Before NBC News veteran and current chief White House correspondent Kristen Welker, above, appeared on Today on April 23 to break an exclusive story, the most personal of her nearly 20-year on-camera career, she did something inconceivable in the elbow-bumping world of Washington, D.C., reporting: She tipped off the competition, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

“I told them before the announcement was coming because while we are competitors, we’re also friends,” Welker, 44, says of breaking the news to her rival chief White House correspondents that she and husband, John Hughes, are expecting a baby via surrogate. “When you are struggling with infertility, you feel very alone, and my fellow chief White House correspondents have been there for me throughout.”

It’s a group that includes Welker (who shares her title with Peter Alexander); Cecilia Vega, 44, of ABC News; Nancy Cordes, 46, of CBS News; Kaitlan Collins, 29, of CNN; and Yamiche Alcindor, 34, of PBS, marking the first time that women hold the top White House reporting jobs at the major U.S. networks, continues The Hollywood Reporter.

In the post, ABC’s Cecilia?Vega, CBS’ Nancy?Cordes, NBC’s Welker, CNN’s Kaitlan?Collins and PBS’ ?Yamiche?Alcindor open up about holding the current administration to account while lifting each other up: “We’ve got each other’s backs.”

More here.