Helen Thomas' Award Abolished
SPJ board of directors votes to retire Helen Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award
Lisa Flam, contributor
Huffington Post
January 19, 2011
The Society of Professional Journalists is retiring the Helen Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award, saying controversy over her remarks on Israel has overtaken the reason behind the honor.
The move comes eight months after Thomas, 90, the former longtime White House correspondent, made remarks condemned as anti-Semitic and lost her job with Hearst Newspapers.
"To continue offering the award would reignite the controversy each year and take away from its purpose: honoring a lifetime of work in journalism," the society said on its website. "No individual worthy of such honor should have to face this controversy. No honoree should have to decide if the possible backlash is worth being recognized for his or her contribution to journalism."
In May, Thomas, who is of Lebanese descent, was asked by a rabbi if she had any comments on Israel.
"Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine," she said in videotaped comments. "Remember, these people are occupied. And it's their land. It's not Germany, it's not Poland." When asked where the Israelis should go, she said they should "go home" to Germany, Poland and the U.S.