The
Gridiron Club and Foundation, founded in 1885, is the oldest and one of the most prestigious journalistic organizations in
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
Its 65 active members represent major newspapers, news services, news magazines and broadcast networks. Membership is by invitation only and has traditionally been offered almost exclusively to Washington newspaper bureau chiefs. Recently, however, it has begun opening its doors to such non-newspaper media figures as
Tim RussertTimothy John "Tim" Russert was an American television journalist and lawyer who appeared for more than 16 years as the longest-serving moderator of NBC's Meet the Press. He was a senior vice president at NBC News, Washington bureau chief and also hosted the eponymous CNBC/MSNBC weekend interview...
of
NBC NewsNBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
,
Bob SchiefferBob Lloyd Schieffer is an American television journalist who has been with CBS News since 1969, serving 23 years as anchor on the Saturday edition of CBS Evening News from 1973 to 1996; chief Washington correspondent since 1982, moderator of the Sunday public affairs show Face the Nation since...
of
CBS NewsCBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
,
Mara LiassonMara Liasson is an American journalist and political pundit. She is the national political correspondent for National Public Radioand also a contributor at Fox News Channel.-Early life:...
of National Public Radio, and
Judy WoodruffJudy Woodruff is an American television news anchor and journalist.Woodruff is a Board Member at the IWMF .-Broadcast journalism career:...
of PBS.
In 2008, the club merged with its charitable arm, the Gridiron Foundation, to form the Gridiron Club and Foundation. It is a 501 (c)(3) organization and makes annual charitable contributions and provides scholarships to a number of journalistic organizations and colleges, including the University of Maryland, George Washington University and Norwich College.
http://www.journalism.umd.edu/newrel/03newrel/gridiron03.html
Officers
The presidency of the club rotates annually. For 2011, it is held by
Susan PageSusan Page is an American journalist and the current Washington Bureau Chief for USA Today. She has won several awards for her work, including the Merriman Smith Memorial Award, the Aldo Beckman Memorial Award, the Gerald R...
Washington Bureau Chief of
USA TodayUSA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
. Her husband, Carl Leubsdorf of The Dallas Morning News, was president in 2008, making them the first married couple each of whom served as Gridiron president. He is currently the club's secretary.
Gridiron Club Dinner
The Gridiron Club is best known for its annual dinner which traditionally features the
United States Marine BandThe United States Marine Band is the premier band of the United States Marine Corps. Established by act of Congress on July 11, 1798, it is the oldest of the United States military bands and the oldest professional musical organization in the United States...
, along with satirical
musicalMusical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
skits by the members and remarks by the
President of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
and representatives of each political party. The skits and speeches by various politicians are expected to be self-deprecating or otherwise sharply comedic.
Every U.S. President since 1885 except
Grover ClevelandStephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
has spoken at the dinner (President
Barack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
attended the 2011 dinner after missing both the 2009 and 2010 dinners. In addition, he spoke as a Senator in 2006). Bill and Hillary Clinton have both spoken at Club dinners, and the 2008 dinner marked the sixth time that President
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
attended during his presidency. The dinner is held in the Spring, usually in March. Between 1945 and 2006, the dinner was held at the
Capital HiltonCapital Hilton is a hotel building located in Washington, D.C, the capital of the United States. The building began construction in 1940 and was completed in 1943 as the Statler Hotel Washington. Upon its completion, the building rose , comprising 13 floors. The architect of the early modern style...
. In 2007, it moved to the
Renaissance WashingtonRenaissance Washington DC Hotel is a high-rise skyscraper located in Washington, D.C., United States. Its construction was completed in 1986. The architect of the building was Smith-Williams Group, who proposed the architectural style of the building, which is postmodern. The building rises to ...
.
It is one of the few remaining large-scale white-tie affairs in Washington. It offers a neutral ground on which members of the press and various elected officials and political operatives can break bread together.
Also as is true of the WHCA Dinner and RTCA Dinner, the Gridiron Club 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.
For example, at the 2007 dinner,
columnistA columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
Robert NovakRobert David Sanders "Bob" Novak was an American syndicated columnist, journalist, television personality, author, and conservative political commentator. After working for two newspapers before serving for the U.S. Army in the Korean War, he became a reporter for the Associated Press and then for...
impersonated Vice President
Dick CheneyRichard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
while satirizing the Scooter Libby case, which Novak helped initiate.
See also
- Radio and Television Correspondents' Association
The Radio and Television Correspondents Association is an American journalism group best known for holding an annual dinner in Washington, D.C., not to be confused with the higher profile White House Correspondents' Association Dinner.-Officers:...
- White House Correspondents' Association
The White House Correspondents' Association is an organization of journalists who cover the White House and the President of the United States. The WHCA was founded in 1914 by journalists in response to an unfounded rumor that a Congressional committee would select which journalists could attend...
- National Press Club
External links