Obama female reporters, President Obama did something remarkable on Friday. He held his last press conference of the year, and the only people in the entire press corps who were called on to ask questions were women. Yes, this was on purpose; it had to be.
The first woman ever to cover a president was the late Helen Thomas. Before her death last year, she had been a fixture in the first row of the briefing room and at presidential news conferences for decades beginning with John F. Kennedy's presidency.
Until 1962, women weren't even allowed to attend the White House Correspondents' Dinner. Thomas helped change that, but the corps has long been dominated by men.
And, for the record, here are the eight reporters -- all of them print reporters, it should be noted -- who got called on.
Carrie Budoff Brown, Politico
Cheryl Bolen, Bloomberg
Julie Pace, Associated Press
Lesley Clark, McClatchy
Roberta Rampton, Reuters
Colleen M. Nelson, Wall Street Journal
Juliet Eilperin, Washington Post
April Ryan, American Urban Radio
The eighth was a bonus. As is custom, when reporters thought Obama was heading for the exits, they shouted one last question at him. A male reporter asked Obama about his New Year's resolutions.
Obama ignored it and called on Ryan instead.
