What to do in Washington during a government shutdown – pay the Newseum a visit, celebrate First Amendment rights
- Positioned between the White House and the United States Capitol, the museum is a defiant celebration of free press
- Exhibitions explore everything from the disruption of digital publishing and fake news to September 11 and journalists who have died in the line of duty
Newseum? Is that nimble wordplay or a typo? It’s a corny name, admittedly. The Newseum is an engaging, immersive museum that celebrates freedom of expression, the free press and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, and traces the evolution of journalism and the news media. It boasts 15 galleries and 15 theatres over seven floors, covering everything from 9/11 and the fall of the Berlin Wall to the industry-disruptive nature of the internet and the phenomenon of fake news.
Where can I find it? The 250,000-sq ft Newseum is housed in a purpose-built, glass-fronted chunk of prime Washington real estate on Pennsylvania Avenue, roughly halfway between the United States Capitol building and the White House, making it a defiant neighbour to US President Donald Trump, who has famously called the media “the true enemy of the people”.
Oh, great! So with the continuing US government shutdown, it’s likely closed. Nope. While the partial government shutdown – which began on December 22, largely because of disagreements over funding for Trump’s promised Mexico-border wall – has seen many of the US capital’s sights closed to the public, with even the must-visit Smithsonian museums nearby shutting their doors on January 2 (sad!), the Newseum, which is funded by the non-profit private foundation the Freedom Forum, has remained open.
So what’s the big scoop? The Newseum features an array of permanent and temporary multimedia rooms and displays. Among the former is the 9/11 Gallery, which examines the predominant global news event of 2001, with first-hand accounts from journalists who covered the attacks on New York’s World Trade Center, and the mangled broadcast antenna that once stood atop the building.
The Berlin Wall Gallery is dominated by eight 3.5-metre-tall sections of, you guessed it, the original concrete barrier, the largest such display outside Germany, as well as an East German guard tower. Recent temporary exhibitions have included “The Marines and Tet: The Battle That Changed the Vietnam War” and “1968: Civil Rights at 50”.
The Pulitzer Prize Photographs Gallery showcases every winning shot since 1942, when the honour was first awarded, while a large, colour-coded wall map vividly depicts levels of press freedom around the world. With Russia, China and large swathes of Africa deeply in the red, it paints a sorry picture.
