The Radio and Television Correspondents' Association of Washington, D.C. (RTCA) is an American

broadcast journalism Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...

group of news reporters from around the world who cover the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

.About Us
RTCA official website. Retrieved 2017-02-25. Founded in 1939, RTCA is best known for holding an annual dinner in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

,Associated Press, ''A President walks into a journalists' dinner'', March 29, 2007
/ref> not to be confused with the higher profile

White House Correspondents' Association The White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) is an organization of journalists who cover the White House and the president of the United States. The WHCA was founded on February 25, 1914, by journalists in response to an unfounded rumor ...

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 AwardAwards
RTCA. Retrieved 2017-02-25. *Jerry Thompson Award *Joan Shorenstein Barone Award *Lifetime Achievement Award

RTCA Dinners

As is the case with the similar but more exclusive WHCA Dinner,
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. ''RTCA Field Report: Geraldo Came To Party'', Jossip.com, March 29, 2007
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. Hamilton Nolan, ''Joke is on the press at annual DC dinners'', PRWeek, April 3, 2007

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''''. In 1996, speaker

Don Imus John Donald Imus Jr. ( ; July 23, 1940 – December 27, 2019), also known as Imus, was an American radio personality, television show host, recording artist, and author. His radio show '' Imus in the Morning'' was aired on various stations and di ...

made coarse jokes about President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

and

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

, which

White House Press Secretary The White House press secretary is a senior White House official whose primary responsibility is to act as spokesperson for the executive branch of the United States federal government, especially with regard to the president, senior aides and ...

Mike McCurry termed "tasteless". During the 2004 dinner,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

mocked himself in a slideshow including images of him searching under furniture in the

Oval Office The Oval Office is the formal working space of the president of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C. The oval room has three lar ...

for

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

weapons of mass destruction A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a Biological agent, biological, chemical weapon, chemical, Radiological weapon, radiological, nuclear weapon, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill or significantly harm many people or cause great dam ...

, which liberal commentator

David Corn David Corn (born February 20, 1959) is an American political journalist and author. He is the Washington, D.C. bureau chief for '' Mother Jones'' and is best known as a cable television commentator. Corn worked at ''The Nation'' from 1987 to 200 ...

termed a "callous and arrogant display". In 2007, President

attended the event for the third time, and JibJab premiered its latest satiric animation, ''What We Call The News'' On Tuesday, June 16, 2009, president

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

and humorist, author, and actor

John Hodgman John Kellogg Hodgman (born June 3, 1971) is an American author, actor, and humorist. In addition to his published written works, such as his satirical trilogy '' The Areas of My Expertise'', '' More Information Than You Require'', and '' That Is ...

were the headline speakers at the 2009 RTCA Dinner. At the dinner, JibJab premiered its animated video, "He's Barack Obama."

Brief timeline of recent dinners

*1995:

Bill Maher William MaherStated on ''Finding Your Roots'', January 12, 2016, PBS; on a series that lists "Jr." and "Sr." distinctions, Bill Maher's birth name was listed simply as William Maher, while his father was William Aloysius Maher Jr., and his pa ...

*1997:

Darrell Hammond Darrell Clayton Hammond (born October 8, 1955) is an American actor, comedian, impressionist, and announcer. He was a regular cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1995 to 2009, and has been its announcer sinc ...

and

Norm Macdonald Norman Gene MacdonaldThe capitalization of Norm Macdonald's surname has been inconsistently reported in publications such as ''TV Guide''. Books that discuss him, such as ''Shales'' (2003) and Crawford' (2000), as well as other sources such as ...

* 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. * 2002: No one from White House attends. * 2003: Vice President Cheney jokes about President Bush's flight suit. * 2004: President Bush jokes about WMDs. Controversy erupts. * 2005: Vice President Cheney talks about then recently deceased Pope John Paul II. * 2006: Vice President Cheney jokes about hunting. * 2007: " MC Rove" performs rap onstage. *2009

* 2010: Comedian Joe Wong performs at RTC Dinner. *2011:

Larry Wilmore Elister Larry Wilmore III (born October 30, 1961) is an American comedian, writer, producer, and actor. He served as the "Senior Black Correspondent" on ''The Daily Show'' from 2006 to 2014, and hosted ''The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore'' in 2 ...

*2012:

Wayne Brady Wayne Alphonso Brady (born June 2, 1972) is an American comedian, actor, and singer. He is a regular cast member on the American version of the improvisational comedy television series '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' He was the host of the daytim ...

*2013:

Nick Offerman Nicholas David Offerman (born June 26, 1970) is an American actor. He became widely known for his role as Ron Swanson in the NBC sitcom '' Parks and Recreation'' (2009–2015), for which he received the Television Critics Association Award fo ...

*2015:

Aasif Mandvi Aasif Hakim Mandviwala, known professionally as Aasif Mandvi (, ), is an English–American actor, comedian and writer. He was a List of The Daily Show correspondents, correspondent on ''The Daily Show'' from 2006 to 2017. Mandvi's other televis ...

* 2016:

Hasan Minhaj Hasan Minhaj ( ; born September 23, 1985) is an American comedian, writer, producer, actor, and television host. Much of his comedy involves Culture of India, Indian culture and the modern American political landscape through the use of satire, ...

*2017: Roy Wood Jr.{{Cite web, title=2017 Radio and Television Correspondents' Association Dinner, Part Two {{! C-SPAN.org, url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?436009-4/2017-radio-television-correspondents-association-dinner-part, access-date=2021-09-26, website=www.c-span.org, language=en-us

References

External links

Official website
Broadcast journalism Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C. American journalism organizations Journalism-related professional associations Professional associations based in the United States Organizations established in 1939 1939 establishments in Washington, D.C.