Washington, April 2 : Hollywood actor Ben Affleck was so enlightened about the media profession while filming his latest movie that he has vowed to treat journalists with more respect.

He admitted that he might have dealt with the press throughout his career, but he had very little understanding as to the profession until he worked on his upcoming political thriller `State Of Play'.

The film tells the story of a team of investigative journalists who try to solve the murder of a congressman''s mistress.

Affleck said that he was glad that he did this film because it has helped him better understand the people who interview him on a regular basis.

"I definitely have a more full understanding of the pressures journalists face," Contactmusic quoted him as telling MTV.

"My previous conversations with journalists were all one-sided. Even though I wasn''t playing a journalist, the story is about empathising with a guy who is a journalist.

"(I now realise) that journalists are ambitious and competing with each other inside institutions and that the institutions themselves have to compete with one another to stay afloat.

"I never understood those dynamics very well, so I''ve gained an appreciation for that, and it changed the way I saw things," he added. (ANI)