Newseum
Encyclopedia
The Newseum is an interactive museum
of news
and journalism
located at 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.
The seven-level, 250000 square feet (23,225.8 m²) museum features 15 theaters and 14 galleries. The Newseum's Berlin Wall Gallery includes the largest display of sections of the Berlin Wall outside of Germany. The Today's Front Pages Gallery presents daily front pages from more than 80 international newspapers.
Other galleries present topics including news history, the September 11 attacks, the First Amendment
, world press freedom and the history of the Internet, TV and radio. It opened at its first location in Rosslyn, Virginia
, on April 18, 1997, where it admitted visitors without charge.
Its mission is "to help the public and the news media understand one another better" and to "raise public awareness of the important role of a free press in a democratic society".
In five years, the original Newseum attracted more than 2.25 million visitors. The Newseum's operations are funded by the Freedom Forum
, a nonpartisan foundation dedicated to "free press, free speech and free spirit for all people". The new Newseum has become one of Washington's most popular destinations, and its high definition television studios hosts news broadcasts including ABC
's This Week
. The adult admission fee (in 2011) is $22.
decided to move the Newseum from its location in Arlington, Virginia
, across the Potomac River
to downtown Washington, D.C.
The original Newseum was closed on 3 March 2002, to allow its staff to concentrate on building the new, larger museum. The new museum, built at a cost of $
450 million, opened its doors to the public on April 11, 2008.
Tim Russert
, a Newseum trustee
, said, "The Newseum made a pretty good impression in Arlington, but at your new location on Pennsylvania Avenue, you will make an indelible mark."
After obtaining a landmark location at Pennsylvania Avenue
and Sixth Street NW, the Newseum board selected noted exhibit designer Ralph Appelbaum
, who had designed the original Newseum in Arlington, Virginia, and architect James Stewart Polshek, who designed the Rose Center for Earth and Space with Todd Schliemann at the American Museum of Natural History
in New York City
, to work on the new project.
This design team had the following goals:
Highlights of the building design unveiled October 2002 include a façade featuring a "window on the world", 57 ft × 78 ft (17 m × 24 m), which looks out on Pennsylvania Avenue and the National Mall
while letting the public see inside to the visitors and displays. It features the 45 words of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
, etched into a four story tall stone panel facing Pennsylvania Avenue.
One feature carried over from the prior Arlington site was the Journalists Memorial, a glass sculpture which lists the names of 1,900 journalists from around the world killed in the line of duty. It is updated and rededicated every year.
The museum website is updated daily with images and PDF versions
of newspaper front pages from around the world. Images are replaced daily, but an archive of front pages from notable events since 2001 is also available. Hard copies of the front pages are featured in a gallery within the museum. Unlike its original museum in Arlington, the new Newseum charges admission fees to the general public.
Jerry Frieheim, a 1956 graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, was the first executive director of the Newseum and claims to have coined the name.
Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School
students are admitted to the Newseum free of charge, as Smith's
son, Robert H. Smith
, was a founding partner of the Newseum.
In October 2009, the Newseum ended 29 full-time positions, which represented about 13% of their total personnel at that time. As of December 2009, the group has now reduced its staff by 23% through its history. President Kenneth Paulson stated that the "cuts are spread throughout the organization, but should not affect the experience of museum visitors". He also said that overall month-by-month attendance had increased in 2009 compared to 2008.
, seven levels of displays, 15 theaters, a dozen major galleries, many more smaller exhibits, two broadcast studios, and an expanded interactive newsroom.
The building features an oval, 500-seat "Forum" theater; approximately 145,500 square feet (14,000 m²) gross of housing facing Sixth and C streets; 75,000 square feet (7,000 m²) of office space for the staff of the Newseum and Freedom Forum; and more than 11,000 square feet (1,000 m²) of conference center space on two levels located directly above the Newseum Atrium. The building features glass hydraulic elevators that are the tallest in the world. A curving glass memorial to slain journalists is located above the ground floor.
Showcase environments throughout the museum are climate controlled by four microclimate control devices. These units provide a flow of humidified air to the cases through a system of distribution pipes.
ABC's This Week began broadcasting from its new studio in the Newseum on April 20, 2008, with George Stephanopoulos
as host; Christiane Amanpour
is the current host of the program.
