There were two key 'dinners' in Washington and neither featured the President of the United States.
The White House Correspondents' Association punched back against the Trump Administration that has denigrated it and snubbed it. Donald Trump became the first president in decades to skip the annual event between the White House and the reporters who cover the presidency.
"We cannot ignore the rhetoric that has been employed by the President about who we are and what we do," association president Jeff Mason told journalists. "We are not fake news. We are not failing news organisations. And we are not the enemy of the American people."
Across town, Samantha Bee hosted "Not the White House Correspondents' Dinner", paying homage to a free press ("from the failing New York Times to the failing pile of garbage Buzzfeed" to ProPublica, which "sounds Mexican"). She skeweed sensational media practices and evoked an alternate reality where George W. Bush delivers Trump takedowns.
"How do you like me now?" Will Ferrell drawled as Bush. "The prodigal son has returned. I don't know what that means, but I know it's positive. It's very prodigal.
