Justin Metz; The Media Issue by Post Typography Fourth Estate The White House Beat, Uncovered What the hacks of 1600 Penn really think.

The White House Correspondents’ Association began as a response to Woodrow Wilson’s threat to end presidential press conferences. A century later, White House reporters no longer have to line up outside the fence each morning to shout their questions, but they’re still fighting for access: Photographers rarely get candid shots of President Obama, while reporters vie for coveted interviews with him or simply for on-the-record quotes from administration officials addicted to anonymity. So what’s it really like on a beat one FDR-era reporter called “devoid of allurements to all except chess players and gentlemen in need of sleep”? Politico Magazine asked the members of the White House press corps to share their thoughts in the most comprehensive survey yet of this unique group of journalists.

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What most people don’t know about covering the White House is… “How much we cover out that is not important enough to publish. How much hurry-up-and-wait consumes of each day and each trip.” —Ann Compton, ABC News // “The grinding hours and always on-call nature diminish the genuine glamour.” —Major Garrett, CBS News // “Most questions don’t get answered.” —Mark Knoller, CBS News // “The White House often hides things in plain sight that they’re up to but don’t want you to know.” —Carol Lee, Wall Street Journal (See more on-the-record responses “How much we cover out that is not important enough to publish. How much hurry-up-and-wait consumes of each day and each trip.” —Ann Compton, ABC News // “The grinding hours and always on-call nature diminish the genuine glamour.” —Major Garrett, CBS News // “Most questions don’t get answered.” —Mark Knoller, CBS News // “The White House often hides things in plain sight that they’re up to but don’t want you to know.” —Carol Lee, Wall Street Journal (See more on-the-record responses here .)

The best way to get information out of this White House is… “By going outside the White House—to Congress, the Pentagon, the State Department or the political world.” —Jonathan Karl, ABC News // “From the outside in.” —Caren Bohan, Reuters // “Get it from the Hill first.” —Stephen Collinson, AFP // “Work around the walls of them saying ‘no.’ ” —Bryan Cole, Fox News // “Tweet something they disagree with.” —Mark S. Smith, Associated Press // “Talk to the assistant press secretary, the deputy to key administration officials.” —Steve Scully, C-SPAN

If I could get the Obama White House to change one thing, it would be…“Have Obama talk to us directly all the time, like all other foreign leaders do when their press corps is with them.” —Laura Haim, Canal+ // “Take questions from White House correspondents twice a week.” —Steve Holland, Reuters // “Hold more press briefings with policy officials and allow all interested reporters to attend.” —Cheryl Bolen, Bloomberg BNA // “Unchain aides to speak more and speak more on background.” —Eleanor Clift, Daily Beast

When President Obama calls this the “most transparent administration in history,” my reaction is… “To groan. Depends on what your definition of ‘transparent’ is. This WH means it is putting its own version of pictures, video and readouts on its own website.” —Ann Compton, ABC News // “Prove it, Mr. President!” —Takaaki Abe, Nippon Television // “The history of which country?” —Keith Koffler, White House Dossier // “To search online for ‘most powerful cricket team in Alaska’ while I order another round.” —Olivier Knox, Yahoo News

One hundred years from now, White House reporters will… “Not be allowed on the property and will be forced to make do with feeds of official video provided by the White House.” —Mark S. Smith, Associated Press // “Still be complaining that the Internet ruined everything.” —Evan McMorris-Santoro, BuzzFeed // “Be extinct.” —Stephen Collinson, AFP // “Not be extinct.” —Peter Kleim, RTL and n-tv German TV // “Ask, ‘Why does this have to be on background?’” —Scott Horsley, NPR

Graphics by Kelly Martin.

Figures represent number of responses out of 61 unless otherwise noted. Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.