Newseum Puts the Media on Display
Public confidence in journalism has been on a steady decline, but a new museum celebrating the profession aims to change that.
The Newseum, which relocated from Arlington, Va., to a spot near the National Mall in Washington, D.C., has a mission to help the public and the media better understand each other. It features interactive exhibits, including a game that allows visitors to test their journalistic ethics and a video set-up that simulates reporting from the White House.
But not everyone is pleased. Jack Shafer, who writes a column about the media for Slate.com, calls the Newseum a "vanity operation."
"It's a place to say look how heroic we've been in the defense of democracy and whatnot," says Shafer.
The total price tag for the Newseum is about $450 million, and Shafer wishes some of that money would have gone toward advancing journalism, especially at a time when cuts to newsrooms across the country have been so severe.
Still, the Newseum is impressive; located in a spectacular, glass-and-steel building, it features 14 main galleries and 15 theaters. And while it's hard to say if the Newseum will change anyone's mind about journalists, on a recent visit, the people playing the journalistic ethics game were definitely having a good time.