Behind the Scenes: Covering the White House

American University School of Communication

Join us March 22 at 7 pm for a live streamed inside look at what it means to cover the White House for a major news network.

<p>Join us March 22 at 7 pm for an inside look at what it means to cover the White House for a major news network. This livestreamed panel featuring three chief White House correspondents and moderated by CNN VP and Managing Editor Antoine Sanfuentes will go behind the scenes to explore how these professionals keep the public informed about the critical issues of our day. Panelists include NBC News Chief White House Correspondent Kristen Welker, CNN Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins, and ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega. </p><h2>Panelists: </h2><h3>Kristen Welker, Co-Anchor, “Weekend  TODAY” AND NBC News Chief White House Correspondent </h3><p>Kristen Welker is the co-anchor of “Weekend TODAY” and NBC News Chief White House Correspondent whose political reporting appears across all NBC News and MSNBC platforms, including “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt,” “TODAY,” “Meet the Press,” and NBCNews.com.</p><p>She joined “Weekend TODAY” as co-anchor in Jan. 2020 and began covering the White House for NBC News in Dec. 2011, traveling domestically and internationally with President Obama, the First Lady, and then-Vice President Biden. Welker also covered President Trump’s administration, the 2020 presidential race and is currently leading the network’s coverage of all aspects of the Biden administration.</p><p>During the 2020 general presidential election, Welker moderated the final presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and now-President Joe Biden on Oct. 22, 2020 at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. Welker received universal praise for her performance, and USA TODAY wrote that she was “praised for ‘masterclass’ debate moderation.” In Nov. 2019, Welker co-moderated the fifth Democratic presidential debate hosted by MSNBC and The Washington Post at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, GA alongside Rachel Maddow, Andrea Mitchell, and Ashley Parker of The Washington Post.<a href="https://www.today.com/about/kristen-welker-co-anchor-weekend-today-nbc-news-white-house-t171372" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"> Full bio</a> </p><h3>Cecilia Vega, ABC News Chief White House Correspondent</h3><p>Cecilia Vega is an Emmy Award-winning ABC News anchor and the network’s chief White House correspondent. Her work can be seen on all ABC News platforms, including “Good Morning America,” “World News Tonight with David Muir,” “Nightline” and “20/20.”</p><p>Vega has led ABC’s White House coverage since President Joe Biden won the 2020 election. Her exchanges with the president and members of his administration have made headlines on everything from relations with Russia, COVID-19, the economy and beyond. Vega’s coverage from the U.S.-Mexico border broke news and pushed the administration to answer tough questions about the influx of migrants, children in detention facilities, and separated families.</p><p>Prior to covering the Biden White House, Vega was ABC’s senior White House correspondent covering the Trump administration, giving her a front-row seat to a presidency unlike any other. Her one-on-one exchanges with President Trump led to some of the most defining moments of the administration. <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/News/cecilia-vega-abc-news-official-biography/story?id=16897150" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Full bio</a></p><h3>Kaitlan Collins, CNN Chief White House Correspondent</h3><p>Kaitlan Collins is CNN's Chief White House Correspondent based in Washington, D.C. Since joining the network in 2017, Collins has broken several stories in her coverage of both the Biden and Trump administrations, including major staff departures and consequential policy decisions. In the past four years, she's covered President Biden and President Trump abroad, and pushed both on the world stage. Collins also reported extensively on the Senate special election in her home state of Alabama.</p><p>In 2018, 2019 and 2020, Collins was included in Mediaite's list of the 50 Most Influential people in News Media. She was also named to Crain's NewsPro's 12 to Watch in TV News in January of 2019, as well as one of Forbes magazine's "30 under 30: Media" in the same year.</p><p>Collins joined CNN from The Daily Caller, where she served as the White House Correspondent covering the first few months of the Trump administration and the 2016 election.</p><h2>Moderator</h2><h3>Antoine Sanfuentes, CNN VP and Managing Editor</h3><p>Antoine Sanfuentes is the Vice President and Managing Editor for CNN's Washington Bureau, where he oversees the White House and Capitol Hill beats. Sanfuentes joined the network in 2014 by way of NBC News, with over 20 years of experience.</p><p>During his 24 years at NBC News, Sanfuentes served as the Senior Vice President and managing Editor, Vice President and Washington bureau chief, deputy bureau chief, Senior white house producer and was part of Ann Curry's team that won an Emmy Award for compelling reports on the refugee crisis in Darfur in 2007.</p><p>In his various roles for NBC News he led the editorial and content direction of NBC News nationwide and oversaw the "Meet the Press" production team.</p><p>Sanfuentes has earned various awards for his news coverage including the highly coveted Murrow award in 1999, the News and Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Coverage of a Breaking News Story, Gracie Allen Award, as well as a Headliner Award in 2009.</p><p>He graduated from American University with a Bachelor of Science (BS), in anthropology and resides in Bethesda, Maryland with his wife and two daughters.</p>

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Behind the Scenes: Covering the White House

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