Sharing the building with the Newseum, is the Newseum Residences and The Source, a Wolfgang Puck
Restaurant. The residences are a collection of 135 luxury apartment homes. Among the many amenities of the building, is a rooftop terrace, which shares the same views as the Newseum, of the National Mall
, Washington Monument
and the United States Capitol
.
Other reviewers were more critical.
The New York Times' Architecture Review panned the second Newseum building as "the latest reason to lament the state of contemporary architecture in" Washington, D.C. Of the Newseum's actual content, the Times stated that "a good portion of the museum’s earnestly sought attention is well deserved", but "the museum’s preening does call for some skepticism". USA Today
repeated "mixed" reviews of the building's architecture and cited the number of visitors as a sign that the Newseum is a "success as a destination in the museum-rich national capital".
An exhibit at the Newseum discusses the "effort to avoid bias" by journalists. It includes a 2006 Gallup
poll in which 44% of Americans called the media "too liberal" while only 19% found it "too conservative" as well as other comments on possible political media bias
, many of which come from Fox News contributors. Jonathan Schwarz of Mother Jones
criticized the exhibit and called it an example of corporate propaganda from Rupert Murdoch
's News Corporation
. He also argued that most of the U.S. news media is controlled by businesses who shut out stories that would counter their interests. Kevin D. Williamson of National Review Online defended the Newseum and called the criticism "nonsense concentrate". He argued that media-owning companies have an interest in promoting non-conservative causes such as protectionism
and of shifting their health care costs
over to the government.
James Bowman of National Review Online criticised the Newseum after its opening for being overly stylistic and superficial, writing that it focuses on headline-based reporting of major world events rather than details of the events themselves. He commented, "[a]ll this interacting is supposed to make learning fun, but like most such exercises it does so only by taking away most of what makes it learning." He also stated that the targeted advertising towards children
was "squaring the cultural circle" and was unethical.
Journalist Alan Rusbridger
of The Guardian
stated that visitors would have "a great family day out". He considered some of the exhibits, such as a red dress worn by Helen Thomas
, as "faintly ridiculous" while praising others such as a large chunk of the actual Berlin Wall
. Although writing that the Newseum displayed "self-glorification, pomposity and vanity" in an "overwhelmingly American-centric" way, he described the building design as "uplifting" and generally commended the features.
Jack Shafer
, co-editor of Slate, has criticized the Newseum's exhibit about the career of the late NBC
reporter Tim Russert
. He argued that Russert's "mundane" work-space was not worthy of preservation in a museum and that Russert's accomplishments "begin at being a pretty good interviewer and end at having a lot of celebrity friends." He concluded that the Newseum is "a place where journalist celebrities begin to be worshipped as miracle-producing saints."
Bonnie Wach writing for SFGate praised the Newseum's content and interactivity.
"The Newseum, which opened in 2008, is a soaring glass-and-marble edifice devoted to 500 years of news and the people who made it. It takes us all of about five minutes inside to figure out that the "world's most interactive" title is no boast. To say that this place is a marvel of technological innovation is like saying teenage girls found Elvis attractive. Seven floors of touch-screens, theaters, film and video, state-of-the-art studios, computer games, interactive kiosks, documentary footage and hands-on multimedia exhibits are enough to give even my iPod-obsessed son, Rowan, a cramp in his very limber index finger."
The New York Times--Ochs-Sulzberger Family Great Hall of News: Surrounded by the flow of information
Located in the atrium, a 90-foot-high screen shows the latest headlines from around the globe. A satellite replica and a Bell helicopter are also suspended in the atrium.
News Corporation News History Gallery: The Story of News
A timeline showcases the extensive collection of newspapers and magazines. Touch-screen computers house hundreds of digitized publications, allowing for close-up viewing, as well as interactive games, and access to a database of journalists. Hundreds of artifacts and memorabilia from remarkable news events are in cases around the gallery. Included in this gallery is a 1603 English broadsheet showing the coronation of James I; a 1787 copy of The Maryland Gazette containing the new United States Constitution
; The Charleston Mercury’s 1860 extra enthusiastically proclaiming, “The Union Is Dissolved!”; a copy of the 1948 Chicago Daily Tribune mistakenly announcing, “Dewey Defeats Truman.”
