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Elizabeth Crisp, Journalist

Elizabeth Crisp is a reporter based in Washington, DC. Crisp earned her B.A. in communications with a concentration in journalism from Mississippi State University, where she served as editor-in-chief for the campus newspaper, The Reflector. She then remained in Mississippi to cover state politics for The Clairion-…


Categories: Profiles


Erin Harper

Name: Erin Harper
Year in school: Senior
Major: Multiplatform Journalism
Hometown: Washington, D.C.

Erin is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists. She writes short articles, some of which have been published in small media outlets.  She has worked for national and international news organizations, including PBS as a special projects intern, CNN as a…


Categories: Profiles


Robert Crilly, White House Reporter

Robert Crilly is a British-Irish journalist currently based in the United States. Crilly was educated at Downing College in Cambridge, England, before beginning his career as a reporter. He eventually assumed the role of Edinburgh Bureau Chief for The Telegraph before departing to work as a correspondent in East Africa for The Times and then for The Telegraph.

After his time in Africa…


Categories: Profiles


The University Libraries is pleased to announce the major upgrade to the Pool Reports Digital Collection Website!  This new iteration is greatly enhanced with content about the White House Correspondents' Association, Profiles of past and present White House Pool Reporters, Feature stories on a variety of related topics (including bibliographies for further study), News and Press Releases…


Categories: Updates


As of May 15, 2023, the Auto-redaction accuracy for Private Identifying Information type, phone number, reached nearly 100%. Using the Insurrection files (2020-11, 2020-12, and 2021-01)  as a sample the auto-redaction script achieved improved accuracy overall.

Auto-redaction Accuracy by PII Type
Author Phone Number auto-Redacted 97.21%
Author Email Address auto-Redacted 90…


Categories: Updates


Pool Reports from November 2020 through January 2021 have been uploaded.  This is the period between the 2020 Presidential Election and the Inauguration of the 46th United State President Joseph Biden.  It details former President Donald J. Trump's actions during a period his campaign was trying to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power, seriously threatening the American democratic…


Categories: Updates


John Jenkins Headshoot

University of Maryland alumnus John A. Jenkins ’72, an accomplished publisher, journalist, author and entrepreneur, has donated a collection of historic papers to UMD Libraries documenting his remarkable career. The papers contain historical primary-source documents, and hundreds of hours of historical audio and video relating to major events of the late 20th and early 21st centuries,…


Categories: News


Donald Trump at Press Conference

The White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) has a long-established press corps, in which a smaller group of reporters follows the U.S. President— from the Oval Office, to Air Force One, to his motorcade—and disseminates their written pool reports to the rest of the press corps.

These reports can turn into front-page news, but plenty of what’s documented never gets national…


Categories: News


Barack Obama during press conference

The White House Correspondents' Association and the University of Maryland today announced the creation of a unique new window into the world of the president and the press — a permanent and ongoing digital, searchable archive of presidential pool reports produced by White House correspondents.

The collection will be produced through a partnership between the WHCA, the …


Categories: News


Goodin in a gaggle

Emily Goodin is a reporter based in Arlington, Virginia. Goodin received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia, before beginning her career as a staff writer for The Hotline in 1999, where she would work to become a senior editor. Goodin was then hired by The Hill as an associate editor for campaigns…


Categories: Profiles


Ellie Jornlin

Name: Ellie Jornlin
Year in school: Freshman
Major: Journalism
Hometown: Hagerstown, MD

Ellie just finished her first year at the University of Maryland.  She is involved in the Terrapin Yearbook and is applying to be a part of the Diamondback. She used her first semester at UMD to get used to life as a college student.  She is looking forward to gettting more…


Categories: Profiles


Ava Thompson

Name: Ava Thompson
Year in school: Sophomore
Major: Multiplatform Journalism
Minor: Science, Technology, Ethics and Policy (S.T.E.P.)
Hometown: Chicago, IL

Ava is a producer for Capital News Service, a video production intern for the university's office of marketing and communications, a replay operator for Big Ten Network Plus and…


Categories: Profiles


Katherine Mahoney

Name: Katherine Mahoney
Year in school: Junior
Major: Journalism and Studio Art
Hometown: Brookeville, MD

Katherine is a staff writer for HerCampus at the University of Maryland and has written for the Diamondback, the Beacon, Mitzpeh and more!  She…


Categories: Profiles


Connie Lawn with White House and Washington Monument in the distance.

Connie Lawn, a freelance broadcast journalist and 40-year member of the White House press corps, died April 2, 2018, at her home in Falls Church, Va. She was 73. The cause was a rare form of Parkinson’s disease, said her husband, Dr. Charles Sneiderman.

Ms. Lawn founded her own one-woman news bureau, Audio Visual News, which had radio clients around the world, including networks in…


Categories: Features


Bob Thompson standing outside the White House

Robert Thompson was a political journalist covering the White House during every administration from Harry S. Truman to George W. Bush. Thompson was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, where he lived until the United States entered WWII. He enlisted in the Navy after the attack on Pearl Harbor and served until the war's end before attending Indiana University and receiving a B.A. in…


Categories: Features


President Gerald Ford and Helen Thomas (NARA)

Helen Thomas was one of the most prolific and revered members of the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA). Throughout her 70-year career, Thomas garnered a reputation that earned her the title of “Sitting Buddha” and “First Lady of The Press” among her peers in the WHCA. 

Getting her start in the District with Washington Daily News, Thomas quickly moved on to United Press…


Categories: Features


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