Warren Watson
First Thoughts
Feb. 14, 2008

A new museum for news

Why would anyone open up a seven-story, $450 million, 250,000-square-foot museum dedicated to news, with 6,214 journalism artifacts, 14 galleries and 15 theaters, at a time when the media business is going through criticism, changes and convulsions?

The answer is simple. Two words: First Amendment!

On April 11, the Freedom Forum will unveil its new museum of news — dubbed the Newseum — a few doors down from the U.S. Capitol Building.

Four years in the making, it will be a living shrine to the importance of journalism and a visible reminder of the importance of news. Not the glitzy, celebrity-oriented detritus visible at the supermarket checkout lines or the all-Brittany-all-the-time coverage on early-evening TV. But real news, information that reflects the importance of public-affairs journalism, civic life and hard news.

An earlier version of the Newseum thrived in Arlington, Va., from 1997-2002. Thousands of schoolchildren learned about media for the first time during visits. Many more will get the same opportunity after April 11.

The Newseum’s debut comes at the right time. Studies by the First Amendment Center and the Knight Foundation show that support for freedom of speech and press is weak.

Schools are not doing enough to prepare youngsters for citizenship. Recently, Craig McCaffrey, new principal at Franklin Community High School, told student journalists he would censor The Electron, the student paper, because of recent articles about teen sex.

His actions threaten to undermine serious young journalists who are under the supervision of a qualified adviser.

The issue is still developing, but McCaffrey should learn a little more about the First Amendment before engaging in an act of censorship. Why not arrange a senior field trip to the Newseum this spring? Maybe he could tag along.