* The Great Hall of News Sat., March 29, 2008
I was invited to an advance opening of the Newseum. You start off on the ground level of the building in a viewing room where you watch a brief film on the history of news and the important purpose it serves in relation to freedom of speech. Upon exiting the small theatre, you walk by a section of the actual Berlin Wall and around the corner you enter one of the large glass elevators that takes you up to the 5th floor. On the top level there's a terrace with spectacular views of Pennsylvania Avenue. You work your way around the parameter of the building, downward through the various levels until you're back where you started. There are artifacts from every aspect of media -- print, radio, television and the Internet. There are also cool interactive features like the Newsroom, where you can act like a professional TV reporter. I attended a broadcast demonstration in the Knight Studio -- a state-of-the-art 2,800-square-foot TV studio used by the Newseum and other media organizations to produce news and information programs. On the day I visited the studio, it was used to demonstrate the various roles people serve and the types of equipment needed to produce a professional TV show. Overall, the day was a powerful reminder of why I fell in love with journalism and the field of media in the first place.
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