NBC News Interactive Newsroom: Sitting in the Hot Seat
The Interactive Newsroom lets visitors play the role of a photojournalist, editor, reporter, or anchor. Touch-screen stations provide simulated tools and techniques needed to be in the broadcast business. Visitors can also pick up a microphone and step in front of the camera.
9/11 Gallery Sponsored by Comcast: Chronicling an Attack on America
This gallery explores the coverage of Sept. 11, 2001. A tribute to photojournalist William Biggart
, who died covering the attacks, is included. Visitors get to hear his story and see some of the final photographs he took. A giant wall is covered with worldwide front pages published the following morning. A film gives additional first-person accounts from reporters and photographers who covered the story.
Bloomberg Internet, TV and Radio Gallery: Getting the News Electronically
News increases as technology improves. This gallery traces the evolution of electronic media. Two 25 feet (7.6 m) high media walls show memorable television clips, a multimedia timeline, and a memorial to Edward R. Murrow.
Pulitzer Prize Photographs Gallery: Award-Winning Images and Photographers Who Took Them
The Newseum has put on display the most comprehensive collection of Pulitzer Prize
-winning photographs ever gathered. Many of the photographers are interviewed in a documentary film, providing context for the pictures and insight into their craft. Some photographs included are: Marines raising Old Glory on Iwo Jima, the joyful reunion of a returning prisoner of war and his family, a firefighter cradling an injured infant after the Oklahoma City bombing
. Visitors can access a database of 300 video clips, 400 audio clips and 1,000 prize photos.
Berlin Wall Gallery: A Barrier That Couldn't Block Information
The Newseum has procured the largest display of the original wall outside of Germany. There are eight 12 feet (3.7 m) high concrete sections of wall, each weighing about three tons, and a three-story East German guard tower from Checkpoint Charlie
(or "Checkpoint C"), the name given by Western Allies to Berlin's best-known East-West crossing.
Cox Enterprises First Amendment Gallery: 45 Words of Freedom
This gallery explores the role that the First Amendment’s guarantee of rights (religion, speech, press, assembly and petition) has played in the United States over the past 200 years. The exhibit presents historical news clips that exemplify the five freedoms. "Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press," said Thomas Jefferson
, "and that cannot be limited without being lost."
Time Warner World News Gallery: News and Press Freedoms Around the Globe
In this gallery, a large map, rating 190 countries, illustrates the differences in press freedom around the world. Newspaper Headlines and international television feeds are available for examination. International journalists who risked their lives on the job are also heralded here.
Pulliam Family Great Books Gallery: A Look at the Cornerstones of Freedom
The books and documents include here are important works of political thought and action, such as the Magna Carta
, the Federalist Papers
, and the first printed pamphlet of the U.S. Constitution. Digitized copies of many pages are available here as well for closer viewing.
Today's Front Pages Gallery: Front Pages From Across America and Around the World
The Newseum receives digital submissions of over 700 front pages from around the world. Roughly 80 are enlarged and printed for display in this space and additional papers line the entrance of the building. One from every state and the District of Columbia is chosen as well as a sampling of international newspapers.
Journalists Memorial: A Tribute to Journalists Who Have Died Pursuing the News
Journalists face danger more often than one might think. They take calculated risks, sometimes paying the ultimate price. This exhibit displays artifacts from hazardous journalistic missions. Included is the laptop computer used by Daniel Pearl
, the bloodstained notebook of Michael Weisskopf
, and the 1976 Datsun 710 belonging to Don Bolles
that was bombed in Phoenix, Arizona. Also featured is a sobering display of more than 1,800 names written in a glass tablet, marking the deaths of those who died in pursuit of the news The gallery also contains photographs of hundreds of those journalists and access to more detailed information on every honored journalist.
Hank Greenspun Terrace on Pennsylvania Avenue: America’s Main Street
The Newseum terrace offers a panoramic view of Washington, DC overlooking one of America's most iconic streets, Pennsylvania Avenue
. The view includes landmarks and monuments such as the U.S. Capitol, the National Gallery of Art
, the National Archives and the Washington Monument
. On the terrace visitors can read about the events that played a role in developing Pennsylvania Avenue, from presidential parades and funeral processions to celebrations and protests. The 2009 Obama Inauguration parade was covered by cable news outlets from the Terrace.
