The Newseum (555 Penn. Ave. NW) is DC's most exciting museum opening in a very long time. The Smithsonian projects have obviously set the standard, but the Newseum is definitely keeping up.
I got a chance to take a sneak peek of the museum before it's opening on Friday, April 11. On Friday, the Newseum is free all day (regular cost is $20) and Good Morning America will be broadcasting live at the museum. So be there on Friday at 7 AM to get your time to shine...
Pics from my good ole camera phone:
(Photo: The view of the museum from Pennsylvania Avenue)
(Photo: The First Amendment, an empowering document for journalists is engraved on the outside of the Newseum)
(Photo: This is one of the most moving exhibits in the Newseum. I seriously welled up...it's the 9/11 Gallery. This was an antenna atop of one of the towers.)
(Photo: The 9/11 Gallery includes the front pages of newspapers around the globe about the terrorist attacks. Boxes of Kleenex are in this exhibit for visitors who need it...one woman was definitely crying next to me. Yes, it's that moving.)
(Photo: Thanks to Chris Wells of the Freedom Forum, the Newseum is the new house of the Berlin Wall...this was really a treat to see! Yes, I'm a dork...hate it or luuuuv it!)
(Photo: Some other early visitors take a tour while learning about the Berlin Wall...aww the babies!)
(Photo: A tribute to some of the best funnies hangs right near the food court, which looks like your everyday cafeteria)
(Photo: This exhibit highlights some of the best photos that have won the Pulitzer Prize. Did y'all know the Washington Post just won 6 Pulitzers???)
(Photo: This studio, the Pennsylvania Avenue Studio will be home to ABC's George Stephanopoulos' show every week)
(Photo: This is an interactive museum that lets you create the news!)
(Photo: A "reporter" in one of the many studios that let you become the talking heads you see on TV each night)
(Photo: The Knight studio)
(Photo: Today, NPR's Talk of the Nation filmed their radio show live from the Knight Studio)
My favorite part of the Newseum is close to my heart. The News Corp. News History Gallery houses a very thorough collection of newspapers throughout history. I looked in awe at the yellowed newspapers thinking to myself, "Wow...I can't believe someone cared enough to keep all of this stuff!" And for any writer it's inspiring and empowering to know that your voice matters...that you weren't just a blip in time.
Still, I remembered my own history and how my great-grandfather and his brother, Carl and John H. Murphy Sr. started a newspaper of their own, The Afro American Newspaper in Baltimore, MD a looong, looooong time ago...they couldn't possibly have this newspaper in the Newseum...oh but they did. I literally almost cried...to know that we weren't forgotten in history and that someone cared enough to include us.
I luvvvv the Newseum! Go see for yourself on Friday! :)
