Skip C-Span, Follow these Twitter feeds

C-Span embraces new media, but still feels stuffy

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner is supposed to be  D.C.’s version of the Oscars. The political media and the politicians come together to eat and talk and laugh and give out some scholarships and awards that no one pays attention to. Celebrity spotting and humorous speeches from the president and the Dinner’s comedian emcee — Wanda Sykes this year — are the highlights.

But if you tuned into C-Span, you likely discovered that the coverage was a bit dry. Rather than a pre-show featuring a Joan Rivers-type judging celebrity attire, C-Span.com’s live video stream featured a correspondent greeting celebrity arrivals on the slightly shabby red carpet at the Hilton Washington Hotel with baffling questions about parenthood. Felicity Huffman of Desperate Housewives fame, for one, was stumped by the mommy question and avoided the topic, instead replying, “I just got off the plane at Dulles and I was like, Oh My God, Obama and I are breathing the same air.”

C-Span.com was kind of hip though with its live Twitter coverage. It streamed all the tweets that had been marked “#WHCD” or “#Nerd Prom.” Clever and kind of cool, C-Span. Kudos for the idea. But the volume of tweets and the fact that just anybody could chime in, from the media Elite attendees — CNN correspondent Ed Henry after shaking hands with Obama: edhenrycnn: president obama joked to me, “u clean up well” – to random Dinner watchers content to stay in on a Saturday night — aristocat123: The #whca is on and ppl keep twitting from it! I wonder what it looks like when u can’t pay attention 2 person next 2 u but tlk to ur phone.

Well, Aristocat123, I tend to agree with you that tweeting is a bit ridiculous. But tonight, I’m desperate to know what’s going on at the Dinner. C-Span went dark while the attendees ate (Yes, in D.C.’s version of the Oscars, the cameras actually stop so that people can sit down and eat). When the cameras are rolling, they’re stationery. The correspondents ask about parenting advice. Boring! I want my news. I want it now. And I want the good, salacious, in-your-face, celebrity-laden stuff!

To get all that and to get it immediately, one must turn to Twitter. (Plus, the Twitter news continues to roll in from the after parties once the Dinner ends. The cameras stop rolling, but the drinks keep flowing. Yay for drunken tweets from White House correspondents!)

With so many folks tweeting at #nerd prom, #whca, and #whcd, how do you know which feeds are worth reading? A guide, after the jump.

Here are the cell phone Twitter feeds to check out for insider coverage of the White House Correspondents Dinner:

* Patrick Gavin (pwgavin) — Gavin is a D.C. media gossip expert, who used to blog for FishbowlDC. Now he’s a columnist for Politico. He doesn’t offer much in the way of commentary. But he does provide a running list of the celebrities (of the D.C. and Hollywood variety) that he encounters, along with links to photos he’s taking. Good photojournalism. I’ll assume he’s saving up his clever remarks for his Politico column. [e.g., pwgavin: Kevin bacon #nerdprom http://twitpic.com/4vxzy]

* Rachel Sklar (rachelsklar) — Sklar is another media gossip groupie, formerly of The Huffington Post, now at The Daily Beast. She knows how to work a room and she’s tweeting her head off. If you want to get a sense of what it would be like to be there wandering around, check out her feed. [e.g., rachelsklar: Just said hi to Mort Zuckerman, Andrea Mitchell + Alan Greenspan; told Greenspan I saw him at the Century Club. Haa. #nerdprom #whcd #surrea]

* Ed Henry (edhenrycnn) — CNN’s White House correspondent is experienced at covering the Obama beat; plus, he sat with the big guy at the Dinner’s head table. Unfortunately, Henry is a better talking head than a photographer. [e.g., edhenrycnn: president obama mobbed at vip reception #whca #nerdprom http://yfrog.com/0c738ej]

* Ana Marie Cox (anamariecox) — The founder of political gossip blog Wonkette brings access and, more importantly, the snark. [e.g., anamariecox: Wanda Sykes: Yeesh? Limbaugh as 20th hijacker? Kidneys fail? Waterboarded? Ya know what? SURE! Hope he doesn't fail! #nerdprom]

For the first time, I understand why people like Twitter. Enjoy the tweets.

Not all Twitter feeds are created equal. Here are the most disappointing feeds from Nerd Prom attendees:

* Amy Argetsinger of the Washington Post’s Reliable Source. She’s there, reports Sklar with a photo. But the Argetsinger/Reliable Source Twitter stream is dried up.

* Ashton Kutcher. Apparently he is there, but this is all he had to say as of Obama’s speech starting – aplusk: Off 2 the White house correspondents dinner. I’ll shootnlive vid if something exciting happens. Maybe Obama will take the pee challenge lol. (Update: Kutcher added more tweets, post-Dinner, claiming he didn’t have reception in the basement bunker that is the Hilton ballroom. And, does anyone know what the pee challenge is? I’ve googled but I’m stumped.)

* President Barack Obama. Nothing juicy here.

I used to attend these black-tie media award dinners with some frequency in my D.C. days, and even managed this one. But now I’m far, far away. My only participation was via Twitter from Manhattan as I watched the C-Span coverage. [e.g., KashHill: @WandaSykes transparency and Obama's nipples at #nerd prom. Lol.]