The Bancroft Family Ethics Center: Ethical Dilemmas in Journalism
In the Ethics Center, computers allow you to debate journalistic dilemmas and compare your answers with reporters and other visitors.
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
of news
News
News is the communication of selected information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience.- Etymology :...
and journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
located at 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
The seven-level, 250000 square feet (23,225.8 m²) museum features 15 theaters and 14 galleries. The Newseum's Berlin Wall Gallery includes the largest display of sections of the Berlin Wall outside of Germany. The Today's Front Pages Gallery presents daily front pages from more than 80 international newspapers.
Other galleries present topics including news history, the September 11 attacks, the First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
, world press freedom and the history of the Internet, TV and radio. It opened at its first location in Rosslyn, Virginia
Rosslyn, Virginia
Rosslyn is an unincorporated area in Northern Virginia located in the northeastern corner of Arlington County, Virginia, north of Arlington National Cemetery and directly across the Potomac River from Georgetown in Washington, D.C. Rosslyn encompasses the Arlington neighborhoods of North Rosslyn...
, on April 18, 1997, where it admitted visitors without charge.
Its mission is "to help the public and the news media understand one another better" and to "raise public awareness of the important role of a free press in a democratic society".
In five years, the original Newseum attracted more than 2.25 million visitors. The Newseum's operations are funded by the Freedom Forum
Freedom Forum
The Freedom Forum was created in 1991 under the direction of Al Neuharth, former publisher of USA Today newspaper. Funding was provided by a foundation started by publisher Frank E. Gannett in 1935, called the Gannett Foundation...
, a nonpartisan foundation dedicated to "free press, free speech and free spirit for all people". The new Newseum has become one of Washington's most popular destinations, and its high definition television studios hosts news broadcasts including ABC
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
's This Week
This Week (ABC TV series)
This Week is ABC's Sunday morning political affairs program.The Sunday morning talk show has aired on Sunday mornings on ABC since 1981; the program is initially aired at 9:00 AM ET, although many stations air the program later, especially those in other time zones...
. The adult admission fee (in 2011) is $22.
History
In 2000, Freedom ForumFreedom Forum
The Freedom Forum was created in 1991 under the direction of Al Neuharth, former publisher of USA Today newspaper. Funding was provided by a foundation started by publisher Frank E. Gannett in 1935, called the Gannett Foundation...
decided to move the Newseum from its location in Arlington, Virginia
Arlington County, Virginia
Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The land that became Arlington was originally donated by Virginia to the United States government to form part of the new federal capital district. On February 27, 1801, the United States Congress organized the area as a subdivision of...
, across the Potomac River
Potomac River
The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
to downtown Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
The original Newseum was closed on 3 March 2002, to allow its staff to concentrate on building the new, larger museum. The new museum, built at a cost of $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
450 million, opened its doors to the public on April 11, 2008.
Tim Russert
Tim Russert
Timothy John "Tim" Russert was an American television journalist and lawyer who appeared for more than 16 years as the longest-serving moderator of NBC's Meet the Press. He was a senior vice president at NBC News, Washington bureau chief and also hosted the eponymous CNBC/MSNBC weekend interview...
, a Newseum trustee
Trustee
Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...
, said, "The Newseum made a pretty good impression in Arlington, but at your new location on Pennsylvania Avenue, you will make an indelible mark."
After obtaining a landmark location at Pennsylvania Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue is a street in Washington, D.C. that joins the White House and the United States Capitol. Called "America's Main Street", it is the location of official parades and processions, as well as protest marches...
and Sixth Street NW, the Newseum board selected noted exhibit designer Ralph Appelbaum
Ralph Appelbaum
Ralph Appelbaum Associates is the world's largest museum exhibition design firm. It has offices in New York City, London and Beijing.- Overview :...
, who had designed the original Newseum in Arlington, Virginia, and architect James Stewart Polshek, who designed the Rose Center for Earth and Space with Todd Schliemann at the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, to work on the new project.
