Newseum is closing

[RPM 26560]

After more than 11 years and nearly 10 million visitors, the Newseum will close on Dec. 31, 2019. Thank you to everyone who has visited, especially the members, donors and Founding Partners whose support made it all possible.

 

We know visitors love the Newseum (don’t take our word for it; read the TripAdvisor reviews for yourself), but it has struggled financially for a number of years and continuing to operate in our current location has proven unsustainable. In January 2019, we announced an agreement to sell the Newseum building on historic Pennsylvania Avenue to Johns Hopkins University, a premier academic institution, which will use the facility for its D.C.-based graduate programs.

The Freedom Forum, creator and primary funder of the Newseum, remains committed to continuing its mission to champion the five freedoms of the First Amendment and to increase public awareness about the importance of a free and fair press. These educational efforts are needed now more than ever and that critical work will continue online and through public programs in Washington, D.C., and around the country.

All of the artifacts and exhibits in the Newseum will remain on public display through the end of the year. In early 2020, once the Newseum closes, deinstallation of its exhibits will begin and artifacts will be moved to a state-of-the-art support center where they will be housed and maintained. The collection will continue to circulate for outgoing loans, educational programs, public events, digital initiatives and more. Additionally, the Newseum’s popular Today’s Front Pages, which digitally displays nearly 1,000 newspaper’s front pages each day from around the world, will continue after the Dec.31 closing.

[Jerry Callo 8952]

My wife and I went in Sept 2011 around the 10 year anniversary of 9/11.  Almost every place in DC had tribute exhibits, but the Newseum was top-to-bottom 9/11 (including 3-4 story metal antenna from the top of one of the WTC buildings).  It was amazing seeing the headlines from around the world.

[clapclapclap 9000]

And now the rest of the story:

...The closure is largely being treated as a tragedy for journalism, but the museum — which never broke even in any of its twelve years in Washington — suffered from some fundamental flaws from the start.

First and foremost, it is hard to imagine a worse combination of price and location: $25 per adult, $15 for kids from seven to 18, right next to all of the free Smithsonian museums on the mall. The Newseum built an extremely impressive facility . . . across the street from the National Gallery of Art, a block away from the National Archives, and four blocks from the National Museum of American History. They were asking a family of four to shell out $80 when they were almost literally surrounded by world-class museums that cost nothing. It’s amazing they ever had any visitors, really.

Once you got through the door, most visitors were probably impressed, but the museum never quite figured out how to distinguish between important historical events and coverage of important historical events. The Newseum turned into a more or less a “Museum of Recent History” — large chunks of the Berlin Wall, the Unabomber’s shack, the antenna mast that stood atop the World Trade Center’s north tower until 9/11. I had a good time going there with my boys last summer, as the theme was basically, “Important Things That Happened in Daddy’s Younger Years.” But what made these objects and exhibits significant was the event, not necessarily the news coverage of the event.

You may see some snickering about journalists’ legendary self-regard, but the museum perhaps inadvertently reveals that journalists themselves are rarely that extraordinary or fascinating; what they cover is extraordinary or fascinating.

The “Inside the FBI” exhibit was a worthy successor to the tours the Federal Bureau of Investigation used to give of its headquarters building (the tours were canceled from 2001 to 2008, and are now by appointment only). But . . . was it more about the FBI, or about “news” and journalism?

Almost every exhibit at the Newseum paled in comparison to Smithsonian counterparts. It offered an exhibit on the Civil Rights movement that was dwarfed by the National Museum of African-American history. The Newseum offered a cute display of the first dogs of the presidents, but it looked like small potatoes compared to the National Portrait Gallery’s complete set of official presidential portraits or the American presidency exhibit at the National Museum of American History. Galleries of Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoons and photographs are terrific, but . . . the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery offered their own world-class photo exhibits for free.

The Newseum offered world’s first satellite newsgathering vehicle, while the Air and Space Museum across the mall offered lunar landers and the Spirit of St. Louis.

Where would you rather spend an afternoon? Which museum is going to wow the kids? That has more to do with the museum’s closure than any overall public view on the value of journalism.

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/washingtons-newseum-offered-a-lot-but-was-flawed-from-the-start/

[RPM 26560]

I wouldn't mind a place like this getting government funding like PBS. It's not much, but enough keep the doors open and has a positive public benefit.

[GringoSalado 1652]

[blacklab 12049]

man, that's horrible. What's a Newseum?

[JimmyHoffa 1188]

Where will they ever be able to tell the story of the fall of Deadspin? 

[RPM 26560]

2 hours ago, blacklab said:

man, that's horrible. What's a Newseum?

It's a place where they talk about that thing we used to have called journalism. It was some good stuff.

Edited December 27, 2019 by RPM

[Underdog 29102]

Well shit, guess I'll have to take the kids here this summer.  Sorry, kids.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Bottle_Museum

[Lat22 4070]

Well, bye?

[Don Johnson 4802]

I thought it was cool as shit. Oh well. 

[South Austin 53154]

That sucks. It was one of my favorite stops during a family trip there last Thanksgiving break. They had a great exhibit on the Tet Offensive at the time.

