Located on Washington D.C.’s Pennsylvania Avenue, the Newseum stands tall in structure next to the Canadian Embassy and down the street from the Capitol. For everyday commuters merely passing by on their way to work, the Newseum daily displays updated newspapers from each of the United States in glass shelves hanging on the outside concrete walls. Those visiting the Newseum, however, experience much more than hanging daily newspapers; they explore the inner-happenings of the press, both past and present, and essentially discover how news has evolved since the founding of our country.

Nothing about the Newseum is typical to other museums. From the layout of the tours to the 4D theatre (yes, that’s one step up from 3D!), the Newseum is one of the most informative and novel educational exhibits D.C. has to offer. The seven- floor-museum starts on the basement floor with multiple theatres and pieces of the Berlin Wall available for see and touch. Quotes by well-known journalists are found professionally engraved in the walls of the Newseum as one makes their way to the top floor. One quote by The Sun’s City Editor John B. Bogart reads,“When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because it happens so often. But if a man bites a dog, that is news.”

The tour officially starts on the 7th floor where each visitor can browse updated newspapers from across the world. Additionally one can educate him or herself on the life of Abraham Lincoln in the press, learn about the past media coverage on The King of Rock, Elvis Presley, or take a trip down to the 5th floor’s exhibit on Woodstock. One can walk through the 9/11 Gallery that covers the terrorist attacks in both paper and film, or stroll through the Pulitzer Prize Photographs Gallery and discover the news in visual form. Many Pulitzer Prize photographers shared that they could not simply go out and try to take a great picture, but that it came when they least expected it. John H. White, photographer for the Chicago Sun-Times, is quoted in the gallery with the words, “I don’t really take pictures. I capture and share life. Moments come when pictures take themselves.”

The Newseum with 14 galleries and 15 theatres attracts all sorts of people of all sorts of ages. With a filming section, both children and adults can step into the shoes of actual reporters and record mock T.V. news reports. The Newseum offers a look into the lives of journalists and reporters, and expresses how they are not only responsible for spreading the news, but also the truth. A quote on the 7th floor reads, “News is history in the making. Journalists provide the first draft of history.”