This design team had the following goals:
- To design a building that would be an architectural icon, easily recognized and remembered by visitors from around the world;
- To create a museum space three times as large as the original, with the capacity for more than two million visitors a year; and
- To celebrate the First Amendment to the United States ConstitutionFirst Amendment to the United States ConstitutionThe First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
— in particular, its freedom of the pressFreedom of the pressFreedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...
and free speechFreedom of speech in the United StatesFreedom of speech in the United States is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and by many state constitutions and state and federal laws, with the exception of obscenity, defamation, incitement to riot, and fighting words, as well as harassment, privileged...
protections.
Highlights of the building design unveiled October 2002 include a façade featuring a "window on the world", 57 ft × 78 ft (17 m × 24 m), which looks out on Pennsylvania Avenue and the National Mall
National Mall
The National Mall is an open-area national park in downtown Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The National Mall is a unit of the National Park Service , and is administered by the National Mall and Memorial Parks unit...
while letting the public see inside to the visitors and displays. It features the 45 words of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
, etched into a four story tall stone panel facing Pennsylvania Avenue.
One feature carried over from the prior Arlington site was the Journalists Memorial, a glass sculpture which lists the names of 1,900 journalists from around the world killed in the line of duty. It is updated and rededicated every year.
The museum website is updated daily with images and PDF versions
Portable Document Format
Portable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
of newspaper front pages from around the world. Images are replaced daily, but an archive of front pages from notable events since 2001 is also available. Hard copies of the front pages are featured in a gallery within the museum. Unlike its original museum in Arlington, the new Newseum charges admission fees to the general public.
Jerry Frieheim, a 1956 graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, was the first executive director of the Newseum and claims to have coined the name.
Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School
Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School
The Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, often referred to as CESJDS or JDS, is a private, pluralistic Jewish K-12 school in Rockville, Maryland....
students are admitted to the Newseum free of charge, as Smith's
Charles E. Smith (developer)
Charles E. Smith was a real estate developer and philanthropist in the Washington DC area.-Life:Smith immigrated from Russia in 1911 speaking only Yiddish....
son, Robert H. Smith
Robert H. Smith
Robert Hilton Smith was a successful builder-developer, and philanthropist.-Business:...
, was a founding partner of the Newseum.
In October 2009, the Newseum ended 29 full-time positions, which represented about 13% of their total personnel at that time. As of December 2009, the group has now reduced its staff by 23% through its history. President Kenneth Paulson stated that the "cuts are spread throughout the organization, but should not affect the experience of museum visitors". He also said that overall month-by-month attendance had increased in 2009 compared to 2008.
Building
The 643,000-square-foot (60,000 m²) Newseum includes a 90 feet (27.4 m) high atriumAtrium (architecture)
In modern architecture, an atrium is a large open space, often several stories high and having a glazed roof and/or large windows, often situated within a larger multistory building and often located immediately beyond the main entrance doors...
, seven levels of displays, 15 theaters, a dozen major galleries, many more smaller exhibits, two broadcast studios, and an expanded interactive newsroom.
The building features an oval, 500-seat "Forum" theater; approximately 145,500 square feet (14,000 m²) gross of housing facing Sixth and C streets; 75,000 square feet (7,000 m²) of office space for the staff of the Newseum and Freedom Forum; and more than 11,000 square feet (1,000 m²) of conference center space on two levels located directly above the Newseum Atrium. The building features glass hydraulic elevators that are the tallest in the world. A curving glass memorial to slain journalists is located above the ground floor.
Showcase environments throughout the museum are climate controlled by four microclimate control devices. These units provide a flow of humidified air to the cases through a system of distribution pipes.
ABC's This Week began broadcasting from its new studio in the Newseum on April 20, 2008, with George Stephanopoulos
George Stephanopoulos
George Robert Stephanopoulos is an American television journalist and a former political advisor.Stephanopoulos is most well known as the chief political correspondent for ABC News – the news division of the broadcast television network ABC – and a co-anchor of ABC News's morning news...
as host; Christiane Amanpour
Christiane Amanpour
Christiane Amanpour, CBE is anchor of ABC News's This Week and formerly chief international correspondent at CNN, where she worked for 27 years. She is a Board Member at the IWMF .-Early years:...
is the current host of the program.
Sharing the building with the Newseum, is the Newseum Residences and The Source, a Wolfgang Puck
Wolfgang Puck
Wolfgang Johannes Puck is an Austrian-American celebrity chef, restaurateur, businessman and occasional actor. Wolfgang Puck restaurants, catering services, cookbooks and licensed products are run by Wolfgang Puck Companies, with three divisions...
