90ish days of summer

The shot glasses Jeff and I bought at the Newseum store. Guess whose is whose.

Last week, I wrote a post called “Newseum: FAIL,” in which I scolded the Newseum for using what appeared to be a photoshopped photo on the cover of its visitors guide.

That was the most-read page or post on this blog, ever, except for my “About Chris Dunn” page. It attracted the most comments, too, even though I wrote an update/correction before any of the comments were submitted.

It still remains to be seen if my conclusion holds any water and if the photographer indeed edited that streetlight out. But I wanted to visit the Newseum to give it a fair assessement on the basis of its exhibits and not its visitors guide.

So last Saturday, Jeff and I went.

The Newseum calls itself the “world’s most interactive museum,” which I now frankly don’t doubt. I hadn’t been there since summer 2001, when it was in its previous facility and before its big move and upgrade to its current location on Pennsylvania Avenue. But after spending about seven or so hours going through the museum’s six floors of interactivity, I would be surprised if a more user-friendly museum existed. (Consider this a challenge.)

Here’s my analysis of the Newseum:

• The best:
  • The News History Gallery — This large permanent exhibit features hundreds of pull-out drawers, within which are encased original tear sheets of historical significance.
  • Pulitzer Prize Photographs — On a curved wall, you can see every photo that has won the Pulitzer (two awards — news and feature — are given per year). Photos that have stood out over the years can be seen at a larger size and are accompanied by the photographers’ insight. A continuously running video in the middle of the exhibit provides even more information about the photos and the people who captured those moments.
  • The 9/11 Gallery — I can’t lie: at first, I was wondering why Sept. 11 was in the Newseum. But it was a really moving exhibit, with a video featuring journalists who covered the tragedy that day. A very sombering exhibit, but one that everyone must see. I almost cried.
  • The Journalists Memorial — Also very sombering.
• The okay:
  • Fotobama — The best of professional and amateur photography of now-Pres. Barack Obama’s campaign and inauguration. In many cases, I think the amatuer photos were better than the professional photos, which could raise an interesting discussion… But anyway. The exhibit also made me realize that, had Obama lost, that would have been one of the greatest American tragedies of recent history. I don’t mean this as an endorsement of Obama or an indication of my political affiliations, but rather as a reflection of how invested so many Americans were in his election.
  • The museum store — The first shot glasses I’ve seen in a D.C. gift/etc. store were in the Newseum’s store. Coincidence? I think not. Coffee and alcohol run pure in a true journalist’s veins.
• The downright silly:
  • “I-Witness: A 4-D Time Travel Adventure” — The dialogue was pretty laughable, and feeling the “rat” crawl under my leg wasn’t quite as frightening as it would have been if I were about 10 years younger. Or maybe I’m just already a crusty old curmudgeon of a cynical journalist.
  • The Interactive Newsroom — Again… maybe I’m just not at the appropriate age level. But Jeff and I did the interactive game in which we “photographed” a breaking news story, and were told at the end that our photo wasn’t good enough. As we are both former photo editors, we weren’t quite sure how to take this criticism. In the end, we decided to call the game silly and leave for the next floor.

Overall — the Newseum itself is not a fail(ure). There are some misses (example: overpriced food at the food court, which we did not patronize), but pretty much everything else was a hit.

Six floors of journalism glorification. I can’t ask for much more than that.

Well, actually — how about zero admission for working journalists? After all, it’s a bit much to price the tickets so heftily, especially when the six floors of the Newseum would be better enjoyed over a two-day visit.

Whatever. I still shelled out $18 for my student-priced admission and seven hours in a nice, big tribute to journalism.