HOLLYWOOD -- As the annual ritual known as the White House Correspondents Dinner approaches, a "micro niche" site devoted entirely to the West Wing's press corps has been launched.
The site, WHCInsider, is the brainchild of Tammy Haddad, former executive producer of "Hardball" who heads her own media company, and David Adler, CEO of BizBash Media.
WHCInsider will include live streaming from the briefing room, coverage of Robert Gibbs' press conferences, stories about the press staff and White House's star correspondents and, of course, extensive coverage of the May 9 dinner.
"President Obama promised the most transparent presidency in U.S. history, and our promise is to get you as close as possible to the axis of the White House and the media," said Haddad, the site's editor-in-chief. "The intense interest in the White House Correspondents' weekend, and the news stories that develop from those events, are a natural jumping-off point to explain and explore the White House briefing room's inner workings."
One of the stories on the site Thursday focused on Wanda Sykes, who will host the dinner, and is titled "Will former NSA employee-turned-comedian Wanda Sykes make torture jokes at WHCD?" It's from former VarietyWashington bureau chief William Triplett, who serves as the site's editor.
There is extra interest in this year's correspondents' dinner as the first during the Obama administration and a high point of D.C.'s social season. As Adler noted, the event has expanded into a entire weekend of "brunches, receptions and after-dinner parties." This year, there's also a film festival, called Politics on Film, sponsored by the Bipartisan Policy Center; a screening of Barry Levinson's new documentary "Poliwood," sponsored by the Creative Coalition and Capitol File magazine; and a Writers Guild of America East event featuring latenight comedy writers riffing and commenting on the phenomenon of audiences turning to their shows for news.
Of course, like any Hollywood event, the weekend inevitably focuses on the scene itself. WHCInsider includes a list of celebrity guests expected at the dinner, following the tradition of each news organization inviting a Hollywood figure or other person of infamy to sit at their table. On the docket this year: Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, who are guests of CNN; Jon Bon Jovi and Meghan McCain, with ABC News; George Lucas and Glenn Close, with Fortune; Ed Westick of "Gossip Girl," with the Atlantic; plus many others.
One of the features of the site will be "Washington Dossier," permanent feeds from all Internet sources of members of the White House communications staff and the correspondents.
Former ABC News producer Linda Schoumacher Rozett is the site's managing editor, and former "60 Minutes" producer Holly Fine is contributing editor.
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