MEMBERS & LEADERSHIP
The WHFCA Executive Committee is the elected leadership team that guides the association’s work, represents its members, and helps coordinate coverage and access for foreign correspondents at the White House.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
PRESIDENT
Daniele Compatangelo is an award-winning Italian-American foreign correspondent with over 25 years of experience. He has interviewed top U.S. political leaders and global figures, produced acclaimed investigative reporting, and covered eight Olympic Games. An expert in European and Middle East affairs, he is White House correspondent for Italian TV LA7, contributor to Sky TG24 and TV2000 (Italian Episcopal Bishops’ Conference), and political analyst for the Middle Eastern 24-hour news channel Shams TV and American Pulse. He works in Sydney, Beijing, Vancouver, and other cities worldwide, and is a founding member of the White House Foreign Correspondents’ Association.
TREASURER
Michael Hernandez is the Senior Washington Correspondent for Anadolu Agency, one of the world’s largest news wires. Michael’s reporting focuses on foreign policy, national security and domestic US politics. In addition to his news coverage, Michael regularly assists in the training of junior journalists, and helps coordinate Anadolu’s global coverage with an emphasis on the US, Canada and Latin America.
VICEPRESIDENT
Patrícia Vasconcellos is a Brazilian journalist and TV presenter with over 20 years of experience. Based in Washington, D.C., she is SBT’s U.S. correspondent, reporting from the White House, Congress and federal agencies. Previously based in New York, Buenos Aires and Brasília, she is a Chevening alumna, documentarian and holds a master’s degree in TV Journalism from the University of London.
POOL COORDINATOR
Diyar Kurda is the White House Correspondent for Rudaw Media Network, one of the Middle East’s leading news outlets. Based in Washington, he covers U.S. foreign policy and national security, with a focus on the Middle East. In October 2024, the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in the United States recognized Kurda with a Professional Excellence Award as one of the outstanding Middle East correspondents in the U.S. for his effective and impactful reporting. In December 2024, he received the Vivian Award from the National Press Club for his contributions and support of the Club.
SECRETARY
David Alandete is the White House correspondent for Diario ABC, Cadena COPE, and Telemadrid. Based in Washington, he has built a long career covering U.S. politics and global affairs, with reporting from Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East, including conflict zones such as Afghanistan, Gaza and Syria. A Fulbright grantee, he has interviewed world leaders, published three books, and received Spain’s top award for foreign correspondents.
MEMBER AT LARGE
Reema Abuhamdiya is a presenter and reporter with AlAraby TV based in Washington, DC. She has covered major national and international events, including the war in Gaza, Turkish elections, hurricanes and natural disasters, and major events across the United States. Previously, Abuhamdiya worked as a correspondent for RT Arabic in Washington, DC. She lived in Russia while working as a journalist and has worked on reporting and media projects in multiple countries, bringing a strong international perspective to her coverage.
Ethics and Membership Chair
Mike Wagenheim serves as senior U.S. correspondent for the Israel-based i24NEWS TV network, covering American government, diplomacy, religion, business and culture, all through the lens of the Middle East. His focus is the White House and State Department. Mike was previously based in the network's headquarters in Israel, and later in its New York City bureau. He also serves as correspondent for the Jewish News Syndicate, with his work appearing in the New York Post, Jerusalem Post, Canada's National Post and a host of additional outlets.
MEMBER AT LARGE
Hariana Verás is an Angolan journalist, producer, and TV host, currently serving as a White House correspondent for Africa. She is also credentialed to cover the Pentagon, U.S. Senate, State Department, and major global institutions like the United Nations, IMF, and World Bank. Born in Malanje, Angola, she began her journalism career at age 18 with Angolan outlets such as Folha 8, Angolense, and ORION. After working as a Press Assistant at the Angolan Embassy in Washington, D.C. for nine years, she transitioned fully into journalism. Notably, in 2021, she gained international attention for pressing the Biden administration on travel restrictions affecting African nations
ETHICS & MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE
Libby Alon is a senior White House correspondent for Channel 14 in Israel. Since 2023, she has covered the American political arena, focusing on the White House and U.S. foreign relations with Israel and the Middle East. She closely follows U.S. policy, key political processes, and the strategic ties between the United States, Israel and the broader region.
