RSS FeedIs The Newseum On The Wrong Beat?
Slate.com takes a different viewpoint on the opening of the Newseum in this article arguing that the news is best memorialized in its original forms (audio, video and print) and that the artifacts used by those who capture the news aren’t really worth putting in a museum. If a museum piece generates conversation and learning, then perhaps it has served most of its purpose beyond that of being rare, valuable and viewable in a display case. We’ll have to wait until the Newseum opens to really find out whether it falls in the pay-only, pop museum category or will citizens and visitors mention it in the same breath as free, DC classics like the National Gallery of Art and the Air and Space Museum.
Thanks goes to PQ Living reader Anna for pointing us to the above article.
Ed. Note: Don’t forget to cast your vote in the new poll in the right column about visiting the Newseum.
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Comments
No museums — but Bike the Sites and a few other tourist outfits let DC residents join the tours with their guests for free or deep discounts so they can stay with their company.
I think the article is judging things they don;t know quite enough about.First oof all, as a tyical citizen, I would find the artifacts described in the article fascinating. An antenna from the World Trade Center will evoke a lot of discussion.
Second, having visited the Newseum on contruction watch tours I have seen a different side. They have a lot of high tec glass cases to preserve newsprint and high tec drawers that pull out to reveal old news print.
Not too mention the front pages of that days news displayed at the front of the building for everyone to see: paying or not. Seeing what is on the front page around the world can tell us more about what people value and experience than the article suggests.
I plan to give it a shot and may even get the yearly membership.
I apologize for all of the typos in my last post. I was at work and was in quite a hurry.
Another note: For 75.00 you can get unlimited entries for one year and not have to pay extra for some of the interactive functions.
There is no way on Earth that this News Museum will ever approach any of the Smithsonian museums – including our treasure, the Museum of American Art/Portrait Gallery. The News Museum is a venture funded by the McNewspaper dude, & from descriptions, will probably be as intellectual & in depth as his newspaper.
Different strokes for different folks, but for me, it just isn’t interesting. Apparently the writer from Slate has similar sentiments – thanks for posting the link.
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I would like to suggest a local discount for DC residents. Many of the tourist attractions in the area give a discount or let you go into the museum for free if you bring an out-of-town guest. This would certainly encourage me to take my guests often to this museum. By the way — I refuse to go back to Spy Museum. It’s dull.