Restaurant. The residences are a collection of 135 luxury apartment homes. Among the many amenities of the building, is a rooftop terrace, which shares the same views as the Newseum, of the National Mall
National Mall
The National Mall is an open-area national park in downtown Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The National Mall is a unit of the National Park Service , and is administered by the National Mall and Memorial Parks unit...
, Washington Monument
Washington Monument
The Washington Monument is an obelisk near the west end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate the first U.S. president, General George Washington...
and the United States Capitol
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall...
.
Critical response
The Newseum is very popular with the general public but has received mixed reviews from journalists. The website TripAdvisor ranks it 2nd out of 198 attractions in the Washington area and its contributors rate it 4.5 out of 5 stars. Reviewers on the website Yelp also give the Newseum high marks. The San Francisco Bay Guardian described it as "the most comprehensive, evocative look at the power and responsibility of the journalist under one roof that our country has yet produced." The Sunday Times ranked it one of the "world's 12 coolest museums". The Dallas Morning News praised its interactive exhibits and said " While the free Smithsonian museums do a fine job of housing our important artifacts, I believe the Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue does an unparalleled job of telling our nation's story. "Other reviewers were more critical.
The New York Times
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
repeated "mixed" reviews of the building's architecture and cited the number of visitors as a sign that the Newseum is a "success as a destination in the museum-rich national capital".
An exhibit at the Newseum discusses the "effort to avoid bias" by journalists. It includes a 2006 Gallup
Gallup
Gallup can refer to:*Gallup, New Mexico*Gallup, South Dakota *George Gallup, American pollster*Elizabeth Wells Gallup, American educator and scholar...
poll in which 44% of Americans called the media "too liberal" while only 19% found it "too conservative" as well as other comments on possible political media bias
Media bias
Media bias refers to the bias of journalists and news producers within the mass media in the selection of events and stories that are reported and how they are covered. The term "media bias" implies a pervasive or widespread bias contravening the standards of journalism, rather than the...
, many of which come from Fox News contributors. Jonathan Schwarz of Mother Jones
Mother Jones (magazine)
Mother Jones is an American independent news organization, featuring investigative and breaking news reporting on politics, the environment, human rights, and culture. Mother Jones has been nominated for 23 National Magazine Awards and has won six times, including for General Excellence in 2001,...
criticized the exhibit and called it an example of corporate propaganda from Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
's News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
. He also argued that most of the U.S. news media is controlled by businesses who shut out stories that would counter their interests. Kevin D. Williamson of National Review Online defended the Newseum and called the criticism "nonsense concentrate". He argued that media-owning companies have an interest in promoting non-conservative causes such as protectionism
Protectionism
Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...
and of shifting their health care costs
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...
over to the government.
James Bowman of National Review Online criticised the Newseum after its opening for being overly stylistic and superficial, writing that it focuses on headline-based reporting of major world events rather than details of the events themselves. He commented, "[a]ll this interacting is supposed to make learning fun, but like most such exercises it does so only by taking away most of what makes it learning." He also stated that the targeted advertising towards children
Advertising to children
Advertising to children is the act of marketing or advertising products or services to children, as defined by national legislation and advertising standards. Advertising to children is often the subject of debate, relating to the alleged influence on children’s consumption. Rules on advertising to...
was "squaring the cultural circle" and was unethical.
Journalist Alan Rusbridger
Alan Rusbridger
Alan Charles Rusbridger is the editor of the British newspaper The Guardian. He has also been a reporter and a columnist.-Early life:...
of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
stated that visitors would have "a great family day out". He considered some of the exhibits, such as a red dress worn by Helen Thomas
Helen Thomas
Helen Thomas is an American author and former news service reporter, member of the White House Press Corps and opinion columnist. She worked for the United Press and post-1958 successor United Press International for 57 years, first as a correspondent, and later as White House bureau manager...
, as "faintly ridiculous" while praising others such as a large chunk of the actual Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
. Although writing that the Newseum displayed "self-glorification, pomposity and vanity" in an "overwhelmingly American-centric" way, he described the building design as "uplifting" and generally commended the features.
