Clooney blasts US media

Clooney blasts US media for failure to report on Bush’s policies

Posted on Friday, September 22, 2006 (EST)

Washington, Sept 22: Hollywood activist George Clooney has slammed the US media for neglecting their responsibilities towards the country.

The 'Ocean's Eleven' star, who joined Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel to address the United Nations Security Council about the problems in Darfur last week (Sept. 14), believes that journalists have betrayed the public by not reporting the truth about President George Bush's administration.

"In the year-and-a-half or two years leading up to the war in Iraq, both in print and in broadcast journalism, the media took a pass on its responsibilities. I don't think there's anyone that would deny it - The New York Times certainly hasn't. And if The New York Times and The Washington Post and USA Today are all reneging on their responsibility, then believe me it's going down to the local news level as well. This has really been a poor time in journalism," Contactmusic quoted him as saying.

Clooney also stressed the need for responsible media, and appealed to the journalists to be careful before publishing anything.

"We already had a Congress on the same side as the White House. We needed a Fourth Estate more than ever, to say, 'Let's at least ask questions before we do these things,'" he said.
And, Clooney did not even spare the American public, who he feels contributed to the failure of media in reporting the truth by focusing too much on reality TV shows instead of real news.
"The media's failings reflect on the rest of us too. It took, what, three months after September 11 before reality shows became big again? There's a responsibility to be upheld," he said.
(ANI)