Baker of The New York Times as someone who “speaks truth to power” and then the intolerably pundit-like Phil Rucker of The Washington Post for his “great insight.”
In the “Merriman Smith Memorial Award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage under Deadline Pressure for Broadcast” category, WHCA handed first place to Jeffrey Zucker’s CNN for being parked outside Roger Stone’s Florida home on January 25, 2019 as FBI agents arrived before dawn to arrest him.
CNN has long denied being tipped off and insisted it came from a pure hunch. But no matter what they’ve said and will continue to say, the episode will always leave people skeptical.
And after a week in which The Times self-immolated, the WHCA showered long-time photographer Doug Mills with an award for a still shot of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s now-infamous condescending clap at the end of the State of the Union (click “expand,” emphasis mine):
THE AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN PRESIDENTIAL NEWS COVERAGE BY VISUAL JOURNALISTS:
DOUG MILLS OF THE NEW YORK TIMES FOR “THE PELOSI CLAP.”
From the judges:
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. As the coronavirus story has developed, and we have witnessed the ongoing competition and crisis in Washington, it remains a vivid and relevant illustration of the fundamental discord and dysfunction that has attended this unprecedented, deeply polarized time.
As NewsBusters wrote last year, the 2019 awards harped on rewarding the liberal media's shameful coverage and attempt to ruin the life of Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