Jack Shafer
Jack Shafer
Jack Shafer covers media for Reuters.com Opinion section. Prior to joining Reuters, he edited and wrote the column Press Box for Slate, an online magazine. Before his stay at Slate, Shafer edited two city weeklies, Washington City Paper and SF Weekly...
, co-editor of Slate, has criticized the Newseum's exhibit about the career of the late NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
reporter Tim Russert
Tim Russert
Timothy John "Tim" Russert was an American television journalist and lawyer who appeared for more than 16 years as the longest-serving moderator of NBC's Meet the Press. He was a senior vice president at NBC News, Washington bureau chief and also hosted the eponymous CNBC/MSNBC weekend interview...
. He argued that Russert's "mundane" work-space was not worthy of preservation in a museum and that Russert's accomplishments "begin at being a pretty good interviewer and end at having a lot of celebrity friends." He concluded that the Newseum is "a place where journalist celebrities begin to be worshipped as miracle-producing saints."
Bonnie Wach writing for SFGate praised the Newseum's content and interactivity.
"The Newseum, which opened in 2008, is a soaring glass-and-marble edifice devoted to 500 years of news and the people who made it. It takes us all of about five minutes inside to figure out that the "world's most interactive" title is no boast. To say that this place is a marvel of technological innovation is like saying teenage girls found Elvis attractive. Seven floors of touch-screens, theaters, film and video, state-of-the-art studios, computer games, interactive kiosks, documentary footage and hands-on multimedia exhibits are enough to give even my iPod-obsessed son, Rowan, a cramp in his very limber index finger."
Permanent Exhibits
Located in the atrium, a 90-foot-high screen shows the latest headlines from around the globe. A satellite replica and a Bell helicopter are also suspended in the atrium.
News Corporation News History Gallery: The Story of News
A timeline showcases the extensive collection of newspapers and magazines. Touch-screen computers house hundreds of digitized publications, allowing for close-up viewing, as well as interactive games, and access to a database of journalists. Hundreds of artifacts and memorabilia from remarkable news events are in cases around the gallery. Included in this gallery is a 1603 English broadsheet showing the coronation of James I; a 1787 copy of The Maryland Gazette containing the new United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
; The Charleston Mercury’s 1860 extra enthusiastically proclaiming, “The Union Is Dissolved!”; a copy of the 1948 Chicago Daily Tribune mistakenly announcing, “Dewey Defeats Truman.”
NBC News Interactive Newsroom: Sitting in the Hot Seat
The Interactive Newsroom lets visitors play the role of a photojournalist, editor, reporter, or anchor. Touch-screen stations provide simulated tools and techniques needed to be in the broadcast business. Visitors can also pick up a microphone and step in front of the camera.
9/11 Gallery Sponsored by Comcast: Chronicling an Attack on America
This gallery explores the coverage of Sept. 11, 2001. A tribute to photojournalist William Biggart
Bill Biggart
Bill Biggart was an American photojournalist and victim of the September 11th attacks, notable for the street-view photographs he took of the event before being killed by the collapse of the World Trade Center's North Tower, and for being the only working photojournalist to perish in the attacks...
, who died covering the attacks, is included. Visitors get to hear his story and see some of the final photographs he took. A giant wall is covered with worldwide front pages published the following morning. A film gives additional first-person accounts from reporters and photographers who covered the story.
Bloomberg Internet, TV and Radio Gallery: Getting the News Electronically
News increases as technology improves. This gallery traces the evolution of electronic media. Two 25 feet (7.6 m) high media walls show memorable television clips, a multimedia timeline, and a memorial to Edward R. Murrow.
Pulitzer Prize Photographs Gallery: Award-Winning Images and Photographers Who Took Them
The Newseum has put on display the most comprehensive collection of Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning photographs ever gathered. Many of the photographers are interviewed in a documentary film, providing context for the pictures and insight into their craft. Some photographs included are: Marines raising Old Glory on Iwo Jima, the joyful reunion of a returning prisoner of war and his family, a firefighter cradling an injured infant after the Oklahoma City bombing
Oklahoma City bombing
The Oklahoma City bombing was a terrorist bomb attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. It was the most destructive act of terrorism on American soil until the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Oklahoma blast claimed 168 lives, including 19...
