The Society of Professional Journalist’s board of directors voted to remove the Helen Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award on Jan. 14. SPJ will no longer offer a award for lifetime achievement.  The action does not rename the award or remove Thomas’ name.  

A statement from the group following the decision reads, “…SPJ stanchly believes Helen Thomas and all people in the United States have a right to free speech. The Society defends that fundamental legal right as a core organizational mission, even when the speech is unpopular, vile or considered offensive. However, the controversy surrounding this award has overshadowed the reason it exists. To continue offering the award would reignite the controversy each year and take away from its purpose: honoring a lifetime of work in journalism. 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.”

 On Jan. 8 the group’s executive committee voted in a meeting to recommend retiring the award. The recommendation was then forwarded to the board of directors for a final decision. The award was first distributed in 2000. Thomas is the original recipient.  

“As I said last week after the executive committee meeting, it’s time we in SPJ stop focusing on this divisive topic and start focusing on what unites us,” SPJ President Hagit Limor said. “There’s tremendously important work for us, like training our members for our ever-changing industry and fighting to ensure journalists and citizens have access to public records.”

The society heard from both sides of the controversy through letters and emails and says it fully understands all concerns that have been addressed over whether renaming or retiring the award was necessary or improper.

The SPJ removed the award because of the remarks Thomas made at a diversity workshop in Dearborn on Dec. 2 where she said Congress, the White House, Hollywood and Wall Street are owned by Zionists. SPJ Director of Communications,  The group initially considered removing Thomas’ name from the award following comments she made last May when a rabbi asked Thomas, “Any comments on Israel?” to which Thomas replied, “Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine.”

Thomas’ alma mater Wayne State University pulled its annual Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity Award the day after she made the controversial remarks in Dearborn, Michigan.

Thomas, a legendary White House correspondent and former Hearst Newspaper columnist who was forced to retire after her comments on Israel last May has covered every presidential administration in the United States from Dwight Eisenhower to Barack Obama. Thomas is also known as a pioneer for females in her profession. The 90-year-old was the first female member of the National Press Club, White House Correspondents’ Association and the Gridiron Club.

Thomas recently took a position as a columnist for the Falls Church News-Press, a weekly paper in Falls Church, Virginia. The paper’s owner and editor, Nicholas Benton, said he spoke with Thomas for hours prior to offering her the position, and he is convinced Thomas is not bigoted, racist or anti-Semitic.