[Dbeasy 15526]

I’d like to see a Newseum that shows all of the ways the media manipulated the public with propaganda, and who ultimately was behind the creation of that propaganda. You won’t find that in the Smithsonian.

[KaiserSoze 1016]

Is it being replaced by a Fake Newseum?

[Texas_Rocks 347]

T&P

[Johnny Chimpo 489]

Is there any money left in the wreath fund? 

[clapclapclap 9000]

On 12/28/2019 at 9:06 AM, KaiserSoze said:

Is it being replaced by a Fake Newseum?

WeAreGoingToWinseum?

[Your Mom 4956]

Sounds like a cool place. I’d have loved to have taken my kids there. Been to DC a few times and never knew it existed. 

[Bevo 13825]

Man, the Freedom Forum sure makes some dumb decisions. http://gannettblog.blogspot.com/2013/11/as-freedom-forum-posted-another-48m.html

 

[Fudge Nuggets 19407]

I guess private industry doesn't always do everything better than the government.

[yoladu 4187]

On 12/28/2019 at 9:06 AM, KaiserSoze said:

Is it being replaced by a Fake Newseum?

[Don Johnson 4802]

2 hours ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

I guess private industry doesn't always do everything better than the government.

Shutting its doors after struggling financially for years IS better business.  Government would just keep it open despite the losses.

[Fudge Nuggets 19407]

2 hours ago, Don Johnson said:

Shutting its doors after struggling financially for years IS better business.  Government would just keep it open despite the losses.

I am glad the government keeps the Smithsonian museums among others open.  I guess others disagree.

[Don Johnson 4802]

7 minutes ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

I am glad the government keeps the Smithsonian museums among others open.  I guess others disagree.

I guess i don't understand what your point was.  That the government is better at writing a blank check and taking losses than private business is?  If so, i agree with you.

[Fudge Nuggets 19407]

2 minutes ago, Don Johnson said:

I guess i don't understand what your point was.  That the government is better at writing a blank check and taking losses than private business is?  If so, i agree with you.

Yes, I should have been more specific.  The main idea is that there are some (not many) things that are better off not being run as a “for profit”, museums and the like are one example.

[RPM 26560]

31 minutes ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

Yes, I should have been more specific.  The main idea is that there are some (not many) things that are better off not being run as a “for profit”, museums and the like are one example.

Exactly. History should be preserved for history's sake. It's our duty to society. Profit shouldn't be a consideration. 

[ChickenSandwich 9918]

On 12/27/2019 at 10:52 AM, clapclapclap said:

And now the rest of the story:

...The closure is largely being treated as a tragedy for journalism, but the museum — which never broke even in any of its twelve years in Washington — suffered from some fundamental flaws from the start.

First and foremost, it is hard to imagine a worse combination of price and location: $25 per adult, $15 for kids from seven to 18, right next to all of the free Smithsonian museums on the mall. The Newseum built an extremely impressive facility . . . across the street from the National Gallery of Art, a block away from the National Archives, and four blocks from the National Museum of American History. They were asking a family of four to shell out $80 when they were almost literally surrounded by world-class museums that cost nothing. It’s amazing they ever had any visitors, really.

Once you got through the door, most visitors were probably impressed, but the museum never quite figured out how to distinguish between important historical events and coverage of important historical events. The Newseum turned into a more or less a “Museum of Recent History” — large chunks of the Berlin Wall, the Unabomber’s shack, the antenna mast that stood atop the World Trade Center’s north tower until 9/11. I had a good time going there with my boys last summer, as the theme was basically, “Important Things That Happened in Daddy’s Younger Years.” But what made these objects and exhibits significant was the event, not necessarily the news coverage of the event.

You may see some snickering about journalists’ legendary self-regard, but the museum perhaps inadvertently reveals that journalists themselves are rarely that extraordinary or fascinating; what they cover is extraordinary or fascinating.

The “Inside the FBI” exhibit was a worthy successor to the tours the Federal Bureau of Investigation used to give of its headquarters building (the tours were canceled from 2001 to 2008, and are now by appointment only). But . . . was it more about the FBI, or about “news” and journalism?

Almost every exhibit at the Newseum paled in comparison to Smithsonian counterparts. It offered an exhibit on the Civil Rights movement that was dwarfed by the National Museum of African-American history. The Newseum offered a cute display of the first dogs of the presidents, but it looked like small potatoes compared to the National Portrait Gallery’s complete set of official presidential portraits or the American presidency exhibit at the National Museum of American History. Galleries of Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoons and photographs are terrific, but . . . the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery offered their own world-class photo exhibits for free.

The Newseum offered world’s first satellite newsgathering vehicle, while the Air and Space Museum across the mall offered lunar landers and the Spirit of St. Louis.

Where would you rather spend an afternoon? Which museum is going to wow the kids? That has more to do with the museum’s closure than any overall public view on the value of journalism.

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/washingtons-newseum-offered-a-lot-but-was-flawed-from-the-start/

What’s 80 bucks?  I mean they did spend $450 million to build the palace. The least you can do is pay your pittance 

[SubliminalHorn 6995]

Wish we had visited it the last time we’re in DC