When voters elect a new president in November, NBC News will be on the ground, ready to cover what the next four years will bring. It’s a White House correspondent’s job to report on the president’s whereabouts and activities, whether at home or abroad, as well as administration briefings and policy work.
In the video above and the comments below, Monica Alba, one of NBC News’ seven White House correspondents, discusses how she gets ready for her high-pressure work.
No two days must be the same for a White House correspondent, but what is your workflow like?
I wake up, I read so many different emails — major outlets and papers to get a sense of what’s going to be driving my day. There’s a mix of phone calls: I’m in touch with my colleagues constantly, not just from the White House team, but different beats trying to get information about stories that intersect with the White House and the Biden administration. I’m on the phone with sources, texting them, talking over email — every kind of communication.
I balance that with what’s breaking. What are we trying to confirm on our end? What are we really trying to report first — a big priority in terms of enterprise and original reporting.
How do sources play a role in your work?
I’m constantly, throughout the day, talking to sources. And that doesn’t just mean people who are inside the White House or inside the administration. I talk to people outside all the time, who in some cases I’ve known for years from other different backgrounds, administrations or campaigns.
I have to get the right people on the phone at a really serious moment, for the most up-to-date information. And I sense if the administration is saying one thing publicly but something else privately.
On top of all that, I’m preparing for the White House briefing. I’m always juggling a lot of different topics, keeping my eyes and ears on stories that are emerging that we need to ask the White House about.
What is the role of a White House correspondent?
The bottom line is that a White House correspondent is here to document history in real time. You don’t always know that something really significant is happening, because it’s happening so quickly. These moments in time inform the arc of where our politics are now.
