http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2008/10/21/whats-the-point-of-the-newseum/ D.C. News, Politics, Media, Arts, and More Tue, 24 Nov 2009 03:26:25 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.1 hourly 1 http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2008/10/21/whats-the-point-of-the-newseum/comment-page-1/#comment-375166 thefrontpage Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:47:37 +0000 http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/?p=7618#comment-375166 I'm a career journalist with 25 years in the business now, including many years as a print journalist, but I and many other local journalists have a couple of serious problems with the new Newseum. Here they are, from at least 50 local journalists, liberal and conservative, male and female, black, white, Asian and Hispanic, young and older: 1. The $20 admission fee. STUPID! A museum about journalism charging 20 bucks is just stupid. The entry fee should be no more than 10 bucks, if that. 2. The over-extended reach to try and be "cool" or "modern," or something, with every other display being "interactive" or "electronic" or whatever. It ends up being over-reaching and just ridiculous. You can tell the story of journalism without having to watch a crappy film, sit in a crappy little "theater" and without having to push a button. The museum should have a room where people visit only to read a magazine article, newspaper artile, newsletter or printed essay. Imagaine that! Having to actually read something! 3. The place is so over-stylized, at first glance you feel absolutely ZERO connection to anything related to journalism. Again, that's just stupid. 4. In many of the exhibits, they approached the "International Spy Musuem" amusement park approach more than a real museum approach. Forget all the hype and crap--just present museum artifacts and history. 5. The open spaces in some places are a bad use of space--just like at the American Indian Museum, which is one of the most poorly-designed and ugly museums in years, aside from the Newseum. 6. There are actually too many little theaters. You don't need to watch a film every 40 feet--you just don't. 7. The overall atmosphere, feel and vibe of the place does not suggest real journalism. Somewhere, ISM planners seemed to have taken over--at the expense of real journalists. So: knock down the price, close some of the theaters, focus on real journalism, fill up the empty spaces, give the place a real feel of journalism, and focus on REAL JOURNALSM. If they don't do this, it will fail and close and we'll be left with yet another empty, stupid, over-priced piece of crap space in downtown D.C. I'm a career journalist with 25 years in the business now, including many years as a print journalist, but I and many other local journalists have a couple of serious problems with the new Newseum. Here they are, from at least 50 local journalists, liberal and conservative, male and female, black, white, Asian and Hispanic, young and older: 1. The $20 admission fee. STUPID! A museum about journalism charging 20 bucks is just stupid. The entry fee should be no more than 10 bucks, if that. 2. The over-extended reach to try and be "cool" or "modern," or something, with every other display being "interactive" or "electronic" or whatever. It ends up being over-reaching and just ridiculous. You can tell the story of journalism without having to watch a crappy film, sit in a crappy little "theater" and without having to push a button. The museum should have a room where people visit only to read a magazine article, newspaper artile, newsletter or printed essay. Imagaine that! Having to actually read something! 3. The place is so over-stylized, at first glance you feel absolutely ZERO connection to anything related to journalism. Again, that's just stupid. 4. In many of the exhibits, they approached the "International Spy Musuem" amusement park approach more than a real museum approach. Forget all the hype and crap--just present museum artifacts and history. 5. The open spaces in some places are a bad use of space--just like at the American Indian Museum, which is one of the most poorly-designed and ugly museums in years, aside from the Newseum. 6. There are actually too many little theaters. You don't need to watch a film every 40 feet--you just don't. 7. The overall atmosphere, feel and vibe of the place does not suggest real journalism. Somewhere, ISM planners seemed to have taken over--at the expense of real journalists. So: knock down the price, close some of the theaters, focus on real journalism, fill up the empty spaces, give the place a real feel of journalism, and focus on REAL JOURNALSM. If they don't do this, it will fail and close and we'll be left with yet another empty, stupid, over-priced piece of crap space in downtown D.C.

]]> http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2008/10/21/whats-the-point-of-the-newseum/comment-page-1/#comment-371578 Night At The Newseum - Undercurrents Tue, 28 Oct 2008 22:06:50 +0000 http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/?p=7618#comment-371578 [...] Not everyone shares my opinion of the Newseum though. For some people, the Wizards players could have been signing autographs in the parking garage across the street and it would have been just the same. As soon as they got their memorabilia signed they got out of there, not taking anytime to enjoy the free admission (which is normally $20 for adults). [...] [...] Not everyone shares my opinion of the Newseum though. For some people, the Wizards players could have been signing autographs in the parking garage across the street and it would have been just the same. As soon as they got their memorabilia signed they got out of there, not taking anytime to enjoy the free admission (which is normally $20 for adults). [...]

]]> http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2008/10/21/whats-the-point-of-the-newseum/comment-page-1/#comment-367603 Arthur Delaney Tue, 21 Oct 2008 17:10:14 +0000 http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/?p=7618#comment-367603 Jack Shafer wrote the last word on this stupid piece of shit in February: http://www.slate.com/id/2183936/ Jack Shafer wrote the last word on this stupid piece of shit in February: http://www.slate.com/id/2183936/

]]> http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2008/10/21/whats-the-point-of-the-newseum/comment-page-1/#comment-367596 Reid Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:37:49 +0000 http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/?p=7618#comment-367596 I also doubt they'll be spending much time celebrating the right to lobby. I also doubt they'll be spending much time celebrating the right to lobby.

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