In the United States there are two meccas for museums, one is New York City home to the Whitney, Guggenheim and Museum of Modern Art among many others and Washington, D.C. which is home to the Smithsonian and all its encompassing museums. But Washington, D.C. has recently also become home to one of the newest and most exciting museums to have been built in the last decade –The Newseum. The Newseum is the first museum dedicated to the history of news reporting.
Even at first glance the Newseum is a sight to behold. The Newseum state of the art facility and interactive exhibits are housed in a quarter of a million square foot space. Located across the from the national mall on Pennsylvania and sixth street the Newseum is just as impressive outside as it is on the inside. In the front an engraving of the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights stands 74 feet high. Also a front wall of glass leaves visitors with a sense of transparency as to what is going on inside.
The Newseum states its mission is to provide a forum where the public and the media can gain a better understanding of one another. It houses over 30,000 historic newspapers which amount to over 500 years in news history. Each day the museum allows access to over 80 newspaper front pages from around the world. When combined with its digital and electronic access it allows visitors to search and sift through over 800 front pages taken from across the globe.
Some of the more fascinating permanent exhibits include the 9/11 gallery which offers news coverage of the event. Other notables include a piece of the Berlin wall, the journalist’s memorial and the World News Gallery where you can see news from over 190 nations around the globe.