‘We count on you’: Obama lauds role of journalists

US President Barack Obama has lauded the role of journalists in the fast-changing world for the risk they take in pursuit of truth behind a story and their ability to hold “those of us in power” to account.

“We are producing and consuming news in ways that we couldn’t have imagined a few years ago, let alone a few decades ago,” he said.

“But I believe that having access to more information than ever hasn’t diminished people’s hunger for understanding that news, and processing it. And they want to see an even deeper sense of what’s going on in their world because of so much change,” Obama said.

53-year-old Obama was speaking here last night at the Gridiron Club’s annual dinner, a tradition of goofy skits, silly songs and music by the US Marine Band.

“When there’s a crisis playing out around the world, or a milestone in our history like the one that we commemorated at Selma last week, we count on you to provide context, to see past the superficial, and in some cases, to risk everything in pursuit of the true story, and to hold us - those of us in power - to account,” Obama said.

Obama, with less than two years remaining in his second innings at the White House, expressed confidence that though the world of media may change, journalists would persist with their dedication and life-long commitment to help people to better understand the world.

“So while the world of media may be changing, I am confident that our democracy will always be able to rely on the tradition represented by the reporters in this room: your persistence, your dedication, and your lifelong commitment to helping all of us better understand this world,” he while speaking at the dinner for a third time as president, fourth time overall.