Helen Thomas, Barrier-Busting White House Reporter, Is Dead at 92

Pioneering journalist Helen Thomas dies at 92

April 25, 1988: White House correspondent Helen Thomas (2nd L) takes notes as former U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson faces reporters during a news conference in the White House Oval Office. Source: REUTERS

Helen Thomas, Barrier-Busting White House Reporter, Is Dead at 92

Blunt Chronicler of Presidents From Kennedy Era to Obama 

Thomas was also the first woman to be elected an officer of the White House Correspondents’ Association and the first to serve as its president. In 1975, she became the first woman elected to the Gridiron Club, which for 90 years had been a men-only bastion of Washington journalists.

Ms. Thomas’s career bridged two eras, beginning during World War II when people got their news mostly from radio, newspapers and movie newsreels, and extending into the era of 24-hour information on cable television and the Internet. Photo Credit: Doug Mills/The New York Times