[102] and in 1984 was honored with the National Press Club Fourth Estate Award. On February 9, 2009, Thomas was present in the front row for newly elected President Obama's first news conference. Business Editor Helen Thomas reports. However, in light of recent events, Nine Speakers is no longer able to represent Ms. Thomas, nor can we condone her comments on the Middle East. In 1975, the Washington Press Corps club, known as the Gridiron Club, admitted Thomas, making her the first woman to become a member. [91] Owner-Editor Nicholas Benton repeatedly defended the decision to hire her despite her comments. [45] Thomas asked if he knew of any Middle Eastern country that possessed nuclear weapons, implicitly asking him to confirm or deny Israel's alleged nuclear arsenal, despite Israel's long held stance of "nuclear ambiguity". In response to Behar's question of whether she was an antisemite, Thomas replied: "Hell no! Find Helen Thomas's email address, contact information, LinkedIn, Twitter, other social media and more. Referring to her resignation, she said "I paid a price, but it's worth it to speak the truth. [3] She then served as an opinion columnist for the Falls Church News-Press until February 2012.[4]. Related Topics. View Helen Thomas’ profile on LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional community. [69][70] In a statement, they said "Ms. Thomas has had an esteemed career as a journalist, and she has been a trailblazer for women, helping others in her profession, and beyond. [96][97] Many female journalists memorialized Thomas on Twitter, including Judy Woodruff, who called her a "trailblazer", and Lynn Sweet, who said she was a "glass ceiling breaking journalist". She later was assigned to cover other agencies, including the United States Department of Health, as well as Capitol Hill. This is a...it is an honor and a privilege to be in the briefing room, and to suggest that we, the United States, are killing innocent people is just absurd and very offensive. [49], On August 4, 2009, Thomas celebrated her 89th birthday. My question is: Why did you really want to go to war? Nader said there was a "double standard" where one off-hand "ill-conceived remark" ended Helen Thomas' career while "ultra-right … Press Secretary Tony Snow responded: "Thank you for the Hezbollah view."[40]. Michele Chang-McGrath talked to the FT's retail editor, Mark Vandevelde, about the recent woes of … Thomas led the first ever BBC Music pop-up digital radio station (Radio 2 Eurovision) and was creative director of the Radio Academy’s Radio Festival in 2016. [29], After leaving her job as a reporter at the UPI, Thomas became more likely to air her personal, negative views. Every reason given, publicly at least, has turned out not to be true. "Helen Thomas says Anti-Defamation League is intimidating her", Helen Thomas: 'Congress, White House owned by the Zionists', "Helen Thomas blasts Wayne State University for ending award in her honor", "In An Interview With Playboy Helen Thomas Doubles Down On Claims Congress, White House, Hollywood, And Wall Street Are Owned By 'Zionists, "Veteran Journalist Thomas Resumes Column in News-Press", "Helen Thomas, pioneering journalist, dies at 92", "Helen Thomas, pioneering White House journalist, dies at 92", "White House journalist Helen Thomas remembered as a trailblazer", "Helen Thomas: Veteran White House journalist dies at 92", "Obama: Helen Thomas broke barriers for women", "The Columbia Journalism Award | Columbia Journalism School", "W.M. See the complete profile on LinkedIn and discover Helen’s connections and jobs at similar companies. . Thomas was the first female officer of the National Press Club, the first female member and president of the White House Correspondents' Association and the first female member of the Gridiron Club. On March 21, 2006, Thomas was called upon directly by President Bush for the first time in three years. . and "Remember, these people are occupied and it's their land. [53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61] When asked for comments on Israel, she replied: "Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine." Global AIDS Coordinator", "When The Press Presses Perino - Couric & Co". "[31], In January 2003, following a speech at a Society of Professional Journalists banquet, Thomas told an autograph seeker, "I'm covering the worst president in American history." When asked where Israeli Jews should go, she replied they could "go home" to Poland or Germany or "America and everywhere else. [27] She later described the change in ownership as "a bridge too far. The Financial Times has hired Helen Thomas as business columnist.. She will start on March 1. I'm excited, this is my inaugural moment,"[44] seemingly a reference to her long-term presence in the White House Press Corps. [98] President Obama released a statement calling her "a true pioneer" who "never failed to keep presidents—myself included—on their toes.". No question, in my opinion. [98] Andrea Mitchell tweeted that Thomas "made it possible for all of us who followed. Justifying killing of innocents for land is an argument in support of terrorism. The White House Correspondent's Association honored her in 1998 by establishing the "Helen Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award". BBC Newsnight, +3 more Oxford University