Helen Thomas Reminds Us Of Freedom Of Thought
By Nichola Gutgold and Glenn Kranzley
It was Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., who served on the US Supreme Court from 1902 to 1932 who held up freedom of thought as one of the prime protections offered to citizens in the US Constitution. He explained that he believed that this protection was most valuable “not free thought for those who agree with us, but freedom for the thought that we hate.”
That sentiment sprang to mind when Helen Thomas, the pioneering woman White House journalist stepped down after she told Israeli Jews to “go home” to Europe. Ellen Ratner, bureau chief of Talk Radio news service noted that at “90 years old, people just don’t have the same filters.” Though her retirement was abrupt and negative, it does not, on balance, diminish the career that Helen Thomas has had or the contributions that she made.
It is good to know that the Newseum, which displays Thomas’s signature red dress, among other artifacts, has no intention of changing its tribute to her. When Helen Thomas served as the commencement speaker at Penn State Lehigh Valley last year she was humble and warm and offered the graduates words of wisdom as they embarked on life after college. She began her commencement address: “In this business we have a saying: ‘You are only as good as your last story. ” She told the graduates that in these tough economic times, America will be relying on them because they are educated and they have a capacity to take the country to a better place. Not surprisingly, she put the blame for the condition of the country on the administration of George W. Bush administration. Helen Thomas never minced words, including when she expressed an opinion, as we learned again last week. She also blazed many trails for women in journalism.
This is a sad ending for a career that was so noteworthy. Helen Thomas covered every president since John F. Kennedy and was the first woman to close a presidential news conference with the traditional “Thank you, Mr. President.” She served as President of the Women's National Press Club in 1959 - 60, and, after women were welcomed in after 90 years, she was the first woman officer of the National Press Club. She became the first woman officer of the White House Correspondents Association in its 50 years of existence, and served as its first woman president in 1975-76. She also became the first woman member of the Gridiron Club in its history, and the first woman to be elected President in 1993.
Hearing a journalist of national stature express a bias openly forces citizens to look anew at a basic tension that exists regarding the role of the news media in the American democratic experiment. This tension arises because people inside newsrooms and those who consume the stories they write and broadcast see the matter of unbiased reportage very differently. Reporters and editors believe that individual journalists’ beliefs — even prejudices — are not nearly as important as the ability to report fairly on important issues of the day. One can be an enthusiastic fan of the Phillies and still report accurately and fairly about the Mets’ winning streak.
Often, readers don’t see it that way. For 40 years, a major research study has surveyed mainstream journalists on their political leanings. It is published every 10 years and the latest edition came in 2002. It found that journalists still leaned to the left, but less so than they were 10 years earlier. In fact, reported the Pew Research Center, this rightward drift reverses a trend to the left that had been measured through the 1980s. Nevertheless, conservatives still accuse mainstream media of being too liberal.
Newsrooms rightly have rules that restrict reporters’ involvements in political activity. In fact, reporters voluntarily surrender some of their rights to free speech so as to avoid creating even an impression that they have biases. Of course, it is impossible to delete the very human impulse to form opinions, especially concerning topics about which one is well-informed. And reporters become well-informed about many things. So, there is a bit of a cloaked minuet that goes on. Reporters and editors pretend not to be biased and hold on to a public posture that would not demonstrate otherwise.
Most of the time, that works for all concerned … until someone asks an aging daughter of Lebanese heritage about where Israel’s Jews should go.
Editor's Note: Nichola Gutgold is an associate professor of communication at Penn State Lehigh Valley and Glenn Kranzley is a 40 year newspaper industry veteran. They teach a course together and advise the student newspaper at Penn State Lehigh Valley. This is their first writing collaboration.
©2010 Nichola Gutgold and Glenn Kranzley for SeniorWomen.com
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