With the Nerd Prom, curtailed by a gunman back in April, being rescheduled for a July date, there will be a continuation of the traditional activity at the White House Correspondents Association. Awards will be handed out, press puffery will be rampant, and self-important speeches will be made. Another annual occurrence is the naming of the new president to serve the organization for a year.
The latest press member tabbed to lead the WHCA has been revealed as Courtney Subramanian, of the Los Angeles Times, who announced that she has been bestowed with the honor.
I'm honored to be elected president of the @whca for 2028–2029.
— Courtney Subramanian (@cmsub) June 12, 2026
I look forward to serving my colleagues across the White House press corps to ensure robust and independent coverage of the presidency.
I’m excited to build on the strengths of the association, including our shared… https://t.co/BORJ6H8Noe
If you do not recognize Ms. Subramanian by name, you may remember her by another means. She was involved in an episode not too long back that managed to expose the complicity in the press corps. It makes her rise into this leadership position all the more curious.
Amid numerous examples of media coordination during the Joe Biden presidency, one of the more galling examples that emerged nearly went unrecognized. Cameras inadvertently captured the then-president with note cards at the podium, and the digital images revealed some often-suspected backroom dealings.
READ MORE: Washington Post Gives up the Game in Trying to Rescue Joe Biden After ‘CheatSheetGate'
The cards were shown to be filled with the names, photos, and outlet origins of various reporters from the White House press corps, and even had questions printed out. As it became revealed, Biden called on these reporters in the order as they appeared on his card, and while the questions posed may not have been spoken verbatim as printed out, the content was the same.
This was a remarkable revelation of news outlets likely operating from a White House media mandate. The president of the WHCA at the time, Kelly O’Donnell, adamantly denied that the press was complying with any directives from the White House, despite the blatant evidence. She gave a wan excuse, suggesting that the president’s press office had merely prepared Biden with questions they fully expected to be asked, based on current events.
To those who make the false charge, the WH press corps does not provide questions in advance. The president has a list of media who are credentialed in advance. His team knows who will be in the room and chose reporters from news wires, TV, print, and radio including a Polish… https://t.co/CwtRRNUKUX
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) July 12, 2024
“They look at questions asked in briefings and of staff, stories reporters are doing, and known areas of interest. It is their job to anticipate questions reporters would ask. Staff interact with reporters every day and are very familiar with reporter subject areas. That is their job. Standard. It’s their task to prepare for likely questions.”
Uh-huh - and if you pull this leg, it will play “Hail to the Chief.”
What was on display was President Biden having himself prepped to the point of knowing who he would call on, in what order, and what they would be asking when tabbed by him. Had Submaranian asked a different question, or even if it had been a different reporter asking it, O’Donnell might have some legitimacy. But that kind of choreography needs participation.
And now the journalist who allegedly worked in tandem with the Biden White House will be rewarded with the new title. Even if all of the excuse-making is legitimate, and the evidence we all saw was the result of innocuous coincidence, does the WHCA not grasp that elevating Subramanian to this position would dredge up these incidents and bring back up the speculation that they are a biased cabal of journos? But this is in line with other actions seen from our news industry; they grasp they have severe credibility problems, but addressing those and avoiding newer discussions are things fully beyond their grasp.
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