The Washington Press Club Foundation presents the Lifetime Achievement Award every year at the Congressional Dinner. This award recognizes an individual whose outstanding accomplishments promote the journalistic profession and enhance the role of women journalists.

The 2024 Award Goes to Janet Hook

Embracing the goals of the Foundation’s predecessor, the Women’s National Press Club, Janet Hook's commitment to excellence and ability to persevere through the limitations often placed on women in the newsrooms continues to inspire a new generation of young journalists.

A dominant presence in political journalism, Janet Hook covered national politics for almost 40 year. (

She started her career in the early 1980s as one of a small handful of women who broke through the male ranks to report on Congress and add their unique perspective to political coverage.

Hook’s career included decades of major stories reported from the Hill, ranging from deep dives into stories steeped in policy details to reporting on three presidential campaigns and many midterm elections. 

As a student at Harvard majoring in philosophy and government with an original plan to pursue a doctorate, Hook’s scholarly interest in political philosophy led her to change course to a career in journalism instead.

After college, Hook went to work for The Public Interest journal in the late 1970s and eventually found her way to Washington, D.C., and to Congressional Quarterly in 1983. She joined the Los Angeles Times in 1995, moving to The Wall Street Journal in 2010, still covering politics and Congress, and then returned to the L.A. Times in 2018. 



Hook was honored with the Everett Dirksen Award for reporting on Congress, the Carey McWilliams Award for political reporting and the John S. Knight Fellowship for Professional Journalists. In 2021, she was a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics. Throughout her career, Hook has served as a mentor to countless young journalists whom she inspired and encouraged.

The Washington Press Club Foundation Life Time Achievement Award is based on the ideals of the founders of the WPCF, the Women’s National Press Club. For over 70 years these pioneers in journalism fought for equal status in the newsroom and within journalism organizations because they believed that the voice of the press should be as diverse as the readers it promised to serve.

Previous winners of the Lifetime Achievement Award include Elizabeth Drew, Robin Sproul, Charlene Hunter-Gault, Ann Compton, Lynn Povich, Dorothy Gilliam, Mary McGrory, Helen Dewar, Nan Robertson, Helen Thomas and Elizabeth Drew. Though all were stellar journalists the Washington Press Club Foundation’s Life Time Achievement Award specifically recognized their life long fight to ensure that women journalists were provided the same opportunities as their male counterparts. They mentored and they encouraged, and they provided the legacy for many of the women working in journalism today. Today, the Foundation continues their work as we provide funds for paid internships for women and minorities throughout Washington, D.C. newsrooms.

The Washington Press Club Foundation Life Time Achievement Award is based on the ideals of the founders of the WPCF, the Women’s National Press Club. For almost 70 years these pioneers in journalism fought for equal status in the newsroom and within journalism organizations because they believed that the voice of the press should be as diverse as the readers it promised to serve.

Previous Winners:

2006 Helen Dewar

2007 Tad Bartemus

2008 Helen Thomas

2009 Nan Robertson

2010 Dorothy Gilliam

2011 Bonnie Angelo

2012 Edith M. Lederer

2013 Lynn Povich

2014 Ann Compton

2015 Charlayne Hunter Gault

2016 Linda Deutsch

2017 Diane Rehm

2018 Robin Sproul

2019 Elizabeth Drew

2020 Cokie Roberts

2022 Carole Simpson

2023 Connie Chung