--- title: White House Correspondents Dinner: Journalists Turn Serious description: After years in which it became a forum for celebrity sightings, the annual White House Correspondents Association dinner took a sober turn. canonical: https://time.com/4760712/white-house-correspondents-dinner-journalists/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-30T05:09:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:40:15.649Z article:section: Politics og:title: Journalists Toast Freedom of the Press at Annual Dinner og:description: "We are not fake news." og:url: https://time.com/4760712/white-house-correspondents-dinner-journalists/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt90660e62ff7c760c/6988cb48656a3f43eabcfc65/trump11.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Donald Trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Journalists Toast Freedom of the Press at Annual Dinner twitter:description: "We are not fake news." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt90660e62ff7c760c/6988cb48656a3f43eabcfc65/trump11.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'We Are Not Fake News': Journalists Toast Freedom of the Press at Dinner by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Apr 30, 2017 5:09 AM UTC  President Trump walks across the South Lawn as he arrives at the White House in Washington, on April 28, 2017. President Trump walks across the South Lawn as he arrives at the White House in Washington, on April 28, 2017.Andrew Harnik—AP by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Apr 30, 2017 5:09 AM UTC After years in which it became a forum for celebrity sightings, the annual White House Correspondents Association dinner took a sober turn Saturday. The annual Washington event, sometimes mocked as “nerd prom,” did not feature a guest appearance from the President—the [first time in 36 years](http://www.npr.org/2017/02/25/517257273/trump-will-be-first-president-in-36-years-to-skip-white-house-correspondents-din) that had happened—choosing instead to [hold a rally](http://time.com/4760560/donald-trump-100-days-profound-change/) in Pennsylvania marking his [first 100 days in office](http://time.com/4759803/trump-100-days-next/). Meantime, journalists speaking at the event made serious-minded criticisms of President Trump’s approach to the news media, a turn from the good-natured ribbing afforded to past presidents. “We cannot ignore the rhetoric that has been employed by the president about who we are and what we do,” said Jeff Mason, who currently serves as president of the White House Press Association. “Freedom of the press is a building block of our democracy. Undermining that by seeking to deligetimize journalists is dangerous to a healthy republic.” “We are not fake news,” he added, referencing a common insult lobbed by the President. 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