WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) – The board of the White House Correspondents Association agreed on Sunday that Fox News will receive AP’s front-row seat in the James S. Brady Briefing Room in the White House. AP will take the center seat vacated after Helen Thomas’ abrupt resignation.

The board received requests from Bloomberg and NPR in addition to Fox News for being relocated to a front row seat. The association felt that the three media made compelling cases but ultimately decided to move Fox due to its length of service and commitment to the White House television pool.

A center front-row seat became available when veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas resigned following her controversial comments related to Israel. She said that Israelis should get out of Palestine and go instead to Poland, Germany, and the United States.

The board decided to give Associated Press (AP) the former seat of Thomas, while Fox was given the AP’s seat and NPR will take the Fox previous chair, next to Bloomberg in the second row. It also made a series of adjustments to the seating chart, including a new seat for the foreign press pool.

“We are pleased with the decision of the White House Correspondents’ Association and look forward to working with our colleagues in the front row and the rest of the James S. Brady briefing room,” Fox News vice president Bill Sammon said.

This marks the third time in four years that the association has addressed this issue as seating room changes are an ongoing process that will be revisited once more as the industry evolves.

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