President Joe Biden’s White House correspondents serve as a reminder that the new administration will be a diverse one. Major TV networks, including ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN, announced that women will lead White House coverage. ABC appointed Cecilia Vega as the network’s chief correspondent. Kaitlan Collins is taking on the role for CNN. CBS News chose Nancy Cordes. And Kristen Welker will join Peter Alexander for NBC. In addition to those new appointments, Yamiche Alcindor will continue to lead White House coverage for PBS.
“I’ve always thought women belonged in the front row—whether that’s in the White House briefing room or any other,” Collins said. NBC’s Welker, who has spoken about how her identity as a Black woman has inspired her work, says she is “thrilled” to be among a “formidable group of reporters.”
With Kamala Harris now sworn in as the first female, Black, and South Asian vice president in the nation’s history, it’s only right that same diversity is reflected in the White House correspondents. “It is clear that diversity in all forms, including in gender and race, is necessary to tell the stories of our generation in the most accurate and fair way,” Alcindor told CNN Business, according to WENY News. “The American people are best served by a media that looks like the collage of experiences and backgrounds that make up this country.”
Even though it’s 2021, appointing women to lead White House coverage is still newsworthy. Former ABC News White House correspondent Ann Compton commented on the progress being made in political news coverage. She said, per WENY News, “A generation ago, being the only woman was perhaps a blessing—I really stood out from the crowd. The day will come—should come—when it is not news that the majority in the public eye in any profession is female.”
Well, the country is definitely headed in that direction.
