Helen Thomas pauses to reflect while answering a question.

Veteran journalist speaks at Truman Library

By: Mohammad Al-Kassim

Posted: 2/19/07

Helen Thomas, a veteran print journalist who covered every president since John F. Kennedy, was at the Truman Presidential Museum and Library in Independence last Monday. Thomas was in town to honor the 122nd birthday of former first lady Bess Truman.

Thomas, a Hearst Newspaper columnist, served for 57 years as a correspondent for United Press International and as White House bureau chief.

Known as the "First Lady of the Press," Thomas is a pioneer female journalist. She asks pointed, tough questions of presidents and their spokespeople.

She sat down for an interview with the University News before addressing a full Truman Library auditorium. She talked about the field of journalism in 1942 when she first came to Washington from Detroit, and the limitations and challenges she faced being the lone woman reporter in a field dominated by men.

According to Thomas, the recipe for success and survival was "blood, sweat and tears."

"World War II was a turning point where they were drafting every young man who had a pulse; if he was breathing he was going to war," she said. "Women began to fill those vacant slots left open by men, so I got my break during that period."

Thomas recalled how determined newswomen were at the time.

"Women were assigned women's pages, social tease and cooking columns, but then they proved themselves as hard news journalists," she said.

In her book "Watchdogs of Democracy?" Thomas said American journalists have forgotten their role.

"Obviously, I mean our whole holy grail of our profession is the truth," she said. "As long as the American people get the straight facts, then democracy works."

Thomas said journalists since Sept. 11, 2001, have faced some difficulties, and they forget who they're loyal to.

"Reporters retreated, they let the country down," she said. "They went into a coma, instead of asking the questions they should have asked for fear of being called unpatriotic."

The way journalists do their job has changed from the days when Thomas started.

"I used to run three blocks to get a telephone, and hope I could beat my competitor," she said. "Now, everybody carries a cell phone; now reporters send in their stories using laptops. Everything is faster."

Journalists' bias is irrelevant as long as they report straight facts without adding any opinions, according to Thomas.

Thomas is known for her line of questions that exasperates those who have to answer them, and in many occasions they have had a touch of sarcasm.

"Why should not I have some sarcasm when you see things that are so blatantly untrue?" she said.

Thomas was the first woman officer of the National Press Club after it opened its doors to women members, and the first female member and president of the White House Correspondents Association. In 1998, she received the International Women's Media Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and was honored by President Clinton as the first recipient of the Helen Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award.

At the end of her first presidential press conference in 1961, Thomas said, "Thank you, Mr. President," establishing a tradition that continues today.

mal-kassim@unews.com