History to Produce Special White House Correspondent's Dinner Video

HISTORY will unite with the White House Correspondents' Association to produce a special video commemorating the centennial celebration of the organization that represents the White House Press Corps. A screening of the video, created and produced by HISTORY, will be among the highlights of the evening during the WHCA's annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, to be held on Saturday, May 3, 7:30 pm.

The video chronicles the origin of the WHCA in 1914 and its evolution during the last 100 years. It will examine how today's journalists on this historic assignment share the spirit of the WHCA's earliest members, still tirelessly pushing for access to the President and members of the administration amid the challenges of a modern media landscape. The annual dinner, which dates back to 1921 and now itself merits extensive news coverage, is traditionally attended by the President and First Lady, as well as many other senior government officials and members of the press corps. Joel McHale, star of the NBC series Community, will be the entertainer headlining this year's event.

"I'm thrilled that A+E Networks and the History Channel have partnered with the WHCA to generously create and produce a very special video to mark our centennial celebration," WHCA President Steven Thomma said. "Our annual dinner always includes a lot of laughs and often features entertaining videos. But as we looked ahead to our 100th year, I wanted something different and couldn't think of a better partner than the History Channel to bring this vision to life. With our experience at the White House and their deep experience and creativity working with historical content, we've worked together to tell the story of the Association, including its regrettable chapters and its proud principles. The video will be a very special part of the dinner."

Interviews with President Obama, President Clinton, key historians, press secretaries such as Marlin Fitzwater, Mike McCurry, Dana Perino and the dinner's past and current celebrity hosts will demonstrate how the Association has expanded its activities since its inception. At the core of the WHCA, meanwhile, is the same commitment to maintaining independent news coverage of the President and to nurturing the next generation of journalistic excellence through its scholarship program.

"It's an honor for HISTORY to be able to work with the White House Correspondents' Association on this most significant project," said Nancy Dubuc, President and CEO, A+E Networks. "We often point out that history is in our DNA. But being entrusted to tell the official story of this celebrated organization, which itself has documented the country's great political stories of the past century, reaffirms that we've been doing our job well and that others have taken notice. We couldn't be more excited about forming this special partnership."

About White House Correspondents' Association?
The White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA)? represents the White House press corps in its dealings with the administration on coverage-related issues. A nine-member board of directors, elected by correspondents, addresses access to the chief executive; coverage arrangements; work space arrangements; logistics and costs for press travel to accompany a president on the road. The association also holds an annual dinner to raise money for WHCA? Scholarships and honor the professional recipients of the WHCA's Journalism Awards. For more information, please visit http://www.whca.net

About A+E Networks
A+E Networks(R) is an award-winning, global media content company offering consumers a diverse communications environment ranging from television networks to websites, to home videos/DVDs to gaming and educational software. A+E Networks is comprised of the A&E(R), Lifetime(R), HISTORY(R), LMN(R), Bio(R), H2™, HISTORY en Espa?ol™, Crime & Investigation Network(R), Military HISTORY(R), A&E IndieFilms(R), A+E Networks International(R), A+E Networks Digital(R) and A+E Networks Consumer Products™. A+E Networks channels and branded programming reach more than 350 million households in over 160 countries. A+E Networks is a joint venture of Disney-ABC Television Group and Hearst Corporation.