Tighter Limit On White House Correspondents Dinner Tables

Fewer tables will be made available for each news outlet at next year's White House Correspondents Association dinner, according to WHCA President David Jackson.

Jackson, a USA Today correspondent, said he plans to increase restrictions on the number of tables available for each news outlet, cutting it from eight to seven.

"We are trying to get more people into the dinner, we have more needing the tables," he said. "Some organizations did not get any tables last year."

Julie Mason, a WHCA board member and a reporter for The Washington Examiner, said, "the tables were an issue and that is something we are talking about. The number will be reduced so more people can go."

Currently, only those organizations with reporters who are WHCA members can purchase tickets. But Jackson noted that with some companies overseeing so many news outlets [such as Disney, Hearst or News Corp.] they are taking up more tables for their own outlets.

The change would not alter the number of tables at the dinner, which has grown into one of the biggest social events of the year in Washington, D.C.

Jackson said even one fewer table per company will free up dozens of seats for others: "It can make a difference."