If You're Going to Be in Washington, D.C, Don't Overlook the Newseum, the Museum Dedicated to the News

You can view the Great Hall of News and learn instantly about the latest news from around the world, as you view a 90 foot giant atrium on the giant Electronic Window on the World Screen. If you've ever dreamed of being a reporter, you can have the chance to be both a reporter and a photographer, as you see what it takes to prepare a newspaper story with a deadline looming, or even to be a television reporter. You can do these things, view Pulitzer prize winning pictures, the First Amendment Gallery, one of the biggest displays anywhere on the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 on America, and so much more at the Newseum, a museum dedicated to the news, in Washington D.C. It is billed as the most interactive museum in the city.

The museum has a variety of permanent displays, temporary displays, and programs--all dedicated in some way to the news. If you go to the official website of the museum, www.newseum.org, there are also games you can play, related to the news.

The Great Hall of News is only one of the permanent exhibits in the museum. Besides viewing the news from around the world updated constantly, you can view replicas of two things used often in these modern times in gathering news--a satellite and a Bell helicopter.

The NBC News Interactive Newsroom gives you a chance to sit in the hot seat as touch screens give you the tools to be a reporter or a photographer. There are eight "Be A Reporter" stations. You can pick up a microphone, step before a camera, and be a television reporter, if only briefly. A NewsMania game gives you the chance to test your knowledge of current news events. Once you have visited, you can even have the chance to download your "Be a Reporter" video and picture to your personal computer on the museum's website.

The 9/11 Gallery sponsored by Comcast not only chronicles the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington D.C., as well as the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania, but also explores the challenges journalists had in covering the events. There is a tribute to journalist William Biggart, who died covering the attacks. Newseum, the museum dedicated to the news, has some of the final photographs he took before his death. There are also first person accounts from reporters who covered the tragedy and the front pages of newspapers around the world, to see how they covered the attacks.

The Today's Front Pages Gallery has the front pages of more than 700 newspapers from around the world every day, as the museum receives them electronically every day. The museum devoted to the news blows up about 80 of them and enlarges them for display. There is one from every state in the Union, Washington D.C., and international papers.

The Pulitzer Prize Photographs Gallery has the most comprehensive collection of Pulitzer winning pictures in the world. There are also interviews with many of the photographers.

The Cox Enterprises First Amendment Gallery honors the 45 words that gave America its freedom of speech, press, and religion, and other freedoms. James Madison called the words in the Amendment the "great rights of mankind." Thomas Jefferson said "our liberty depends on freedom of the press." The gallery puts each of the five freedoms guaranteed in the Amendment in historical context. It also demonstrates how important the rights are today.

The Time Warner World News Gallery is devoted to showing press freedom, or the lack thereof, from around the world. While American journalists do have freedom, and perhaps some other journalists do, the gallery shows how journalists have been imprisoned and harassed for just doing their job.

The Bancroft Family Ethics Center has interactive kiosks that allow you to be involved in real life reporting dilemmas and learn how real journalists responded. You can also play a face-paced game with your friends on media ethics.

The News Corporation News History Gallery tells about news, those who report it, and the machines involved. There is an extensive collection of magazines and newspapers. A touchtone screen provides interactive games, close-ups of hundreds of publications, and a listing of journalists. There exhibits about the issues journalists face and videos that cover some of these in greater detail, such as: the first amendment; getting the news reported accurately; bias in reporting; the press and the civil rights movement; and more.

The Pulliam Family Great Books Gallery has books and documents on display that the museum says are the cornerstone of freedom.

The Journalists Memorial honors journalists who have died reporting the news.

The ABC News Changing Exhibits Gallery is currently showing G-Men and Journalists: Top News Stories of the FBI's First Century. The exhibits are constantly changed.

There are other permanent exhibits, including the Berlin Wall Gallery, shows how news got out of East Germany, despite the Wall, and has the largest portions of the Wall, outside of Germany.

Other exhibits in the museum include an exhibit chronicling the life and music of Elvis Presley and the influence he had on popular culture, an exhibit through December 31, 2010, about the dogs that have been pets in the White House, a display through January 2011 that features highlights from the career of legendary Sports Illustrated reporter Walter Looss Jr.; an exhibit that portrays the way the office of Tim Russert, the host of Meet the Press looked before his death, and movies on different subjects in 15 different theaters.

In the theaters, you get to be with Nellie Bly, as she exposes the awful conditions in a 19th century insane asylum and with Edward R. Morrow as he delivered a live news report during World War II, view a 25 minute documentary about covering the biggest sports games in history, view many historic news broadcasts on a 100 foot screen, and many other topics.

The Newseum, the museum devoted to the news also has many famous journalists in programs talking about their craft.

Tickets are $19.95 each for an adult admission and are good for two days, $17.95 for seniors 65 and older, students, and those in the military, $12.95 for those 7 to 18, and free for those 6 and younger.

Comments about the museum on tripadvisor.com were generally positive. "Wish I could have spent 2 days here, NewtoChicago said."It was a great visit." "We had not even planned on visiting this museum," ramprissy said. "Our hotel told us that there was a special promotion going on and kids up to 18 years of age could get in free. We visited on the last day of our vacation and what a treat it was. It was amazing, the 9/11 exhibits and FBI infamous crime exhibits were among my favorite. My daughter loved the Elvis exhibit."

Citations:Newseum, no author listed, Newseum.org

Newseum, no author listed, Tripadvisor.com