In plain words it is the museum of News. It reopened in Washington last week. The new avatar of the Newseum is already being called one of the most technologically advanced museums in the world. Front pages of dozens of newspapers are on display out on the street. It is quite a sight, and definitely an attention-getter for pedestrians. Six years ago the original, smaller Newseum across the Potomac River in Arlington was closed.
The Newseum is an appealing example of how a museum can both teach and entertain with clever use of images and interactive displays, and compact explanations that will repay serious reading while offering edutainment to the many school children expected to visit. Whether one is a news junkie, a history hunter or interested in digital interaction, all is available here. And, in no time at all, one's enthusiasm for the media — is contagious. With the museum's seven levels and 14 galleries, there's something always going on.
Additionally, there are 15 theatres, two television studios (ABC This Week with George Stephanopoulos will broadcast every Sunday from one), and a hand's-on master control center open for learning. There are also 48 interactive computer kiosks that allow one to immerse themselves in the news experience, as a reporter, photographer, or even a blogger.
Within the building are thousands of newspapers to read, hundreds of hours of news broadcasts to watch, and hundreds of Pulitzer Prizewinning photos to examine. All told, there are more than 6,000 news artifacts, ranging from a newspaper's first publication in 1545 to the door from the Watergate Hotel room, which led to the eventually downfall of President Nixon.
The Newseum also offers the first permanent exhibit devoted to the terrorist attacks of 9/11. There is also a memorial to more than the 1,700 journalists from around the world who have died on the job since the 1830s.One of the most popular sites, it's easy to predict, will be the Interactive Newsroom, which allows one to become a newspaper reporter or a photographer covering breaking news on a tight deadline. One can even file stories or photos and get feedback.
Another predictably fun site, for an additional $8 dollar fee, allows a visitor to stand before a camera and pretend to be an on-air reporter — teleprompter and all. Grab a microphone and take a stand-up shot in the location of your choice: in front of the White House, the Capitol or the Supreme Court.
Adults can devise their own script, and is allowed two practice runs, with a countdown of 13 seconds before going "on air." Children are given a script to read, and the teleprompter will run more slowly for them, too, than for adults.
Visitors then receive a souvenir photo of their "on air" experience, and can download their TV performances from a Newseum site the following day, which allows them to share the fun with family and friends.
Another site not to miss is the Ethics Table, where players compete by answering questions about the "right" thing to do as a reporter, and completing their team's newspaper page. Using motion-tracking technology, players select questions from avatars that appear on the table. Each correct answer fills in a blank on the team's page.
One of the most popular events being praised by young, aspiring reporters is the Annenberg Theater, which — through the use of special eyeglasses — offers a 4D, 13-minute presentation that is both fun and information. Don't forget to duck and mind your legs in this theatre. And yes, all the movies are free — all 100 of them within the Newseum.
The Newseum has $20 dollar entry fee. Now the question is that will people visit the Newseum with this fee. Competing with the Newseum are the Air and Space Museum, the National History Museum and the National Archives and the National Gallery of Art; it's also close to Ford's Theatre, where President Abraham Lincoln was shot.
One is impressed even before entering the building: Outside is a 74-foot-high, 50 ton Tennessee marble table on the front façade of the Newseum etched with the words of the First Amendment, written 217 years ago: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceable to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
It has good quota of blunders made by the media. The Newseum has a copy of the 1948 Chicago Daily Tribune mistakenly announcing “Dewey Beats Truman” — just below the famous photograph of a victorious Truman holding the same paper. Only Mark Twain (who invented his share of journalistic hoaxes) had a plausible excuse: reporting, he said, “was awful slavery for a lazy man.” And there’s at least one sign that the Newseum knows when not to take itself too seriously: scattered tiles in the museum bathrooms are inscribed with journalistic gaffes and embarrassing corrections.
To see the daily struggle with accuracy and understanding, take a look at one of the most intriguing galleries at the Newseum, reproduced in sidewalk displays below. Every day some 80 front pages of newspapers from all over the world and from the 50 states are mounted, along with a touch screen offering scores more. Here the press can be seen for what it is: a noble, necessary and hopeless enterprise.
To see a beautiful slide presentation prepared by the New York Times (one of the contributors to the Newseum) click here
