For Washington’s elite, this could be the one tell-tale sign that the struggling economy has hit home. Bloomberg News and Vanity Fair are ditching their separate parties following the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on May 9 and will join forces to hold one bash at the residence of French Ambassador Pierre Vimont...

The merger also presents Capitol File magazine with a rare opportunity to best the big boys in the weekend’s afterparty scene. Although the D.C. glossy’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner afterparties have consistently been impressive and star-studded, they have also struggled to emerge from out of the large, buzzed-about shadows cast by media industry bigwigs Vanity Fair and Bloomberg.

But this year, Capitol File’s party at the Corcoran will be twice the size of the Vanity Fair/Bloomberg merger, meaning that the crowd could be livelier and more boisterous, and the often frustrating battle for tickets will be ever-so-slightly less difficult. And Jason Binn, whose Niche Media owns Capitol File, has always had a knack for reeling in top celebrities.