Visiting the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

The Newseum originally was housed in a building in the Rosslyn area of Arlington, Virginia. It closed that location down as it finished constructing its Washington, D.C. building to house the museum of News to keep their operating costs down. The new Newseum opened on April 11, 2008 with a Grand Opening block party and a free admission day. The new Newseum offers old favorites like the sections of the Berlin Wall, but it also brings in new features, such as a 4D movie, that combined together make this well worth visiting even though it costs admission. It is certainly not a waste of money to see like the nearby International Spy Museum is. At least that is my opinion.

Basic Visitor Information for Visiting the Newseum

Location: 555 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001

Nearest Metro Stops: The nearest is Archived/Navy Memorial served by the Yellow and Green Lines. Judiciary Square on the Red Line is also pretty close. The closest Blue and Orange Line stop is Smithsonian and is still a very doable walk.

Hours: 9am to 5pm Daily, closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day

Admission: 6 and younger are free, for ages 7 to 12 it is $13, for ages 13 to 64 it is $20, and for ages 65 and older it is $18, annual membership is $75 and includes 10% store discount and unlimited access to Be a TV Reporter as well as unlimited entry to the Newseum

Accessibility: There are several sets of elevators conveniently located throughout the Newseum, however I did notice that there is very little maneuvering space to get to the elevator by the Early News exhibit on the sixth floor, as one person barely got through the hallway and it was not even a wide wheelchair. Other than that, though, it appears pretty open, but it was obviously hard for those in wheelchairs here during the Grand Opening because of the crowds and I imagine it could also be hard to navigate through people during peak tourist times in D.C., such as around July 4th. Also, the interactive exhibits that have seats permanently attached also have seatless stations that those in wheelchairs can roll up to, although the hand hovering interactive exhibit in the Interactive Newsroom exhibit may be hard to do from a wheelchair, especially if you have short arms.

Photography: Flash photography is permitted in most areas. A few exhibit areas do not allow any photography or videography at all, such as the News History exhibit.

Exhibits

9/11 Gallery: This gallery on Level 4 includes an mini-exhibit on photojournalist William Biggart, who died covering the World Trade Center attacks, a sculpture, headlines from around the world about the event, a movie with news footage covering the attacks, and the original cornerstone of the Pentagon. There is even a tissue box artfully placed in the exhibit for those brought to tears by the exhibit, which it noticeably did for some visitors.

Berlin Wall Gallery: This gallery is located on the Concourse Level, which is basically the Basement Level. This exhibit contains eight sections of the Berlin Wall and a guard tower. This is the largest such display in the United States. Nearby there is also a related fall of Communism symbol of a headless Lenin statue lying down.

Changing Exhibits Gallery: This space on the Concourse Level is where the Newseum will host their temporary exhibits.

First Amendment Gallery: This gallery on Level 4 contains exhibits about the different freedoms given by the First Amendment. This includes displays on the past and present issues arising from upholding those freedoms, as well as a quiz on the freedoms.

Great Books Gallery: This exhibit on Level 5. It contains some key writings about freedoms, such as the U.S. Constitution.

Great Hall of News: This is the atrium area you enter into from the Pennsylvania Avenue entrance. It has giant high-definition media screen that shows some of the latest news. There is also a scrolling text news sign. The atrium also has a news helicopter hanging from the ceiling

Interactive Newsroom: This exhibit is located on Level 2. Here you can take on the role of reporter with an interactive video game style touch screen sequence that lets you interview people, learn the facts, and report the headline for the story based on your findings. There is also a Newsmania game. Lastly, there are Be a Reporter stations were you can become a reporter and have the newscast taped for download off the Newseum's website. The Be the Reporter, though, costs an additional $8.

Internet, TV and Radio Gallery: This gallery on Level 3 has a timeline of major events in the way the news has been given through the media outlets of the Internet, television, and radio. It includes several television screens that replay major news stories since the beginning of television news. This last part was not all that interesting to me, as they were all things I had seen many times before like the man standing in front of the tanks at Tiananmen Square and the news report of the Berlin Wall falling. I did notice, however, some kids that found the footage fascinating, especially man landing on the moon for the first time.

Journalists Memorial: This memorial is located on Level 3 and is a memorial to journalists that have died covering the news.

News History Gallery: This exhibit located on Level 5 has newspapers on display from as far back as 1545. The newspapers cover mostly major events that have occurred over the centuries. The newspapers pull out in drawers that are kind of heavy with resistance and spring back when you let go. This is the one area I noticed that you for sure cannot take any photos or video.

Pulitzer Prize Photographs Gallery: This gallery on Level 1 shows Pulitzer Prize Winning photos and some interviews with the photographers.

Terrace on Pennsylvania Avenue: This terrace on Level 6 allows you to view some of D.C.'s landmarks including the Capital. There is a time line history of Pennsylvania Avenue, too, but at least on Grand Opening Day this was closed off.

Today's Front Pages Gallery: This exhibits on Level 6 shows front pages of the current day from newspapers from around the world. They are presented in their original language, so some may be hard or impossible for you to understand, however there are some signs pointing out why the newspaper front pages were chosen as representative front pages for the day. There are also some front pages showcased outside the Pennsylvania Avenue entrance to the Newseum including front pages from all 50 states.

World News Gallery: This exhibit is on Level 3. The exhibit shows how news coverage works in other parts of the world and how press freedom is sometimes different than in the U.S.

Theaters

Big Screen Theater: This 90 feet (according to brochure at museum) or 100 (according to their website) feet long screen shows a short movie with scenes and news broadcasts of major events covered within the history of television news coverage.

Documentary Theater: This theater has a changing set of documentaries being shown.

Orientation Theaters: This theater shows a movie to get you familiarized with the Newseum.

Sports Theater: This theater shows footage from some of sports greatest moments.

Walter and Leonore Annenberg Theater: This theater is a 4D theater (i.e. it has motion seats and is 3D) that has a movie following the adventures of three real journalists.