My Favorite Mistake: Helen Thomas Talks About The Mistakes She Could Never Make

"My Favorite Mistake" is a new biweekly series in which writer Seema Kalia interviews various luminaries about the one mistake that taught them the most.

We asked journalist Helen Thomas to be our first interview subject for this column so we could learn something about her professional past that was particularly memorable - something that might have left such a significant imprint that it informed how she did her work as a reporter from thereon.

She, being Helen Thomas, questioned the entire premise of the interview. Stating, in short, that as a political reporter, she simply isn't allowed to make mistakes:

Helen Thomas: I don't have any mistakes to tell you about.

Seema Kalia: You don't have any recollection of any time you didn't do something well?

No, not that I know of. I don't say I'm perfect, and I do say I've made mistakes, but nothing that's colossal.

The spirit of this interview is really to explore the role of mistake-making as part of the growth of people who are really successful at what they do.

No, no, no...you're looking for something else; you want people to flagellate themselves.

There are many people I'd like to see flagellated in Washington, but you are not among them.

Well, I can't think of any [mistakes] that would be earth-shaking. Everybody makes mistakes. I don't know any reporter that hasn't done some Monday morning quarter-backing and wondered if they could have done something better; should they have asked a different question? But one thing about our business -- one thing about journalism -- is if you make a mistake, you're finished. Your mistake is on the front page and you don't have a job the next day. That's the way I've always seen it, and that's how it happens. I think we pay a higher penalty for our mistake than anyone else because it's so glaring when we do.

Do you think the political figures would do better to admit mistakes sooner, like when they make them?

I think they know that. I think most politicians would definitely expose missteps in their past, put it on the table. They would be considered very courageous and they'd go on from there. [And] I think it eases the pain; it's out there so it isn't a great exposé. Then it's left to the judgment of people. And people are usually forgiving, if it isn't a monumental mistake.

Is the American public too forgiving of its public figures?

Not in my opinion. You can forgive, but you don't have to elect them. [Laughs.]

Well, election is probably the favorite form of forgiveness for a politician, isn't it?

I'm sure that would weigh in for a lot of them [laughs]. I wish we knew more about our leaders as they're going in [to office] rather than coming out. I think we should have known more about the President and so forth. You need to know more. Much more.

Well, whose mistake was that?

It's ours. It's our job to probe.

What would you say to a young reporter who, in their exuberance, published something that turns out to not be true?

If it isn't too earth-shaking, then I would assure them, "This is what you did wrong..." and give them a second chance. But I don't think you get another chance if you make a mistake involving a big story.

Do you think technology is changing that? That a good reporter will always find a venue because there are so many media outlets now?

No, but I do think it is kind of sad when everybody who owns a laptop thinks they're a journalist and doesn't understand the ethics. We do have to have some sense of what's right and wrong in this job. Of how far we can go. We don't make accusations without absolute proof. We're not prosecutors. We don't assume.

So if there's this amateur league of journalists out there, trying to do what you do...

It's dangerous.

What makes it dangerous? Isn't more information always better?

Not necessarily. Not if it isn't true. It could be out there and it could really muck up the whole picture. I'm not trying to suppress information; I'm just saying you have to be very careful.

My advice is simply try, as best you can, to only write the truth and try to check everything, and I think you just hope for the best. And, certainly, if someone gives you a story, I think you have to look a gift horse in the mouth. You have to find out why they're peddling it to you.

Always question why anybody does things. That's probably good advice for anybody.

Come back every other Wednesday for more installments of "My Favorite Mistake".

Comments

[Steamboater]

Helen Thomas is the last of the red hot mamas of reporting. They're mostly a lame bunch today. I'd like to see Keith Olberman however given a White House correspondent job from MSNBC. He'd ask the questions very few would dare ask.
Muy old journalism prefessor once said a good reporter has the guts to ask a someone, "Did you really kill your wife?" That's Helen Thomas. All guts.

[research]

What?!?! Intelligence and integrity from a journalist?

Fantastic!

Thanks Helen.

[rucognizant]

Yeh! Back in the good old days....the majority of Americans did thir jobs well carefully and with pride and integrity, few if any mistakes. Of course we had leiesure time, disposable income, and that kind of thing.....­..........­........
In my business; custom artwork, mistakes, cost me money and clients, so I didn't make them!
Nowadays with everyone running on a hampster wheel revolving at the speed of light,it's easier to make them,. And customers no longer seem to have the sense of entitlement necessary to hold businessses responsible. Of course with only 2 to choose from it is harder to do that too.
Helen Thomas is a Great Woman!

[SouthJerseySteve]

I love Helen!!! They threw the mold away after her and there is NOBODY with guts like Helen--she reminds me so much of my late Grandmother. More gonads than most men in government!!!

[ignorantwillyharper]

I just wish she would put out more columns, because she's just one of a few that gets her fact straight.

[Lemeritus]

No one should be allowed into the White House press room without taking Helen Thomas 101. And most of them that are there now should be sent back for remedial courses. She's a great reporter, and reminds us always of what the press should be.

[TruEngineHearing]

Helen Thomas is one of the truly great treasures in journalism. Her fierce determination that professional ethics should always be paramount, and her understanding of her craft, have always been front and center and have shown brightly.

One of the most frightening things I can think of is that her caliber of person is not nurtured and encouraged in America - as would be the case in a great country.

[Mort]

Caption: "I'll get you, my pretty. And your little dog, too!"

[Countess]

Helen Thomas is a hero and one of the few Washington based journalists not totally in bed with the basturds that are destroying the country.

[grannysharp]

I think Helen might have made one mistake and that was getting black balled by the Bush disinformation spin group, but she did good and stood her ground. a great lady in anyone book.

[MNmommy]

Love Helen Thomas. That is all.

[TimmySlagle]

I think the HuffPo photo editors screwed up again.

That's actually a picture of Burgess Merideth as the Penguin.

[seamunky]

Rock On Helen! You are the best reporter; when all others pander to the President & his posse you ask the inconvenient questions. You are one of the few reporters with balls!

[Brainspore]

Good topic for discussion, but Helen would have had more credibility if she could have cited even a small mistake she'd made in the past- if only to illustrate that not all mistakes are of the same magnitude.

[TwoCentsWorth]

Helen:
I have appreciated and benefited from your expertise as a journalist for decades -- I listened to your probing questions at press conferences and read your clear analysis of events in articles. For all your good work -- thank you!
p.s. I loved the skit you did in one of the Colbert Report episodes.