Macomb, IL – Veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas thinks the US media dropped the ball during the Bush administration. Speaking at WIU, Thomas said "The press played ball with the administration for two years of this war. They rolled over and played dead because of 9-11. They didn't want to be seen as unpatriotic or un-American. They didn't ask the questions they should've done in the run-up to the war. They let the country down." Thomas was joined at WIU by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Clarence Page. He thinks the US media does not have as much power to cover international stories as it once did. But Page added that since the advent of the Internet, people have the option of going elsewhere for their news. The two met with the Macomb media for a Q-and-A session. You can listen to it by clicking on the audio button. Please note - the reporters' questions are off-mic and might be difficult to hear.
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*Thomas has covered every president since John F. Kennedy. She served as White House correspondent for UPI for 57 years.
*Thomas is now a syndicated columnist for Hearst Newspapers but retains her front row seat in the White House West Wing Briefing Room.
*Page won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for commentary. His nationally syndicated column appears in close to 200 newspapers.
*Thomas and Page were in Macomb to take part in the panel discussion "The News Media's Impact on Shaping Our Perceptions of Culture and Diversity."
*They were joined on the panel by Minneapolis Star Tribune editor and writer Pam Huey (who is a WIU alumna) and Quad City Times editorial page editor Mark Ridolfi.