James "Jay" Carney (born May 22, 1965) is President Barack Obama's second White House Press Secretary. Prior to his appointment as Press Secretary, replacing Robert Gibbs, he was director of communications to Vice President Joe Biden. Carney previously served as Washington Bureau Chief for Time magazine, a post he held from September 2005 until December 2008, and as a regular contributor in the "roundtable" segment of ABC News' This Week with George Stephanopoulos.

Carney was raised in Northern Virginia, attended high school at The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey, and earned a B.A. in Russian and Eastern European Studies from Yale University, graduating cum laude, in 1987. He and his wife, Claire Shipman (a senior correspondent for ABC News), live in Washington, D.C., with their son and daughter.

After being hired as a reporter for The Miami Herald in 1987, Carney joined Time magazine as its Miami Bureau Chief in 1989. Carney worked as a correspondent in Time's Moscow Bureau for three years, covering the collapse of the U.S.S.R.. He came to Washington in 1993 to report on the Bill Clinton White House.

David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC. Letterman recently surpassed friend and mentor Johnny Carson for having the longest late-night hosting career in the United States of America.

Letterman is also a television and film producer. His company Worldwide Pants produces his show as well as its network follow-up The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Worldwide Pants has also produced several prime-time comedies, the most successful of which was Everybody Loves Raymond, currently in syndication.

In 1996, David Letterman was ranked #45 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.

Letterman was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. His father, Harry Joseph Letterman (April 1915 – February 1973), was a florist of British descent; his mother Dorothy Letterman (née Hofert, now Dorothy Mengering), a Presbyterian church secretary of German descent, is an occasional figure on the show, usually at holidays and birthdays.

Edward "Ed" Henry is the senior White House correspondent for Fox News Channel, and is based in the network's Washington, D.C. bureau. He was born in Queens, New York and lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

In 1995, Henry earned a bachelor's degree in English from Siena College in Loudonville, New York; he is a 2011-2012 member of the college Board of Associate Trustees. He began his career working with Jack Anderson. Henry covered Capitol Hill for Roll Call for eight years, writing that newspaper’s Heard on the Hill column, and has been a contributing editor at Washingtonian and in 2003 began providing political analysis for The WMAL Morning News and The Chris Core Show on 630 WMAL (ABC affiliate).

After covering the White House for CNN since March 2006, Henry was elevated to a senior position in December 2008. He was one of three CNN correspondents at the White House, along with Dan Lothian and Brianna Keilar; Henry was the sole senior correspondent.

On June 20, 2011, it was announced that Henry was leaving his position with CNN to become the Chief White House Correspondent for FOX News Channel. CNN insiders said that network management had already told Henry that his contract would not be renewed.

Sean Hannity (born December 30, 1961) is a television host, author, and conservative political commentator. He is the host of The Sean Hannity Show, a nationally syndicated talk radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks. Hannity also hosts a cable news show, Hannity, on Fox News Channel. Hannity has written three New York Times–bestselling books:Let Freedom Ring: Winning the War of Liberty over Liberalism, Deliver Us from Evil: Defeating Terrorism, Despotism, and Liberalism, and Conservative Victory: Defeating Obama’s Radical Agenda.

Hannity is the son of Hugh J. and Lillian F. Hannity. His paternal and maternal grandparents immigrated from Ireland. He has two sisters. He grew up in Franklin Square, New York and attended Sacred Heart Seminary in Hempstead, New York during his middle school years and St. Pius X Preparatory Seminary high school in Uniondale, New York. Hannity dropped out of New York University and Adelphi University.

Hannity hosted his first talk radio show in 1989 at the volunteer college station at UC Santa Barbara, KCSB-FM, while working as a general contractor. The show aired for 40 hours of air time; Regarding his first show, Hannity has said, "I wasn't good at it. I was terrible." Hannity's weekly show on KCSB was canceled after less than a year by station managers. This was after two shows featuring the book The AIDS Coverup: The Real and Alarming Facts about AIDS by Gene Antonio; among other remarks made during the broadcast, Hannity told a lesbian caller "I feel sorry for your child". The station later reversed its decision to dismiss Hannity due in part to a campaign conducted by the Santa Barbara Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Hannity decided against returning to KCSB.

A press secretary or press officer is a senior advisor who provides advice on how to deal with the news media and, using news management techniques, helps their employer to maintain a positive public image and avoid negative media coverage.

They often, but not always, act as the organization's senior spokesperson. Many governments also have press secretaries. A deputy press secretary is typically a mid-level political staffer who assists the press secretary and communications director with aspects of public outreach. They often write the press releases and media advisories for review by the press secretary and communications director. There are usually assistant press secretaries and press officers that support the press secretary.