Ann Devroy

Ann Mary Devroy was born October 9, 1948, in Green Bay, Wisconsin. While she was a journalism student at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire, she interned at the Milwaukee Journal and worked as a reporter for the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram. After she received her bachelor's degree in 1970, Devroy began working for the Courier News, a New Jersey newspaper owned by the Gannett Company. In 1977, she moved to Gannett's Washington bureau. She covered Congress for two years before becoming White House correspondent for Gannett and its new national newspaper, USA Today.

In 1985, Devroy joined The Washington Post as political editor on the national news desk—a job that would allow her to spend more time with her young daughter.{{cite news |last=Broder |first=David S. |author-link=David S. Broder |date=October 24, 1997 |title=The Core of the Press Corps; Ann Devroy Fiercely Embraced a Tough Job |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1997/10/24/the-core-of-the-press-corps/9eb43d4c-f0a3-4fa6-b6c2-d902556872d3/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=October 14, 2016 }} As deputy national editor, Devroy directed coverage of the 1988 Presidential campaign.McCaslin, John, The Washington Times, October 24, 1997 In 1989, she returned to the White House beat. Andrew Rosenthal of The New York Times, who was Devroy's main competition, described her as "the scariest and most generous reporter I've ever known. She would kick your butt 24 hours a day."

{{quote box

|quote = Don't screw with The Post.
When no one else pays attention, we do.

|author = —Ann Devroy

}}

She was also a prolific reporter. Over 2,300 stories carrying Ann Devroy's byline appeared in The Post from 1989 through 1995.Kaiser, Robert G., remarks at Ann Devroy's memorial service November 1, 1997; reprinted in the pamphlet Ann Devroy of The Washington Post: Colleagues Remember a Woman and Her Work, page 41

Devroy was not part of the Washington TV punditocracy.{{cite magazine |last=Shepard |first=Alicia C. |author-link=Alicia Shepard |date=September 1995 |title=The Pundit Explosion |url=http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=1634 |magazine=American Journalism Review |location=University of Maryland, College Park|publisher=Philip Merrill College of Journalism |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120601050022/http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=1634 |archive-date=June 1, 2012 |access-date=October 14, 2016 }} She turned down frequent requests to appear on camera participating in press panels. Devroy made a rare television appearance as Tim Russert's guest on his CNBC show March 28, 1994.[https://archive.today/20120723213134/http://tv.msn.com/tv/episode/tim-russert/untitled.74/ March 28, 1994, episode information], Tim Russert, CNBC

As a cost-saving measure, The Post once floated the idea of ending expensive press charter flights to out-of-town presidential events, proposing instead that its reporters fly commercial. Devroy fired off a response concluding that the short-sighted move to economize "diminishes our commitment to White House coverage ... and erodes a lesson I have spent a career beating into every White House I cover: Don't screw with The Post. When no one else pays attention, we do."

"Ann Devroy was the toughest and fairest White House reporter I knew," said George Stephanopoulos, senior adviser to President Clinton in his first term. "She knew when she had a story, and she knew when to kill one. She revered the office of the presidency and the role that reporters play in keeping it honest."{{cite web |url=http://www.uwec.edu/newsbureau/release/2004/04-05/0510pledge.htm |title=George Stephanopoulos Pledges $25,000 to UW-Eau Claire Foundation's Devroy Fund |last=News Bureau |date=May 10, 2004 |publisher=University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140520224746/http://www.uwec.edu/newsbureau/release/2004/04-05/0510pledge.htm |archive-date=May 20, 2014 |access-date=April 5, 2016}}

In May 1994, Devroy received a journalism award from the Gerald R. Ford Foundation, for distinguished reporting on the presidency. She received the foundation's seventh annual prize for her articles on President Clinton's foreign policy and his effort to sell his domestic program, Vice President Al Gore's record and an evaluation of former president George H. W. Bush.{{cite web |url=http://geraldrfordfoundation.org/past-reporting-prize-recipients |title=Past Reporting Prize Recipients |date=June 2006 |publisher=Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation |access-date=October 14, 2016}}{{cite news |date=May 7, 1994 |title=Two Post Reporters Win Ford Journalism Awards; Presidential, Pentagon Coverage Cited |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1994/05/07/two-post-reporters-win-ford-journalism-awards/b5b162a9-3d3e-4c60-81e7-ff9a072c2671/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=October 14, 2016 |quote=Ann Devroy was honored for presidential coverage and Barton Gellman for coverage of the Pentagon and defense issues.}}

Devroy died at her home in Washington October 23, 1997, age 49, of uterine cancer.{{cite news |author= |title=Ann Devroy, 49, who covered the White House|url=http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1997-10-24/news/1997297133_1_gannett-uterine-cancer-white-house |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722031522/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1997-10-24/news/1997297133_1_gannett-uterine-cancer-white-house |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 22, 2015 |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun|date=October 24, 1997 |access-date=July 19, 2015 }} President Bill Clinton issued a statement that day on learning of her death: "For more than a decade, no journalist dominated and defined the White House beat with the kind of skill, shrewd analysis and gruff grace that Ann brought to her reporting."Clinton, William J., [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=53445#axzz1iGH7rvR2 "Statement on the Death of Ann Devroy"] October 23, 1997. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara

