Got News? Newseum is a Must-See in DC
In an attempt to take in a little culture and better myself, I checked out the Newseum in Washington, DC this past weekend and I have to say, it may have overthrown the National Air and Space Museum as my favorite in DC. In the interest of full disclosure, I do enjoy history and documentaries quite a bit, so the Newseum was a natural. (It also didn’t hurt that Mark has a couple of contacts on the inside and was able to waive the $20 fee for himself and Ms. Mark)
The Newseum is a gigantic, interactive collection of galleries and theaters that cover the history of news from 500 years ago to an impressive display of the day’s (literally the day you are there) headlines from newspapers around the world. You first watch a 7-minute introduction video before you’re off to explore the 7 floors of exhibits. Yes, that’s 7 floors (over a quarter million square feet) so you have a full day, or better yet a couple of shorter days in front of you. I could have spend most of the day in the News History Gallery which sports over 30,000 newspapers.
A couple of exhibits deserve special mention: The Berlin Wall exhibit (complete with sections of the actual wall) was haunting and impressive and the 9/11 exhibit was potentially over-the-top as there is an antenna from one of the WTC towers on display along with the front pages of dozens of newspapers from around the world from September 12th. There is also a video compilation of eyewitness accounts from journalists who were at Ground Zero, which was a little hard to watch. Not that the screen was out of focus, but let’s just say Mark may have gotten something in his eye.
There were a few misses along the way. The exhibit “Manhunt: Chasing Lincoln’s Killer”, detailing the assassination of Abraham Lincoln seemed more of a commercial for the book of the same name and the 4-D “immersive experience” wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be, but overall the Newseum is a must for anyone with any interest in the news or history in general. The kids will love the interactive news room where they can act as a reporter to get a story and even try to do a live newscast.
If I had to do my visit all over again, I would have definitely staked out where I was going to go as there is truly too much to see in one visit. Add to the fact that many of the exhibits are ever-changing as there is always new news and old news becomes history, it’s a guarantee that there will be something interesting to see regardless of when you show up.
The Newseum is at 555 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, DC. http://www.newseum.org
