Media scandals were the hottest topic of the night at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner last weekend, with both President Joe Biden and headlining comedian Roy Wood Jr. taking jabs at Fox News and CNN. The dinner—hosted by the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA)—is a 102-year-old Washington D.C tradition, now best known for self-roasting speeches by the sitting POTUS as well as eviscerating roasts of the Washington establishment delivered by a comedian. That spectacle—the leader of the so-called ‘free world’ sitting and taking comedic punches from a comedian—have made the dinner a must-watch for politicos, journalists and comedy fans all over the world.

This year’s event comes in the backdrop of increased threats to press freedom around the world, and the media remained front-and-centre during the speeches. Ex-Terminator and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger delivered a pre-taped video about the importance of a free press, Biden mentioned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich (jailed in Russia under trumped up espionage charges) and spoke of the danger that misinformation poses for democracy in between jokes about his age and the past week’s media exits. “You say I’m over the hill, Don Lemon would say, ‘That’s a man in his prime,'” Biden joked, referencing the CNN anchor who was fired for sexist and ageist comments against Nikki Haley. The 80-year-old didn’t have the charismatic delivery of Barack Obama at dinners past, but he got more than a few honest laughs and warm applause from the audience with jabs about his own vintage and opponents like Marjorie Taylor Greene.

The highlight of the show—as expected—was the headlining speech by The Daily Show’s Roy Wood Jr. The comedian had everyone in his sights, from Biden and VP Kamala Harris to Tucker Carlson, Don Lemon and Trump. The jabs at Biden and Harris were mostly softballs, though a joke about the President’s naps did get some audible groans. “I work at “The Daily Show” so I, too, have been blindsided by the sudden departure of the host of a fake news program,” he said in mock sympathy with Tucker Carlson’s staffers, after the American Arnab Goswami was recently fired by Fox News. The right-wing media organisation was also the butt of jokes about the defamation lawsuit it recently settled with Dominion Voting Systems over election fraud claims.

There was also a masterfully crafted bit about Justice Clarence Thomas, his billionnaire ‘friend’ Harlan Crow, and NFTs. But Wood—whose father was a pioneering black journalist and mother was a civil-rights activist turned educator—balanced the jokes with sombre reverence for the principles of a free and independent media, as well as an acknowledgement of the legal, financial and physical risks that journalists have to face. He made sure to specifically big up local media, whose work often goes uncelebrated. Balancing humour with a reminder of how high the stakes really are, Wood delivered a speech that stripped away the glitz, glamour, and schmaltzy Beltway schmoozing to remind us of what makes the White House Correspondents’ Dinner so vital: that the US remains a country where a comedian has the right to land a few well-deserved rhetorical punches on its most powerful political leader. To his face, even. After all, isn’t that the ultimate expression of a democracy?