. Visitors can access a database of 300 video clips, 400 audio clips and 1,000 prize photos.
Berlin Wall Gallery: A Barrier That Couldn't Block Information
The Newseum has procured the largest display of the original wall outside of Germany. There are eight 12 feet (3.7 m) high concrete sections of wall, each weighing about three tons, and a three-story East German guard tower from Checkpoint Charlie
Checkpoint Charlie
Checkpoint Charlie was the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War....
(or "Checkpoint C"), the name given by Western Allies to Berlin's best-known East-West crossing.
Cox Enterprises First Amendment Gallery: 45 Words of Freedom
This gallery explores the role that the First Amendment’s guarantee of rights (religion, speech, press, assembly and petition) has played in the United States over the past 200 years. The exhibit presents historical news clips that exemplify the five freedoms. "Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press," said Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
, "and that cannot be limited without being lost."
Time Warner World News Gallery: News and Press Freedoms Around the Globe
In this gallery, a large map, rating 190 countries, illustrates the differences in press freedom around the world. Newspaper Headlines and international television feeds are available for examination. International journalists who risked their lives on the job are also heralded here.
Pulliam Family Great Books Gallery: A Look at the Cornerstones of Freedom
The books and documents include here are important works of political thought and action, such as the Magna Carta
Magna Carta
Magna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...
, the Federalist Papers
Federalist Papers
The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 articles or essays promoting the ratification of the United States Constitution. Seventy-seven of the essays were published serially in The Independent Journal and The New York Packet between October 1787 and August 1788...
, and the first printed pamphlet of the U.S. Constitution. Digitized copies of many pages are available here as well for closer viewing.
Today's Front Pages Gallery: Front Pages From Across America and Around the World
The Newseum receives digital submissions of over 700 front pages from around the world. Roughly 80 are enlarged and printed for display in this space and additional papers line the entrance of the building. One from every state and the District of Columbia is chosen as well as a sampling of international newspapers.
Journalists Memorial: A Tribute to Journalists Who Have Died Pursuing the News
Journalists face danger more often than one might think. They take calculated risks, sometimes paying the ultimate price. This exhibit displays artifacts from hazardous journalistic missions. Included is the laptop computer used by Daniel Pearl
Daniel Pearl
Daniel Pearl was an American journalist who was kidnapped and killed by Al-Qaeda.At the time of his kidnapping, Pearl served as the South Asia Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal, and was based in Mumbai, India. He went to Pakistan as part of an investigation into the alleged links between...
, the bloodstained notebook of Michael Weisskopf
Michael Weisskopf
Michael Weisskopf is a Polk Award-winning journalist, currently working as a senior correspondent for Time magazine. A Pulitzer Prize finalist in 1996 for the accounts he and David Maraniss gave of the activities in 1995 following the Republican takeover of the House of Representatives in 1994,...
, and the 1976 Datsun 710 belonging to Don Bolles
Don Bolles
Don Bolles was an American investigative reporter whose murder in a bombing is linked to the Mafia.-Biography:...
that was bombed in Phoenix, Arizona. Also featured is a sobering display of more than 1,800 names written in a glass tablet, marking the deaths of those who died in pursuit of the news The gallery also contains photographs of hundreds of those journalists and access to more detailed information on every honored journalist.
Hank Greenspun Terrace on Pennsylvania Avenue: America’s Main Street
The Newseum terrace offers a panoramic view of Washington, DC overlooking one of America's most iconic streets, Pennsylvania Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue is a street in Washington, D.C. that joins the White House and the United States Capitol. Called "America's Main Street", it is the location of official parades and processions, as well as protest marches...
. The view includes landmarks and monuments such as the U.S. Capitol, the National Gallery of Art
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
, the National Archives and the Washington Monument
Washington Monument
The Washington Monument is an obelisk near the west end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate the first U.S. president, General George Washington...
. On the terrace visitors can read about the events that played a role in developing Pennsylvania Avenue, from presidential parades and funeral processions to celebrations and protests. The 2009 Obama Inauguration parade was covered by cable news outlets from the Terrace.
The Bancroft Family Ethics Center: Ethical Dilemmas in Journalism
In the Ethics Center, computers allow you to debate journalistic dilemmas and compare your answers with reporters and other visitors.