Newseum: Where Real News Lives Forever

If you’re headed to Washington, D.C. and you don’t visit Newseum, you’ve cheated yourself out of one of the great experiences you can enjoy in our Nation’s Capital.

The Newseum is a handsomely appointed, six story building a stone’s throw from the Capital (don’t get any ideas) dedicated to… news.

If you want to go look at Rembrandts and Monets, cross the street and visit the National Gallery.

But if you want to understand how the news media describes and interprets the events of the day, the Newseum is an absolute must.

Today, journalism is fast becoming an endangered species.

Newseum will show you journalism at its best and most courageous.

If you think it’s just a bunch of old newspapers taped to the wall, you could not be more wrong. On a brief visit last week, here are some exhibits that caught my eye:

The Berlin Wall—that’s right, actual slabs of the Berlin Wall.

A guard point from the Berlin Wall’s Checkpoint Charlie.

The outfits worn by the Village People in the 1970s, which helped usher gay culture into the mainstream.

Twisted metal from the World Trade Center.

A board game featuring early TV newsman John Cameron Swayze.

A video tribute to TV journalist par excellence Edward R. Murrow.

Going back further in history, an early version of a newspaper announcing the beheading of King Charles I of England back in 1649.

This barely scratches the surface of what you can see at the Newseum.

Go and have fun.