‘First Lady of the Press,’ Helen Thomas, to speak Nov. 24 at UNC journalism school

By JESSALYNN R. STRAUSS
School of Journalism and Mass Communication

CHAPEL HILL -- Esteemed White House correspondent Helen Thomas will share insights from more than 40 years of covering presidential politics Nov. 24 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The School of Journalism and Mass Communication will present the lecture, "Covering History from President Kennedy to President Bush II," at 6 p.m. in Carroll Hall auditorium. The free, public lecture is the 10th in the school’s Roy H. Park Distinguished Lecture Series.

Known as "The First Lady of the Press," Thomas is a former White House bureau chief who broke down barriers for women reporters while covering every president since John F. Kennedy. For 57 years, Thomas was a Washington correspondent for United Press International. She recently left this post and joined Hearst Newspapers as a syndicated columnist. The World Almanac has cited her as one of the 25 Most Influential Women in America.

Born in Winchester, Ky., Thomas grew up in Detroit and graduated from Wayne State University. She was a copy girl on the now-defunct Washington Daily News. In 1943, she joined UPI and the Washington press corps. For 12 years, Thomas wrote radio news for UPI and later covered the federal government, including the FBI and Capitol Hill.

In November 1960, Thomas began covering President-elect John F. Kennedy, following him to the White House in January 1961. She was the only woman print journalist traveling with President Nixon to China during his breakthrough trip in January 1972. She has traveled around the world with Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton and current President George W. Bush. She has covered every economic summit during her tenure.

The Park lecture series features outstanding mass communication professionals. The Triad Foundation of Ithaca, N.Y., funds the lectures to enhance its Roy H. Park Fellowship Program in the school. Each year, the foundation provides fellowships for more than 20 new master’s and doctoral students to enter the school’s graduate program. This fall, the seventh class of Park Fellows began its studies.

The lecture series is named for Roy H. Park, who was founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Park Communications Inc., a multimedia company that had broadcast and print properties throughout the United States. Park had a longtime affiliation with the school, serving on its foundation board of directors from 1981 to 1993 and its board of visitors from 1989 to 1993. In 1989, he received the North Carolina Award, the state’s highest civilian honor. He was inducted into the N.C. Journalism Hall of Fame, which is headquartered in the school, in 1990. He died in 1993.

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School of Journalism and Mass Communication contact: Graduate program office, (919) 962-3372
News Services contacts: Print, L.J. Toler, (919) 962-8589, Laura_Toler@unc.edu; broadcast, Karen Moon, (919) 962-8595, Karen_Moon@unc.edu