After Ann Devroy's death, The Washington Post created an annual journalism fellowship at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire.{{cite web |url=http://www.uwec.edu/CJ/news/devroy/history.htm |title=History of the Forum |website=Ann Devroy Memorial Forum |publisher=Communication and Journalism Department, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304113326/http://www.uwec.edu/CJ/news/devroy/history.htm |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |access-date=October 14, 2016}} Featured speakers at the Ann Devroy Memorial Forum are listed below.{{cite web |url=http://www.uwec.edu/academics/college-arts-sciences/departments-programs/communication-journalism/explore-opportunities/scholarships/ann-devroy-memorial-forum/presenters/ |title=Devroy Forum Presenters |website=Ann Devroy Memorial Forum |publisher=Communication and Journalism Department, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire |access-date=January 7, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180107232941/http://www.uwec.edu/academics/college-arts-sciences/departments-programs/communication-journalism/explore-opportunities/scholarships/ann-devroy-memorial-forum/presenters/ |archive-date=January 7, 2018 |url-status=dead }}

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• 1998: David S. Broder
• 1999: David Maraniss
• 2000: Leonard Downie Jr.
• 2001: Gwen Ifill
• 2002: Karen DeYoung
• 2003: Lou Cannon
• 2004: Andrea Mitchell
• 2005: Mike McCurry
• 2006: Dana Milbank
• 2007: Robert G. Kaiser and Bob Woodward
• 2008: Dana Priest
• 2009: Dan Balz
• 2010: Helen Thomas
• 2011: E. J. Dionne
• 2012: Bob Edwards and Gene Weingarten
• 2013: Ruth Marcus
• 2014: Scott Wilson
• 2015: Al Kamen
• 2016: Terence Samuel
• 2017: Jenna Johnson
• 2018: Ashley Parker{{cite web |url=https://www.uwec.edu/news/news/devroy-memorial-forum-to-feature-white-house-reporter-ashley-parker-2881/ |title=Devroy Memorial Forum to feature Washington Post White House reporter Ashley Parker |last=Wermund |first=Emily |date=March 16, 2018 |publisher=University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire |access-date=April 13, 2018 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20180413185948/https://www.uwec.edu/news/news/devroy-memorial-forum-to-feature-white-house-reporter-ashley-parker-2881/ |archive-date=April 13, 2018}}
• 2019: Tracy Grant{{cite web |url=https://www.uwec.edu/news/news/devroy-memorial-forum-to-feature-washington-post-managing-editor-tracy-grant-3543/ |title=Devroy Memorial Forum to feature Washington Post managing editor Tracy Grant|last=Wermund |first=Emily |date=March 19, 2019 |publisher=University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire |access-date=May 19, 2020 }}
• 2021: Philip Rucker{{cite web |url=https://volumeone.org/articles/2021/04/14/275116-philip-rucker-slated-to-speak-at-annual-ann-devroy |title=Washington Post Correspondent Rucker Slated to Speak at UWEC's Devroy Forum|last=Berthiaume |first=Judy |date=April 14, 2021 |website=Volume One |access-date=April 15, 2021 }}
• 2022: Sharif Durhams{{cite web |url=https://www.uwec.edu/news/news/ann-devroy-memorial-forum-to-feature-deputy-managing-editor-at-the-washington-post-5101/ |title=Ann Devroy Memorial Forum to feature deputy managing editor at The Washington Post |last=Berthiaume |first=Judy |date=April 11, 2022 |publisher=University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire |access-date=April 28, 2024 | archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20220925110725/https://www.uwec.edu/news/news/ann-devroy-memorial-forum-to-feature-deputy-managing-editor-at-the-washington-post-5101/ |archive-date=September 25, 2022}}
• 2023: Phoebe Connelly{{cite web |url=https://www.uwec.edu/news/news/ann-devroy-memorial-forum-scheduled-for-april-27-5702/ |title=Ann Devroy Memorial Forum scheduled for April 27|last=Johnson |first=Gary |date=April 19, 2023 |publisher=University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire |access-date=April 28, 2024 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20230425150624/https://www.uwec.edu/news/news/ann-devroy-memorial-forum-scheduled-for-april-27-5702/ |archive-date=April 25, 2023}}
• 2024: Patrick Marley{{cite web |url=https://www.spectatornews.com/campus-news/2024/04/ann-devroy-forum-to-be-held-on-april-25/ |title=Forum to feature Patrick Marley and announcement of 2024 Devroy Fellow|last=Wojohn|first=Ambrosia|date=April 17, 2024 |website=The Spectator |publisher=University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire |access-date=April 28, 2024}}

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{{Reflist}}

• C-SPAN Video Library:
• [http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/ClintonsF Media Coverage of Clinton's First Year], March 15, 1994 (1 hour 38 minutes, with Charles Royer, Mark Gearan, Thomas Oliphant, Charles Peters, Margaret D. Tutwiler)
• [http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/PressCorp White House Press Corps] (vignette), April 26, 1993 (8 minutes, with Larry McQuillan, Helen Thomas, Brit Hume, Wolf Blitzer)
• [http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/NewsDiscussion65 News Discussion], May 7, 1985 (57 minutes, with Carl Rutan)
• [http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/Act War Powers Act], September 16, 1983 (60 minutes, with Brian Lamb)
• [http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/PoliticalDiscussion245 News Discussion], February 10, 1983 (50 minutes, with Bruce Collins)

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Category:1948 births

Category:1997 deaths

Category:20th-century American journalists

Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers

Category:20th-century American women journalists

Category:20th-century American women writers

Category:American newspaper reporters and correspondents

Category:Deaths from cancer in Washington, D.C.

Category:Deaths from uterine cancer in the United States

Category:Journalists from Wisconsin

Category:The Washington Post people

Category:University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire alumni

Category:Writers from Green Bay, Wisconsin