Newseum

Newseum Review

The Newseum opened to great fanfare in 2008, in a landmark $450 million glass-and-silver structure on Pennsylvania Avenue, set smack between the White House and the Capitol: a fitting location for a museum devoted to the First Amendment and the role of a free press in democracy. The museum has a serious purpose, with powerful exhibits on 9/11 and Hurricaine Katrina, but the space and exhibits are high-tech, multimedia, and sometimes shamelessly fun. Visitors enter into a 90-foot-high media-saturated atrium, overlooked by a giant breaking-news screen and a news helicopter suspended overhead. From there, 14 galleries display 500 years of the history of news, including exhibits on the First Amendment; global news; the rise of multimedia; and the way radio, television, and the Internet transformed how we find out about the world.

Highlights

Live news programs are regularly filmed in the museum's central live news studio, and audiences are often welcome to watch.

The largest piece of the Berlin wall outside Germany, including a guard tower, is permanently installed in an exhibit explaining how a free press was a key contributor to the fall of the wall.

Five state-of-the art theaters, including an eye-popping "4-D" theater and another with a 90-foot-long screen, show features, news, sports, and documentaries throughout the day.

In the interactive-games gallery you can create your own newscast or be a photographer in an action news event.

The greatest and most powerful press photos are on display at the Pulitzer Prize Photography gallery.

Tips

ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos is filmed live here every Sunday morning; museum visitors are welcome to watch. Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck designed the menu for the food court, as well as for the well-reviewed restaurant The Source, adjoining the museum.The best way to tour the museum is by viewing the orientation films on the ground floor, then taking the elevator up to the top floor and working your way down.Tickets for the Newseum are valid for two consecutive days and subject to availability; purchasing them in advance on the Web site is recommended.The top-floor terrace offers one of the best public views of the Capitol and looks directly down onto Pennsylvania Avenue. The museum is best for children over 12.