Helen Thomas Fired for Her Words or her Age?

Over the past few days on Morning Joe I have heard Helen Thomas compared to Joe Scarborough’s grandmother. He has said this is the kind of thing that happens when you put a microphone in front of grandma. Other news outlets have carried on and on regarding her age. Some have said she was too old to be there in the first place. She stated her opinion and she was fired for expressing it. As Americans we have the right to our opinion, but sometimes we have to deal with the consequences of our opinion, and now she is dealing with those consequences. The thing I find disturbing is she is also being indicted for simply being old.  It is as if once you hit 70 you need to just go off into some field somewhere and get out of our site. So what is her real crime…talking too much or living and working too long? Tell me what you think.

Helen Thomas’ Last Words Should Not Define her Legacy

 Helen Thomas has retired in the light of her controversial remarks about the Jews. She was caught up in a firestorm that simply was not going away. She was being denounced by the White House, members of Congress and her own colleagues, but should her last words define her legacy? This is a woman who has covered the White House for 50 years. She has seen it all and wrote about it. She held the job when it was primarily a job held by men. She is an old woman who said some things that many regard as indefensible and for that reason she did the right thing, but hopefully people will look at the totality of her work and not merely remember the last thing she said.

Why do We Celebrate Old Men in the Media and Laugh at Their Female Counterparts?

Over the past few days I have heard comedians, talk show hosts and pundits take potshots at older women in the media. Notably Bill O’Reilly referred to Helen Thomas as the “wicked witch of the west”, and his fellow journalist said she has not been relevant since the “Lincoln administration”. On my way to work today I heard a radio host asking “when was Barbara Walters going to give it up?” On the flip side I don’t hear people asking when are Tom Brokaw, Bob Schieffer, Pat Buchanan or Larry King going to ride off into the sunset. They are often referred to as elder statesmen and what they have say is viewed as valuable, but the women are still looked at as being past their prime, and therefore an object worthy of scorn not praise, but why should the media be any different than anywhere else?