Helen Thomas Warehouse Worker at Elite temp agency Greater Chicago Area. [10] She enrolled at Wayne University in Detroit, receiving a bachelor's degree in English in 1942,[11] as the school did not yet offer a degree in journalism. [16] In 1955, she was assigned to cover the United States Department of Justice. [104], In 1986 she received the William Allen White Foundation Award for Journalistic Merit from the University of Kansas. "[71] Craig Crawford, who co-authored Listen up, Mr. President, said "I ... will no longer be working with Helen on our book projects. Now I wake up and ask myself, 'Who do I hate today? [93] Benton defended Thomas from antisemitism by saying that Thomas "is herself a Semite" and was "expressing a political point of view [in the interview with Nesenoff above], and not a bigoted racial sentiment. President Kennedy moved for the dinners to be combined into one event, with women allowed to attend. "[62], In addition, Thomas said in the CNN interview: "Why do they [Jews] have to go anywhere? President Obama, whose birthday is on the same day, presented Thomas with birthday cupcakes and sang Happy Birthday to her before that day's press conference. . What was it? Bush responded by discussing the War on Terror, stating as a reason for the invasion that Saddam Hussein chose to deny inspectors and not to disclose required information. Video of her full speech can be seen here. Helen T. Helen T. Tender/Accounting Consultant at SSCMANAGEMENTGROUP Liverpool. [32], For many years, Thomas sat in the front row and asked the first question during White House press conferences. The organization said that Thomas had "clearly, unequivocally revealed herself as a vulgar antisemite" in the speech. [1], Thomas was the only member of the White House Press Corps to have her own seat in the White House Briefing Room. . [5] Thomas was raised mainly in Detroit, Michigan, where her family moved when she was four years old, and where her father ran a grocery store. [87] Wayne State University in Detroit discontinued the Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity in Media Award, which it had been granting for more than ten years, citing what it called her antisemitic remarks. I can call the president of the United States anything in the book, but you say one thing about Israel and you're off limits. [76] Her comments also garnered rebukes from numerous others, including White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, former special counsel to and White House spokesman for President Bill Clinton, Lanny Davis, former Arkansas Gov. [41], Refusing to back down, Thomas responded immediately by asking Perino if she knew how many innocent Iraqis had been killed and then questioned the worth of regret when Perino responded that the administration regretted the loss of all innocent Iraqi lives.[42]. Sachin Croker. Perino immediately took offense, responding: Helen, I find it really unfortunate that you use your front row position, bestowed upon you by your colleagues, to make such statements. "[27][28] Less than two months later, she joined Hearst Newspapers as an opinion columnist, writing on national affairs and the White House. [100] Thomas was cremated and her ashes were buried in Detroit, following a traditional Antiochian Orthodox funeral service. Rabbi Faces Blowback for Helen Thomas Expose", "Helen Thomas quits after Israel remarks", "US reporter Helen Thomas quits over Israel comments", "Veteran White House Reporter Helen Thomas Retires After Israel Remarks", Helen Thomas: Jews Didn't Have to Leave Europe Following Holocaust, "SPJ executive committee refers Helen Thomas Award decision to full board of directors", "Helen Thomas Award for Lifetime Achievement - Society of Professional Journalists", "Ex-Spokesmen Lead Charge for White House Reporter Helen Thomas to Be Fired", "Jews should leave Palestine and return to Europe, top U.S. journalist says", "Columnist Draws Fire for Telling Jews 'Go Home, "Helen Thomas under fire for saying Jews in Israel should go back to Germany, Poland", "Helen Thomas agrees to bow out as commencement speaker at Walt Whitman High", "Statement issued by the board of the White House Correspondents' Association", "Journalism group shelves Helen Thomas award", "Obama calls Helen Thomas' comments "offensive, "Helen Thomas, Turkey, and the Liberation of Israel", A Deep Regard for People's Right to Know, The Scourging of Helen Thomas, https://archive.org/details/ScottSpearsWmrn-am-InterviewsHelenThomas. [17] She became a White House correspondent for UPI in January 1961. Nader said there was a "double standard" where one off-hand "ill-conceived remark" ended Helen Thomas' career while "ultra-right wing radio and cable ranters" engaged in "bigotry, stereotypes and falsehoods directed wholesale against Muslims, including a blatant antisemitism against Arabs. Helen was previously at The Wall Street Journal and prior to that held various roles at the FT, ... As a journalist and editor, she has written for the BBC, Femail, Woman and Home, Conde Nast Traveller and Tech Radar. "[99] Dana Perino, who served as press secretary to President George W. Bush, remembered that on her first day as press secretary, Thomas approached her to give her words of encouragement. Why push people out of there who have lived there for centuries?" [105] Thomas received