Chapter 1871 Questioning and Decision

The annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner is held at the Hilton Hotel. In this traditional social event in the Washington news and political circles, the US president's self-deprecating speech is bound to be a big "selling point" every year.

The White House Correspondents' Association dinner has a long history, dating back to 1921, when 50 White House correspondents gathered to celebrate their new boss as a small industry dinner. This dinner was once regarded as a "nerd ball" by outsiders, but now, the tradition of the dinner has evolved from a small gathering of dozens of people to an annual event attended by thousands of people. The president delivered a speech and celebrities from all walks of life walked the red carpet. "There are fewer and fewer reporters.

In the past, to be invited to the White House Correspondents' Dinner, you first had to be employed by a newspaper, magazine, news agency, radio, television, or other broadcaster or news aggregator.

Second, the applicant's main job is to participate in various press conferences to cover the White House, and finally must be a content editor. If you meet the above requirements, you are eligible to submit the application form.

However, more and more seats are now controlled by media organizations, and they reserve seats for the company's big boss or advertisers who rely on them for survival. The dinner has gradually "changed".

Now it has become a fashion feast, and the red carpet that enters the venue is not inferior to the Oscar red carpet. Movie and TV stars want to get close to the president, and reporters want to interview movie and TV stars. That ticket also seemed to become a status symbol for the proverb, like a bunch of high school kids throwing a party, except the most powerful man in the world was in the room.

"Ivana—look here!"

"Ivana..."

A smoky pink evening gown with ruffles at the cuffs flatters the figure nicely. Whether it is from the color or the details, it is full of girlish feelings. The image of pregnant mother Ivana holding her pregnant belly makes people look very comfortable.

Andy walked slowly across the red carpet holding Ivana who kept waving to the reporters on both sides. After entering the Hilton Hotel, he couldn't help frowning and said in a low voice, "I don't like this dinner more and more."

Ivana, with a charming smile, had a strange look on her pretty face, looked at Andy and asked softly, "Why?"

"Don't you think it's ridiculous? The purpose of political news reporting is to help hold power accountable. When reporters and politicians have intimate conversations at such events, how much is left to achieve this purpose?" Andy's mouth showed Said with a sneer, Ivana was slightly taken aback.

“Seriously, I prefer British journalists who take pride in not being seen as decent people more than American decent journalists who feel good about themselves. When these people walk through the gates past the hordes of celebrities, they will A little self-inflated. The environment continues to lull these invited journalists into high spirits. The thrill of walking out of a restaurant with a particularly recognizable politician for the first time is something any political reporter has experienced. The friendly conversation of politicians and officials. Yet these journalists deal with the same people every week, and these journalists get to know them and usually like them.

You said, will these journalists still write fair and neutral news reports? "

At this time, Ivana walked into the banquet hall holding Andy's arm, and saw reporters and politicians in evening gowns sitting together, laughing at jokes that only people in the circle could understand, such a White House reporter dinner party. . . . . .

"Perhaps this is why the public has become more and more distrustful of the mainstream media." Andy whispered again, but soon nodded to a familiar politician with a smile on his face.

Indeed, on a day-to-day basis, journalists must develop working relationships with their sources. But if you're not careful, you can unknowingly create a situation where both parties are tacitly defending the status quo.

As journalism becomes more of a profession than a business, and those who cover politics and those who engage in politics increasingly become the same kind of people, those journalists will automatically see themselves as incompatible with politicians. equal. Of course, that’s not to say the media and politicians should always be enemies, but journalists do need to maintain an outsider’s mindset in order to report honestly.

Because it reduces the chances of a reporter reporting honestly, turning a professional relationship into something like a fraternity. The dinner feels like an Ivy League or private school common room, where the same kind of people get together. The idea of ​​having a dinner like this is to say, 'We're all jokers,' and to borrow a common saying from every college fraternity, 'We're all tied by a rope.'

And these cunning politicians are even better at taking advantage of the vanity of these journalists attending the party, hypocritically emphasizing how important they are to the country. At this dinner, the lines were blurred even more. Journalists are under pressure to bring top political guests to the corporate executives sitting at their table. This puts journalists in the position of asking for favors from others.

It’s not that Andy Smith is hypocritical or how upright, nothing else, it’s just that PG decides his head, who let him control a media empire by himself, he is desperate to build a media empire, not to please some people, certain forces Instead, it is for deterrence, its own right to speak and influence.

The respondent can't achieve the effect he wants!

"From next year, all journalists from my media group will withdraw from this White House dinner!"

Under the guidance of the dinner waiter, Andy helped Ivana to his seat. The two first accepted the greetings from the guests at the same table with a smile, and then they sat down. Andy bowed his head and approached Ivana, whispering made his own decision.

"Huh?" Ivana frowned slightly at first, but soon understood Andy's thoughts. After pondering the pros and cons, she said in a low voice with a smile: "Alright, political news The purpose of reporting is to inform people about how the government works and to help hold power accountable. It’s harder to do that when the offer is an olive branch. But there’s bound to be a stir.”

"I know..." Andy nodded and smiled, his wandering eyes saw a familiar face approaching, he stretched out his hand to hold Ivana's arm, and said with a smile: "Your father is here..."

As he spoke, Andy stood up, helped Ivana with a happy smile on her face, and faced CP and his wife in a white evening dress who came over. Still familiar with the meticulous air perm hairstyle, Andy smiled and looked at Ivana and the smiling CP hugging and greeting.

"Good evening, uncle."

"Good evening, boy."

With a satisfied smile on his face, CP hugged Andy, and patted Andy on the back vigorously a few times to show his intimacy. I have to say that CP is true to his prospective son-in-law Very satisfied, very proud of her daughter's vision and means, able to subdue the super rich husband.

Of course, he is also proud of Andy's achievements, and he has praised Andy many times in TV shows and interviews. At the same time, marrying an old political family has also brought many benefits to the CP family and him, at least in New York Among the old money class, his CP is no longer just a dude with strange blond hair who is ridiculed behind his back, runs the train with his mouth full, sits in a "trench" Chinese plane, and frequently appears on reality shows with his model wife.

At the dinner party, the CP and his wife were thoughtfully arranged at the next table next to Andy and Ivana. CP was also very talkative and communicated with Andy. Suddenly, CP looked in a direction and asked Andy: " What's the matter with the conflict between you and that Silicon Valley madman?"

Andy froze for a moment, saw CP pouting in one direction and couldn't help turning his head to look, just in time to see Larry Ellison in a suit with his third wife on the table not far away Sitting down, Andy smiled and said to CP: "It's nothing, it's just that my IT company poached some engineers from his company, and he was a little annoyed."

"Oh, but, don't underestimate him. This guy used to be a bastard, very shameless." As people of the same era, although the big-mouthed CP and the same big-mouthed Larry Ellison didn't have much overlap, they As a witness of many things, CP is very familiar with what Larry Ellison has done in the past.

"Thank you uncle for reminding me that I never underestimated him." Andy smiled.

"That's good." CP nodded, turned to look at Ivana's growing belly, couldn't help leaning forward, and asked in a low voice: "When are you going to get married?"

"After the baby is born, I will prepare a perfect wedding for her." Andy replied directly without disgust or hesitation.

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