    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
    [April 18, 1997]
    [Pages 450-451]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Teleconference Remarks on the Opening of the Newseum
    April 18, 1997

        The President. Thank you, Al and Charles and Peter. Thanks a lot for
    asking me an easy question that can only get me in trouble. Whatever I
    say, I'll be behind the curve ball, which is, of course, where all of
    you try to keep me. [Laughter] Nonetheless, I'm glad to be with you
    today. And I am glad the Vice President was able to officially open the
    Newseum, and I'm glad he told you the stories that I hear about once a
    week about his days as a reporter. [Laughter] He says he was always
    accurate, vigorous, and totally fair. [Laughter]
        Thanks to the technological wizardry that you've built into this
    wonderful Newseum, I'm able to join you on your video news wall for the
    grand opening. It's amazing to me that this is happening. You know, when
    I was growing up, I got my news from my local paper or watching the 6
    o'clock news on my family's black and white TV, and I suppose I never
    imagined the incredible array of ways people would someday get their
    news and their information, from all-news radio and TV to the Internet
    and all the sort of ``near-news'' programs.
        And I think that's why this Newseum is so important, because it will
    remind us that we've come a long way, but no matter how it's packaged or
    delivered, news has always fulfilled mankind's most basic need to know.
    And it also reminds us that democracy's survival depends upon that need
    to know and the free flow of ideas and information.
        I congratulate you on giving our children and their parents an
    opportunity to learn about the role news media has in protecting our
    freedoms and helping us to build the most robust and open society in
    human history.
        This Newseum is not only a tribute to the news profession, it's also
    a tribute to the men and women who have dedicated their lives to it, who
    know that, always, there are going to be people who will work hard to
    struggle, sometimes at real personal risks to themselves, to get the
    news and hopefully to be fair, honest, and critical in their reporting
    of it. America is stronger and freer because of them, and I thank them.
    This Newseum is really a great addition to the Washington area. And I
    know it will attract a lot of visitors, not only from every State but
    also from all around the world.
        Now, the question you asked me is a fair one and a good one. I think
    that the fundamental role of the news media and the reporting today is
    what it has always been--is to give people information in a fair and
    accurate way. But the context is far different. There are, first of all,
    more sources of news. There is more information that people have to
    process, and people get their news in more different ways. And as I
    said, there are all these sort of ``near-news'' forces bearing down on
    you and offering competition.
        I sometimes wonder what it's like to put together an evening news
    program or a morning newspaper when the main story has been playing
    every 5 minutes on CNN for 6 hours, and whether you really--whether that
    affects what you do or not. I would say that from my perspective, the
    most important thing is that while we're being inundated with this glut
    of information, that we try to make sure that people have a proper
    context within which to understand the information. I think that the
    fact that we can have more facts than ever before is important, but if
    you don't have any framework within which to understand those facts, it
    seems to me it poses an enormous challenge.
        The other thing that I think we have to do is to be careful when we
    report the stories about things that might be true, not to say that they
    are, particularly if to say that they are or to imply that they are
    could cause real damage to people in their reputations and, indeed, in
    their own lives.
        But I think that the competition to which you're subject makes it
    more difficult both to

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    keep down excessive hype in some stories and to take the time and the
    effort to put it in proper context. I think in some ways it is much more
    difficult to be a member of the news media than in years past. It's a
    great challenge. And all the benefits of this communications explosion
    impose new challenges on you to meet the old-fashioned duty of being
    accurate, thorough, tough, and fair.
        Q. [Inaudible]--once you're off your crutches, you and your family
    will come over and browse through the Newseum with us. Thank you very
    much, Mr. President.
        The President. I'd love to do it. Thank you, and bless you all.
    Congratulations.

    Note: The President spoke by satellite at 11:24 a.m. from the Roosevelt
    Room at the White House to the Newseum in Arlington, VA. In his remarks,
    he referred to Allen H. Neuharth, chairman, and Peter S. Prichard,
    executive director, Newseum; and Charles Overby, chief executive
    officer, Freedom Forum.