The
New York Times has finally decided to
end its participation in the annual DC journalist-politician lovefest dinners by groups like the White House Correspondents Association. The paper soft-launched the news in Sunday's Frank Rich column.
Many, many media observers, including
yours truly, have been calling for an end to these events for quite a while. They inevitably lead to embarassing (and sometimes sickening) moments like NBC bulldog reporter David Gregory being reduced to a backup dancer for a Karl Rove mock-rap. The upshot of the
Times' move will be that all the other media outlets that still participate in the events will look more and more like clueless hacks. But don't bet on these traditions fading out completely any time soon; the DC press corps is famously insular.