D.C.’s New Newseum: The Inside Scoop

Here’s a deal every traveler to the nation’s capital absolutely should consider: For just $20, you can visit the National Gallery of Art, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the many magnificent museums of the Smithsonian Institution and the brand-spanking-new Newseum.

How do you get in on such a bargain?

It’s simple: Walk into the Newseum and pay 20 bucks.

Unlike the National Gallery across the street and the Smithsonian and Holocaust museums nearby, the Newseum, which opened on April 11, charges admission (which drops to $18 for people 65 and over, $13 for kids ages 7 through 12, and nothing for those 6 and under). While the cost will give some people pause when plotting their Washington, D.C., must-sees, the museum’s sponsor Freedom Forum, the nonpartisan foundation dedicated to “free speech, free press and free spirit for all people,” is betting that every day hundreds of individuals, families and groups will find the almost-deafening buzz surrounding the $450 million Newseum to be irresistible.

Why the excitement? In Washington political parlance, it’s the exhibits, stupid. Seven levels of them offer a sensory feast—a walk through history, reminders of the importance and fragility of the First Amendment, sobering displays documenting the risks journalists take to cover the news, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs augmented by first-person accounts of the men and women behind the lens, and interactive exhibits bound to please the younger set.

Part of the buzz also stems from the Newseum’s conspicuous presence on Pennsylvania Avenue, with jaw-dropping views of the U.S. Capitol and other familiar Washington landmarks—especially from an open-air terrace on the sixth level.

Headlines of History

During its grand opening weekend, the Newseum drew rave reviews.

• A wall of newspapers shows how the events of 9-11 were covered by the media.
• Maurice Fliess

Mike and Kate Getka of Chicago scheduled a long-planned visit to Washington with their 8-year-old son, Lane, to coincide with the opening of what is billed as “The World’s Most Interactive Museum.” Nearly two hours into a self-guided tour, they said their expectations had been exceeded.

Lane was naturally drawn to some of the kid-friendly interactive exhibits, but he added, “I also like a lot of the old-fashioned stuff and things that happened a while ago.”

The Getkas visited the 9/11 Gallery, the centerpiece of which is a mangled communications tower that once topped the World Trade Center. Also on display are the damaged camera equipment, note pad and press pass of—and final photos taken by—freelancer Bill Biggart, one of the nearly 3,000 casualties of Sept. 11, 2001.

Mike and Kate decided to wait until their son is older before viewing “9/11: Running to Danger,” one the Newseum’s numerous documentaries. The film’s graphic images, some never previously seen publicly, trigger emotional responses, and a dispenser of tissues is strategically positioned at the entrance to the intimate theater.

Becky Lubbers and her 10-year-old daughter, Kate, of Ft. Gratiot, Mich., were all smiles as they wrapped up a three-hour stay, but Becky confessed to having choked up when she watched the 9/11 film while Kate waited outside. “She came out crying,” Kate said. “And I’m not really a crier,” her mother interjected.

Becky, a lawyer and political science instructor at a community college, said the News History Gallery was riveting for her and for Kate, who “saw headlines about things she has learned in school, such as Pearl Harbor and Martin Luther King [Jr.]” Buttressing the headlines are display cases laden with artifacts, ranging from the implements reporter Mark Kellogg carried with him to his death at the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876, to the tampered door from the Watergate burglary.