Was a Double Standard at Play for Helen Thomas?
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Was a Double Standard at Play for Helen Thomas?
Veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas retired amidst a storm of controversy yesterday, as Nicole Nuss noted for Care2. Thomas, who has been a staple of the White House Press corps since the Kennedy Administration, came under fire last week for comments made on screen regarding Israel. Video of her statement is available here.
Thomas has since issued an apology, but the damage was done. On Sunday, Nine Speakers dropped Thomas as a client, stating that "Ms. Thomas has had an esteemed career as a journalist, and she has been a trailblazer for women, helping others in her profession, and beyond.
"However, in light of recent events, Nine Speakers is no longer able to represent Ms. Thomas, nor can we condone her comments on the Middle East." (via Politico)
Thomas submitted her resignation on Monday morning, closing over 50 years of reporting from the White House. Thomas is a trailblazer who held presidential administrations fiercely accountable—during President Barack Obama's recent press conference on the oil spill in the Gulf, Thomas asked why the U.S. is still in Afghanistan, then said "Don't give us this Bushism 'if we don't go there, they'll all come here.'"
She was an advocate for the press as a means of informing the public, and it's frustrating to see such a storied career end so quickly. While few condone her remarks, many have noted a double-standard at play.
As Adam Serwer writes for the American Prospect, "It's worth noting that in American political discourse, ... statements of a similar nature are completely appropriate when made about the Palestinians -- it's not, apparently, that bigotry is unacceptable, just the "wrong kind" of bigotry. This is the sort of incident that exposes the more tribal advocates on either side -- you cannot argue that there's something morally wrong about leaving Palestinians stateless and then argue that Israeli Jews should be left that way, just as you cannot argue that it is morally wrong to suggest Jews should "leave Israel" while asserting that Israel has the right to permanently displace the Palestinians."
Nisha Chittal writes that "Though Helen Thomas spent decades as a press icon, her reputation seems to have been destroyed overnight. I do not condone her remarks, but I do think we should be defending her right to express her opinion, especially when her job was . . . to express her opinion."
I'm inclined to agree with these trains of thought. While Thomas' remarks were incredibly insensitive, many male, conservative pundits have said far worse—and kept their jobs to offend another day. There's not only a double standard concerning how our media covers the fraught relationship between Israel and Palestine, but with how, in this era of punditocracy, a woman with impressive credentials and a history of speaking her mind can be brought down so quickly.
Steve Weiss thoughtfully responds to these concerns at Mondoweiss: "Now this gutsy, plucky character who for me embodied what the real spirit of US journalism is and should be, far more than stenographers-of-power Press Corps colleagues in their prime, meets an undignified end to her career, with ignoble reactions...To the rest of the world this will just add to the perception of hypocrisy and double standards applied to people who speak up about the Israel government's reprehensible actions. The shift of focus from the core of the issue of military occupation to an off-the-cuff remark -- which I think just reflects her growing anger -- will be noted."
Thomas has since issued an apology, but the damage was done. On Sunday, Nine Speakers dropped Thomas as a client, stating that "Ms. Thomas has had an esteemed career as a journalist, and she has been a trailblazer for women, helping others in her profession, and beyond.
"However, in light of recent events, Nine Speakers is no longer able to represent Ms. Thomas, nor can we condone her comments on the Middle East." (via Politico)
Thomas submitted her resignation on Monday morning, closing over 50 years of reporting from the White House. Thomas is a trailblazer who held presidential administrations fiercely accountable—during President Barack Obama's recent press conference on the oil spill in the Gulf, Thomas asked why the U.S. is still in Afghanistan, then said "Don't give us this Bushism 'if we don't go there, they'll all come here.'"
She was an advocate for the press as a means of informing the public, and it's frustrating to see such a storied career end so quickly. While few condone her remarks, many have noted a double-standard at play.
As Adam Serwer writes for the American Prospect, "It's worth noting that in American political discourse, ... statements of a similar nature are completely appropriate when made about the Palestinians -- it's not, apparently, that bigotry is unacceptable, just the "wrong kind" of bigotry. This is the sort of incident that exposes the more tribal advocates on either side -- you cannot argue that there's something morally wrong about leaving Palestinians stateless and then argue that Israeli Jews should be left that way, just as you cannot argue that it is morally wrong to suggest Jews should "leave Israel" while asserting that Israel has the right to permanently displace the Palestinians."
Nisha Chittal writes that "Though Helen Thomas spent decades as a press icon, her reputation seems to have been destroyed overnight. I do not condone her remarks, but I do think we should be defending her right to express her opinion, especially when her job was . . . to express her opinion."
I'm inclined to agree with these trains of thought. While Thomas' remarks were incredibly insensitive, many male, conservative pundits have said far worse—and kept their jobs to offend another day. There's not only a double standard concerning how our media covers the fraught relationship between Israel and Palestine, but with how, in this era of punditocracy, a woman with impressive credentials and a history of speaking her mind can be brought down so quickly.
Steve Weiss thoughtfully responds to these concerns at Mondoweiss: "Now this gutsy, plucky character who for me embodied what the real spirit of US journalism is and should be, far more than stenographers-of-power Press Corps colleagues in their prime, meets an undignified end to her career, with ignoble reactions...To the rest of the world this will just add to the perception of hypocrisy and double standards applied to people who speak up about the Israel government's reprehensible actions. The shift of focus from the core of the issue of military occupation to an off-the-cuff remark -- which I think just reflects her growing anger -- will be noted."
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