Juan Esteban Silva is a three-time journalism award winner, White House correspondent for W Radio Colombia, Voz News, Red Más, and other international media outlets. Based in Washington, he covers the White House, Congress, and U.S. foreign policy, with a focus on Latin America.
Daisuke Nakai is the American General Bureau Chief of the Asahi Shimbun, overseeing coverage of the Americas. The Asahi Shimbun is one of Japan’s major daily newspapers, with a daily circulation of more than 3 million copies. He has extensively reported on the US for over 10 years, including covering 3 Presidential Elections.
Mohamed Elmenshawy is Aljazeera Net’s Washington chief correspondent, covering the White House and U.S. foreign policy and national security. A former think tank fellow, congressional witness and author, he has published in major U.S. outlets.
Augustinas Šemelis has been covering the White House beat and US politics as the Washington correspondent for Lithuanian national TV LRT since 2022. He is mainly focused on US foreign policy, especially US relations with Europe.
members
AFRICA
TPA (Angola): Hariana Veras
EUROPE
Corriere della Sera (Italy): Viviana Mazza
Sky TG24 (Italy): Federico Leoni
LA7 TV / SkyTg24 / TV2000 (Italy/Vatican): Daniele Compatangelo
TVN (Poland): Marcin Wrona
PAP News Agency (Poland): Oskar Gorzynski
Ukrainian Public Broadcaster (Ukraine): Tetiana Kozyrieva
LRT (Lithuania): Augustinas Semelis
DPG Media (Belgium): Romina Van Camp
Weekendavisen (Denmark): Markus Bensen
Skai TV Greece / Omega TV Cyprus (Greece/Cyprus): Michail Ignatiou
Hellas Journal (Greece): Niki Georgatou
World Media (United Kingdom): Kate Jones
ABC / Cadena COPE / Telemadrid (Spain): David Alandete
TRT World (United Kingdom): Jon Brain
MIDDLE EAST
Al Jazeera Arabic Online (Qatar): Mohamed Elmenshawy
Al Araby TV (Qatar): Reema Abuhamdiya; Mohamed Ahrimou
Sky News Arabia (Middle East): Abubaker Abdalla; Matthew Bailey; Amina Sriri; Majdi Yazji
MTV (Lebanon): Anthony Merchak
i24NEWS English (Israel): Mike Wagenheim
KAN (Israel): Nathan Guttman
The Times of Israel (Israel): Jacob Magid
Channel 14 (Israel): Libby Alon
Rudaw (Iraq/Kurdistan): Hassan Aziz; Diyar Kurda
Kurdish 24TV (Kurdistan): Sangar Akrayi
Kurdistan 24 / Kurdistan TV (Kurdistan): Rahim Rashidi
Shams TV (Kurdistan): Adam Awada; Michel Ghandour; Haytham Khawand
Shams TV / Prime Time Media (Kurdistan): Kalyl Bentwila
ASIA
Asahi Shimbun (Japan): Kayoko Geji; Daisuke Nakai
Kyodo News (Japan): Sierra Cougot; Kosuke Kinashi
Nippon TV (Japan): Lisa Masuda
Anadolu (Turkey): Hakan Copur; Can Hasasu; Michael Hernandez
Ekoturk TV (Turkey): Anil Sural
Halk TV (Turkey): Serra Karacam
TVBS News (Taiwan): Jessica Ni
Central News Agency (Taiwan): Tzu-Ying Hou
ARY News (Pakistan): Jahanzaib Ali
NTD (Chinese diaspora): David Zhang
NORTH AMERICA
CBC (Canada): Azeb Wolde-Giorghis
Televisa (Mexico): Ariel Moutsatsos
SOUTH AMERICA
Caracol TV (Colombia): Juan Camilo Merlano
W Radio (Colombia): Juan Esteban Silva
SBT (Brazil): Patricia Vasconcellos
OCEANIA
Sky News (Australia): Annelise Nielsen
SMH / The Age (Australia): Michael Koziol
Channel 9 (Australia): Lauren Tomasi