(CNN) - President Barack Obama took eight questions during his Friday press conference — and all of them from women journalists.
It was an unusual and deliberate move, considering the White House press corps has been historically dominated by men. Indeed, the first woman to cover the president, United Press International journalist Helen Thomas, didn't join their ranks until 1960.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest explained that the White house realized it had an opportunity to highlight the number of women who cover the White House as it compiled the list of reporters for Obama to call on.
"The fact is, there are many women from a variety of news organizations who day-in and day-out do the hard work of covering the President of the United States," Earnest said.