President Barack Obama poked fun at his close relationship with the press on Friday and teased radio and TV correspondents their industry “was more relevant than ever,” despite more and more Americans turning elsewhere for news.

Obama said he had trouble coming up with fresh jokes after delivering a similar routine just five weeks ago at the annual White House correspondents dinner, a glitzy affair attracting big Hollywood stars.

“The jokes may not be as good, but neither is the guest list,” Obama said at the Radio and Television Correspondents  Associations Dinner. “For me, there’s no contest. Why bother hanging out with celebrities, when I can spend time with the people who made me one?”

“A few nights ago, I was up tossing and turning trying to figure exactly what to say. Finally, when I couldn’t get back to sleep, I rolled over and asked (NBC News anchor) Brian Williams what he thought,” Obama said.

Williams recently hosted a gushing two-night special that took viewers “Inside the Obama White House,” and featured such hard-hitting spots as the president firing up his motorcade to pick up hamburgers for his staff. “The truth is, Brian Williams is actually a terrible house guest. He put an empty milk carton back in the fridge. He leaves his wet towels all over the Roosevelt room. We’re pretty sure he clogged the toilet and didn’t tell anybody,” Obama said to roars from the crowd.

Obama joked was he spending much of his time rescuing failed banks and auto companies, but “you probably wouldn’t understand the concept of troubled industries working as you do in radio and television.”

When that joke got a tepid response, Obama sensed he had hit a sore spot and added: “Ho ho. We don’t joke about that. That’s not funny.”

“Despite the flood of new media, I think your programing is more relevant than ever before at least that’s the impression I get when I read the blogs every day,” Obama said.

(Additional reporting by Wendell Marsh)

Photo credit: Reuters/Larry Downing

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Democrat Barack Obama raked in $9 million at fundraisers on Tuesday night flanked by celebrities. But he stopped far short of celebrating.

The White House hopeful kept the tone of his remarks  somber as he talked of the financial crisis that has cast a pall over the economy to an audience that included Pierce Brosnan, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jodi Foster and Jamie Lee Curtis.

“This should be a celebratory evening. We’ve got 48 days to go in a campaign, a campaign that started 19 months ago, at a time when a lot of folks thought we might not get here,” Obama told a reception of 800 people at the swank Beverly Wilshire Hotel.

“I’m not in a celebratory mood,” he said, listing recent events such as the financial turmoil, a deadly train crash in Los Angeles and Gulf Coast hurricanes.

Obama’s Republican rival, John McCain, mocked him for mingling with his “celebrity friends” while middle-class Americans were spending their time worrying about the economy.

At one reception, where donors contributed $2,500 a piece to Obama’s campaign coffers, singer-actress Barbra Streisand gave a rare singing performance.

At an earlier dinner of around 300 people at the Tudor-style Greystone mansion in Beverly Hills, donors paid $28,500 a plate to the Democratic Party and dined on beef filet, asparagus and salad with goat cheese.

Asking them to work hard to help get him elected, Obama said the financial crisis “has reminded people what’s at stake.”

“It’s reminded people that this is not a game. This is not a reality show,” he said and then added, to laughter, “No offense to any of you here.”

Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage. 

Photo credit: Reuters/ Tobias Schwarz (Barbra Streisand, shown in a 2007 performance in Berlin, sang at an exclusive fundraiser for Obama Tuesday night.)

Are Hollywood Republicans “coming out of the closet” with their conservative beliefs? “A little, not a lot,” actor Kevin Farley tells Inside the Tent contributor John Steward.

Inside the Tent has more than 40 delegates and other attendees in Denver and St. Paul, equipped with video cameras to capture the conventions from the ground up. Steward is not a Reuters employee and any opinions expressed are his own.

Click here for a full list of contributors at the Republican National Convention.

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Click here for more Reuters 2008 election coverage.