The Newseum is Officially Closing

Image courtesy of newseum.org

By Eva Lynch

Washington D.C.’s renowned Newseum will shut its doors for good on December 31st this year. While this may seem sudden or tragic, the fall of the Newseum was imminent, following major controversy surrounding it last year, as well as its lack of funding. 

In 1990 the Newseum was founded in D.C. just across the Potomac. The museum moved into its current glass-gilded modern building in 2008, prompting fiscal concerns even then. The new building came with a price tag of about $450 million. 

This museum has long served as a unique source of history, as seen through news articles of major historical events, more specific events related to the news and journalists, and strong advocacy for the importance of free press and the First Amendment. 

The Newseum includes exhibits, such as the #FreeAustinTice exhibit, which serves as one of the only lasting sources of information and advocacy for Austin Tice. Tice is an American journalist who went missing in Syria and has been held captive there since 2012. This exhibit is unparalleled and just one of many impressive parts of what the Newseum has to offer. 

Additionally, there are permanent exhibits commemorating journalists who have died in the line of duty, as well as an exhibit displaying one of the biggest installations of the Berlin Wall in the world, which D.C. will lose when the Newseum closes at the end of this year.  

Critics of the Newseum commented on the museum’s high entry fee, which is about $25 per adult, is too expensive— especially because it is surrounded by the free Smithsonian museums. 

Additionally, the Newseum consistently reported deficits, which is mainly what experts speculate prompted the organization’s announcement in early January that, despite heavy traffic in the museum and no obvious dip in ticket sales (consistently attracting more than 800,000 visitors a year), the organization had determined operating costs to be untenable. 

Further, the organization has identified, after a 16-month financial review, that selling and relocating from the Pennsylvania Avenue location will be the best possible way for the Newseum to avoid shutting down fully. 

Jan Neuharth, CEO of the Freedom Forum which serves as the Newseum’s primary founder and funder, confirmed that the search is on for a new, more financially sustainable home for the Newseum. Further, the organization maintains their commitment to the values upon which the museum was founded: to champion and continue to advocate for freedom of speech and the other four freedoms of the First Amendment.  

Other critics credit the Newseum’s forced relocation to the controversy it sparked earlier last year. Several journalists quickly expressed their irritation with new additions to the Newseum’s gift shop during the early stages of President Trump’s first term: “Make America Great Again” hats and shirts emblazoned with the quote “You Are Very Fake News,” which proved to be two of the museum’s best-selling items. 

Opponents of this decision argued that these additions to the gift shop proved contrary to the non-partisan nature of the museum, which is an important characteristic of the museum to ensure visitors of differing political views feel comfortable visiting. Further, some journalists objected to the museum selling politically-charged merchandise at all and even expressed feeling insulted by the mention of “fake news.” 

As for the fate of the building, Johns Hopkins University will acquire a prime piece of real estate, with a fitting price tag of $372.5 million, on which to relocate and consolidate the existing graduate studies programs in D.C., including its School of Advanced International Studies as well as its nursing and business programs.  

The university’s hope is that purchasing this address will raise its profile in the D.C. area by purchasing real estate on the street connecting the White House and Capitol Hill. This will also make it easier and more accessible for its estimated 3,300 faculty, students, and staff in the city, and specifically to the faculty at the Johns Hopkins Sibley Memorial Hospital, also located in D.C. 

In a recent statement, the university spoke of their hopes for the building that, after remodeling, it will serve as “a world-class academic space that can be optimized for current and future research, education and engagement.” Hopkins cites selling its Massachusetts Avenue properties, other existing university funds, and philanthropic donations, which some speculate may refer to a gift from alumnus and billionaire Michael Bloomberg, as the funding for its purchase and remodeling of the Pennsylvania Avenue property. 

During 2019, Hopkins says it will work with city officials to obtain the necessary permissions in preparation of remodeling the building, as the space not only includes where the Newseum currently is, but also 135 apartments and a functioning restaurant, though the university claims they have no immediate plans to extend their space to the apartments and restaurants.  

Overall, public opinion, in reference to Johns Hopkins’ purchase of the space, seems positive and excited that the location will remain dedicated to global edification and will continue to be maintained by a storied institution.