April 9
8 a.m.
OK, we're back from a secret weeklong trip to a secret location armed with quite a few secrets (more on that soon on this very blog).
The Newseum opens Friday and we forgot that we had pictures of the place snapped before yesterday's pre-media sneak peak (friends and donors — of which we are not really either — were invited to the Newseum on March 30 for a tour; we somehow snagged tickets).
The verdict: A bit underwhelming. The building is long on open space and short on moving exhibits (although in one area, where major front-pages are displayed, there is far too little room). The chunk of the Berlin Wall is awesome, as is a huge map showing the world's free press (the Western Hemisphere is doing pretty well, but there's an awful lot of red — restrained press — east of Europe). Yet many of the exhibits are more flash than substance, a sort of MSG-filled meal that leaves you hungry 30 minutes later (proving what tennis great Andre Agassi said: "Image is everything.").
The museum strives too hard to be hip and cool (although the interactive exhibits will be favorites for children). One particularly hot spot: Visitors can stand before a green screen (with images behind of the White House or Capitol) and do a short live newscast, reading from a prompter attached to a TV camera on a tripod. For $8, a museum-goer or small group gets a picture on the spot of their little broadcast, and then can log onto the Newseum site (www.newseum.org) and download their clip. Definitely worth the eight bucks.
Still, at $20 a head, the museum is not nearly spectacular enough to compete with the free museums along the Mall (and lunch was no picnic — dining for a family of four cost more than $60 in the chi-chi cafeteria). Try the National Gallery of Art right across the street — it's free! — or the Archives right up the block.
Sorry to deflate the grand opening. For what it's worth, we think it might be a bit like a sprinkler salesman going to a sprinkler museum ("The Langstrom seven-inch wrench can be used with the Findlay sprocket."). Um, already knew that.
So, anyway, here are a few snaps.
— Joseph Curl, senior White House correspondent, The Washington Times
Comments (1)
I wonder if the high worthies at the Newseum bothered to recognize the contributions of the back shop, the production folks that labor out of the limelight.
As a former pressman, proud to once have ink under his fingernails, this museum will be a joke unless it recognizes the contribution of all involved.
All the efforts in any newspaper are useless until a grungy crew, usually with worn out equipment, labor to mix ink and paper and produce something folks can read.
You want to "feel" freedom of the press? Stand in a pressroom and feel the chill down your spine as an old Goss double wide ramps up to full speed.
D. Flowers
Publisher
Fairfield Sun Times
Fairfield, MT
Posted by Darryl L. Flowers | April 15, 2008 12:01 PM