In October 2015, the founding editor of LititzDailyNews.com traveled to Washington, D.C., for a rare look inside the White House, at the invitation of the White House itself.
Lynn Rebuck, the site’s editor and publisher at the time, was invited to meet President Barack Obama’s chief official photographer, Pete Souza, and to photograph areas of the White House usually off-limits to visitors. The event took place on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015.
The White House Instameet
The visit was part of the second White House Instameet, an event tied to a worldwide movement in which Instagram users gather to photograph a specific place. It was only the second time the White House had hosted such an event. The first, in March 2015, drew more than 1,500 applications.
About 40 photographers from across the country took part. They joined a question-and-answer session with Souza and then received a tour with unusual access to rooms in the residence.
Why Lititz got a seat
Rebuck was selected after White House staff learned that she published an entire award-winning digital newspaper on her own. In just over a year, she had shot more than 2,000 photos, published more than 250 original stories and run the site’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
By then, LititzDailyNews.com had received four of the top digital publishing awards on the East Coast, including Best Use of Social Media.
“A tremendous honor”
“It was a tremendous honor to be invited to the White House as a digital publisher, photographer, and social media user, and to have the opportunity to meet Mr. Souza,” Rebuck said. “As a nation, we have watched history unfold through the lens of his camera.”
She described the tour as unforgettable. “It was such a tremendous experience to be able to view and photograph national treasures up close, and to have Pete share his insight and his passion for documenting history.”
About Pete Souza
Souza served as chief official White House photographer for President Obama throughout both terms, and earlier as an official photographer for President Ronald Reagan. His behind-the-scenes images of the presidency, many shared on Instagram and Flickr, helped redefine how the public saw daily life in the White House.
For a group of social media photographers, a chance to hear how he worked, and what he looked for in a frame, was a highlight of the day.
Sharing the visit
After the event, Rebuck posted her photos of the White House to the LititzDailyNews.com Instagram account, and the White House shared group photos that included her. The site ran a gallery of her images and additional stories about the visit through the following week.
A small-town newsroom on a national stage
For a hyperlocal news site covering one Lancaster County borough, the invitation was a sign of how much digital publishing had changed local journalism. A single editor with a camera and a phone could now reach readers across the community in real time, and that kind of work was being noticed far beyond Lititz.
The visit came during a busy stretch for the site, which was also honored that year with state and national digital media awards and recognition from the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association.
Recognition for local news
The invitation reflected a broader trend in 2015, when government offices and national organizations began reaching out to digital-first and independent publishers.
Looking back
The Instameet remains one of the more memorable moments in the site’s early history, a reminder that local reporting can open unexpected doors. The photos Rebuck brought home gave Lititz readers a glimpse of rooms most Americans never see.
This story was originally published on LititzDailyNews.com in October 2015 and has been updated for our archive.