SPJ considers retiring Helen Thomas award after new controversy

The executive committee of the Society of Professional Journalists has voted to recommend retiring its Helen Thomas award for lifetime achievement, following comments allegedly made by the former White House press corps journalist in December, reported here by the Detroit News.

According to the SPJ the recommendation, which was voted for on Saturday, will now be sent to the full board of directors for a vote. According to SPJ president Hagit Limor, the executive committee considered comments and letters from both sides, saying that due to the importance of the decision it is now "appropriate to put this before the full board".

"The committee decided while both positions have merit, the best way to return the focus to SPJ’s important work would be to distance itself from the controversy now overshadowing this award," the report adds.

It is the second time in six months that the committee has considered retiring the award, with the first following comments Thomas made in May last year when she responded to a question about Israel by saying "tell them to get the hell out of Palestine."

She added that the Palestinians are "occupied" and that the Jews should "Go home" — to Germany, Poland, America and "everywhere else."

Thomas announced her retirement following the incident in 2010, leaving her job as a Hearst Newspapers columnist, but it was reported last week that she is now understood to be writing a new column in the weekly Falls Church News-Press.

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