Newseum

On March 13th we went to see the Newseum located on Pennsylvania Ave. not far from the Capitol building. It opened in 2008 and is one of the few museums in DC you have to pay to go into, but it is well worth it! It is devoted to the First Amendment and the role of a free press in the democratic system.

The first thing you see when going in is the 90 foot high atrium with a giant breaking news screen & a news helicopter suspended overhead.



The visit began with the Berlin Wall Gallery. There is an 8 section portion of the original Berlin Wall with a 3 story guard tower. It was interesting to see the graffiti covering the West Berlin side and the starkness of the East Berlin side.

This exhibit entitled "G-Men & Journalists" explored the FBI's top cases and the headlines they inspired.

Walter looss, a photographer for "Sports Illustrated" was featured in this exhibit.

This exhibit covered the whole 5th level and was a fascinating look at historic newspapers & magazines.

Check out the year on THIS newspaper: 1781!!!

On the wall is a display of newspapers from around the world reporting the tragedy on 9/11 (in the foreground is an antenna from on top of one of the World Trade Center buildings)

Many of you have probably heard of Tim Russert. He did a political talk show program on Sundays, called "Meet the Press". Tim died June 2008 as he was preparing for his next show. One of the exhibits in the Newseum is a recreation of his office as it was at the time of his death.

This map was really interesting. It shows a snapshot of press freedom around the world. The green is where there is freedom of the press, the yellow is partial freedom, and the red is where there is no freedom of the press. Very eye opening!!

On the outside of the Newseum is a 74 ft. tall marble tablet of the First Amendment. Pretty impressive! Along the sidewalk, every day is posted front pages of one newspaper from every state in the U.S.

Another site off our list!!!