Clinton to Press: ‘Be Careful’
Helping dedicate the Newseum, a flashy display about covering the news, President Clinton said reporters must be careful to separate rumor from fact--especially when reports “could cause real damage to people.”
The $50-million Newseum tells the story of news from its origins to the high-tech present, involving visitors with interactive news rooms and a 126-foot video wall of television news programs from around the world.
Clinton, at the White House but appearing on the video wall, was asked about the role of reporters in today’s society.
The president, who has seen years of investigative reporting into his own activities and those of his wife, friends and former business partners, offered this cautionary advice:
“Be careful when we report stories about things that might be true, not to say they are--particularly if, to say that they are, or to imply that they are, could cause real damage to people and their reputations and indeed in their own lives.”
Allen H. Neuharth, chairman of the Freedom Forum and former chairman of Gannett Newspapers, said the idea for a museum of news grew out of concern over “the growing antagonism between the press and the public.”
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