Helen Thomas is an institution of the White House press corps, and after covering each president given that John F. Kennedy, she has announced her retirement that is from Hearst. It almost seemed like she would cover the White House until she died, but a recent and very severe slip of the tongue has forced her to resign. She is known as one of the toughest reporters to ever question any president or White House official, and she was known for often asking brutally direct questions.
Resource for this article: Helen Thomas retiring after making error of epic proportions
Giant of journalism is Helen Thomas
Helen Thomas began her career in journalism in 1942, after graduating from Wayne State University with a B.A. in Journalism. She worked briefly for the Washington Daily News which doesn't actually exist anymore and began working for United Press International in 1943. She covered women’s issues and Washington D.C. news, interviewing many different celebrities and politicians and covering various government agencies. She was later assigned to cover John F. Kennedy as a White House Press Correspondent for U.P.I., switching to Hearst Newspapers in 2000. She is the only person with her own seat within the White House Press Room.
Career killed by slip of the tongue
Recently, Helen Thomas made various different comments concerning the state of Israel and its treatment of the Palestinians. In a camcorder interview by rabbilive.com, at a Jewish Heritage event put on by the White House, she was asked if she had anything to say about Israel. She responded “Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine.” She further went on to say, according to CNN, that Israelis should return to their countries of origin. (Most Israeli Jews are Ashkenazi, which means of European descent, which is what she was referring to.)
The hard fallout
Once her comments hit the internet, especially on YouTube, there were urgent calls for her to be fired. The White House condemned her comments, and Craig Crawford, said he wouldn’t work with her ever again. Helen Thomas then said she would resign. It is a sad end to a great career.
More info on this topic
CNN
cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/06/07/pol.helen.thomas/
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