an Al Neuharth Award for Excellence in the Media from the Freedom Forum in 1991. [2] Thomas objected, saying that "the leaders of Wayne State University have made a mockery of the First Amendment and disgraced their understanding of its inherent freedom of speech and the press. Helen Amelia Thomas (August 4, 1920 – July 20, 2013)[1] was an American reporter and author, and a long serving member of the White House press corps. [74] In January 2011, the Society of Professional Journalists voted to retire the Helen Thomas Award for Lifetime Achievement. [12], Thomas moved to Washington, D.C.. [25] All other seats are assigned to media outlets. Thomas considered Castro's reply to be "the height of flattery. She wrote to the President to apologize. The SPJ executive board initially said it would keep the award after Thomas's May 2010 comments calling for Jews to leave Israel to the Palestinians and return to "Europe, Russia and America," but the board decided to retire the award after Thomas's remarks later in 2010 about the alleged control of the United States by Zionists. Her first job in journalism was as a copygirl for the now-defunct Washington Daily News. [33] During the Bush administration, Thomas was moved to the back row during press conferences; she was called upon at briefings on a daily basis but no longer ended presidential news conferences by saying, "Thank you, Mr. Several pro-Thomas individuals in SPJ leadership roles campaigned to have the award reinstated, but the retirement decision was upheld by SPJ's regional leadership that year and by an 85-77 margin at the national SPJ convention, also that year, marking the permanent end of any ties between Thomas and SPJ. . Obama replied that he did not want to "speculate" on the matter. . It’s very open. Helen Thomas. I mean I'm amazed, I'm amazed at you people who call for openness and transparency and you have controlled...". Not only does she command respect by the highest powers in the US, her reputation is known worldwide. ", He responded: "There's a difference, Helen, and that is—", He responded: "The targeting of innocents through the use of terror, which is a common enemy for Yasir Arafat and for the people of Israel, as well as—", She interrupted him, saying: "Palestinian people are fighting for their land. The BBC has announced Helen Thomas as the new Head Of Station at Radio 2. Its launch was delayed by four months by the Association of Broadcasting Staff, at the time the main BBC trade union. “Helen is an exceptional journalist and her experience and knowledge of … In 2000, her alma mater, Wayne State University, established an award for journalists in her honor, the "Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity award". [57], In a later interview on CNN, on The Joy Behar Show, Thomas defended her comments. London. However, according to Thomas in a 2006 Daily Show interview, this ended because she no longer represented a wire service. Helen Thomas was one of the speakers at this year's Radiodays conference in Milan. . After that she was not called upon during a press conference for the first time in over four decades. Newsnight began on 28 January 1980 at 10.45pm, although a 15-minute news bulletin using the same title had run on BBC Two for a 13-month period from 1975 to 1976. "[39], At the July 18, 2006, White House press briefing, Thomas remarked: "The United States . [92] He said in 2011 that he was "outraged" when the Society of Professional Journalists voted on retiring a scholarship award named for Thomas. It's not German, it's not Poland." UK economy; Brexit; More on this story. Thomas retired from Hearst Newspapers on June 7, 2010, following controversial comments she made about Jews, Israel, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and her claims that "Congress, the White House, Hollywood and Wall Street are owned by Zionists",[2] leading to multiple accusations of antisemitism. They don't have the right to take other people's land. A one-minute excerpt of the May 27, 2010, interview was posted on Nesenoff's website on June 3. [15] Later in the decade, and in the early fifties, she wrote UP's Names in the News column, for which she interviewed numerous Washington celebrities. I ask too mean questions."[34]. [15] For most of her adult life, she chose her work over her personal life. We have that much control with the Israelis . Reporter", "Helen Thomas Is Back as a Columnist With Hearst", "Helen Thomas joins Hearst as a columnist", "Reporter: Cheney's Not Presidential Material", "Tony Snow: On Lebanon-Not calling for cease fire if it leaves status quo intact", "Press Briefing by Dana Perino and Mark Dybul, U.S. December 4, 2020. [23] During the Watergate scandal, Martha Mitchell, wife of United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell, frequently called Thomas to discuss how the Nixon administration was using Mitchell as a scapegoat.