And the winner of the Helen Thomas seat is…The AP, but Fox moves to front row over Bloomberg

Washington Post screenshot

The Associated Press will claim the front-row, center seat in the White House briefing room formerly held by longtime reporter Helen Thomas. 

According to the website of the White House Correspondents’ Association: 

“The [group's] board further agreed to move Fox News to the front row seat previously occupied by AP, and relocate NPR into the second row seat previously held by Fox, next to Bloomberg News. 

It was a very difficult decision. The board received requests from Bloomberg and NPR in addition to Fox for relocation to the front row and felt all three made compelling cases. But the board ultimately was persuaded by Fox’s length of service and commitment to the White House television pool.” 

Some had suggested that the assignment of the seat to Bloomberg would have signaled a victory for the importance of business news. 

In addition, according to The Upshot: 

“The Financial Times will now get a regular seat, while U.S News & World Report—a news organization that has been scaled back in recent years—lost its seat. The foreign press pool also now gets its own seat. 

In addition, Politico and American Urban Radio Networks moved up to the third row. The Washington Times, which has cut back significantly in the past year, moves from the third to fourth row.” 

The changes are effective Aug. 2. 

Thomas resigned June 7 after covering the White House since 1960, starting as a correspondent for United Press International and leaving at 89 as a columnist for Hearst Newspapers.