[15]. BBC Weather is delivered by a team of Met Office … Thomas asked Bush about the War in Iraq: I'd like to ask you, Mr. President, [about] your decision to invade Iraq . "[21] When Cuban leader Fidel Castro was asked in the early 2000s what was the difference between democracy in Cuba and democracy in the United States, Castro reportedly replied, "I don't have to answer questions from Helen Thomas." quest for oil, it hasn't been Israel, or anything else. . Speaking for Wayne State, Matthew Seeger, its interim dean said, that the award is given to promote the importance of diversity in the media and that this award "is no longer helping us achieve our goals. [50], Rabbi David Nesenoff of RabbiLive.com, on the White House grounds with his son and a teenage friend[51] for a May 27, 2010, American Jewish Heritage Celebration Day,[52] questioned Thomas as she was leaving the White House via the North Lawn driveway. Helen Thomas Business Editor, BBC Newsnight. The fallout from last week's vote to leave the European Union is rattling business and finance, far and wide, writes BBC Newsnight's Helen Thomas. [9], She also said that in Detroit in the 1920s, she came home crying from school, "They wanted to make you feel you weren't 'American'... We were called 'garlic eaters' ". [109][110], In April 2012, Thomas received an award from the Palestine Liberation Organization's General Mission to the United States. Helen Thomas, currently European Editor of the Wall Street Journal’s Heard on the Street column, has been appointed as Business Editor at BBC Newsnight. She was named the chief of UPI's White House bureau in 1974. [26], On May 17, 2000, the day after it was announced that the UPI had been acquired by News World Communications Inc., an international media conglomerate founded and controlled by Unification Church leader Reverend Sun Myung Moon which owns The Washington Times and other news media, Thomas resigned from the UPI after 57 years with the organization. [106] In December 2010, the award was discontinued by Wayne State which cited her renewed remarks similar to those in May 2010. [36][37][38], In July 2006, she told The Hill, "The day Dick Cheney is going to run for president, I'll kill myself. Thomas circled the globe several times, traveling with every U.S. president from Richard Nixon through Barack Obama. ingrid kelly Editor, BBC Inside Out South Greater Southampton Area. "[80], In an October 2010 radio interview with Scott Spears of WMRN, Thomas said she realized soon after making the comments that she would be fired, stating, "I hit the third rail. [66][77][78][79], Thomas did have defenders who felt she was being attacked too harshly, including former presidential candidate Ralph Nader, Fox News contributor Ellen Ratner, former UPI managing editor Michael Freedman and The Nation editor and publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel. [35] Thomas was criticized by some commentators for her exchange with Bush. Helen has been Radio 2’s Head of Content Commissioning since 2018, having previously worked as the station’s Network Editor. "[90], Thomas was employed as a columnist by the Virginia Falls Church News-Press from January 2011 to January 2012, contributing a few sporadic columns in the free weekly paper. "New Media Breaks in, but Tradition Lives On", "White House Reporters Grill Gibbs Over 'Prepackaged' Questions for Obama", "Helen Thomas calls Obama administration out on social media smokescreen", "White House Disputes Criticism That Health Care Town Hall Meeting Is Staged", "Helen Thomas: Not Even Nixon Tried to Control the Media Like Obama", Obama sings Happy Birthday to himself (and Helen Thomas), Little-known rabbi brings down Helen Thomas, "Groups Consider Renaming 'Helen Thomas' Awards", "L.I. Growing up in Hull, Helen started her career in News working at BBC 5 Live, The Today Programme on BBC Radio 4 and then Newsbeat at Radio 1 before moving into music programming at BBC World Service, before returning to Radio 4 to produce Front Row. ", Thomas replied, "Not a secret. [54][75], On June 7, Thomas abruptly tendered her resignation from Hearst Newspapers. Obama shares a birthday and a smooch with Helen Thomas. [95] At age 51, Thomas married a colleague, Douglas Cornell, who was just retiring as the White House reporter for the Associated Press. . "[18] It was during Kennedy's administration that she began ending presidential press conferences with a signature "Thank you, Mr. President,"[19] reviving a tradition started by UPI's Albert Merriman Smith during the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt. You can watch her report on iPlayer - and follow her on Twitter here. . "[22], In 1962, Thomas convinced President Kennedy not to attend the annual dinners held for the White House correspondents and photographers if they disallowed women from attending. Thomas received numerous awards and more than 30 honorary degrees. These are trends that ever try to divide us as a people. She wrote six books; her last (with co-author Craig Crawford) was Listen Up, Mr. President: Everything You Always Wanted Your President to Know and Do (2009). [15], In November 1960, Thomas began covering then President-elect John F. Kennedy, taking the initiative to switch from reporting the "women's angle" to reporting the news of the day. . Editor, Europe - Heard on the Street The Wall Street Journal Mar 2013 - Jun 2016 3 years 4 months. All we need is another liar . [12], Thomas joined United Press in 1943 and reported on women's topics for its radio wire service. [65], On June 4, Thomas posted the following response on her website: "I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians. President Obama called on her with the statement, "Helen.

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