NEWSEUM WITH SISTERS HARDT & DEZZEO

I had a delightful day on Monday, October 3, 2011. I took 2 very special sisters into Washington DC to the NEWSEUM. This is an incredible museum that celebrates the freedom of press and the remarkable job it has done of informing the world of the things that are happening: good, bad, happy, sad, war, peace, love, hate. The museum is enormous. I really felt a desire to take these two sisters because Sister Hardt has a broadcasting and journalism degree from BYU. She had an internship with NBC in New York City and worked on the Today Show. I knew she would love this museum. Turns out she did.

I took dozens of pictures. Hard to choose what to post.

Sisters Dezzeo and Hardt in front of the building.
One of the displays is "PICTURES OF THE YEAR". This wonderful picture of a little boy being rescued after the earthquake in Haiti just captured my heart. Every picture told a story.

This one below looks like a poster, but is actually a photograph.
They have a wonderful display all about the BERLIN WALL. It tells all about how reporters kept the world informed about what was happening. Very moving videos and stories of people trying to escape. This portion of the wall is the largest piece outside of Germany.


This little piece is there so you can touch it. Sister Hardt
Sister Dezzeo
This is one of the guard towers that was also brought over and put on display.
Another section is all about criminals, crimes, mobsters, terrorists. How reporters often "break" the story.
The patio is truly the very best view of DC. You can see it is just up the street from the capital.
They put out new papers every day from all around the world. Maybe 50-100 of them on display. Showing how vital news is to the world.

One of Our hometown newpapers.
They had large quotes all over expressing the importance of news.
This is the actual drugstore counter where the sit-in was held to allow all people to eat at the same counters.
A whole section on political news. And famous political pictures. Here are 3 presidents together. Bush, Clinton, and Obama.
And a young Clinton meeting President Jimmy Carter.
A whole section is dedicated to the 9-11 terrorist attacks. This is a section of the antenea from the top of the world trade center that was found in the rubble.
This is Tim Russerts' Office. It was brought here and put on display. He was a hero of Sis. Hardt

The next section is all about the Bill of Rights and the Freedoms guaranteed by it.

They explain the history of each right. Why it was needed and the rights that have been granted for each. It seems to me that the pendulum has swung to far the other way. What was needed as a freedom is now guaranteeing things like, "No God in the Pledge", "No Christ in Christmas", and freedom of expression through pornography.
FREEDOM OF RELIGION
FREEDOM OF SPEECH
FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY
FREEDOM OF PRESS
FREEDOM TO PETITION
This was a very educational map. The countries in green have freedom of press, yellow has some freedom of press and red has no freedom of press. We are so blessed here. You can see there is not a lot of green on the map.
This display was all about the many reporters who have died while "on the job". I couldn't believe it.

Then there was half of a floor dedicated to the " history of NEWS". Started out with written words, went to telegraph, and eventually radio, TV, now internet, digital ipads etc.

We have our news instantaneously.

Then there was this wonderful area with all the Pulitzer prize winning photos. It was absolutely moving. This was my favorite one. Incredibly sad, but telling. The reporter, Kevin Carter, took this picture in East Africa (Sudan), during the 1993 famine. At a feeding station he found people so weakened by hunger they were dying at the rate of 20 per hour. He found this tiny girl trying to make her way to the feeding center and as he prepared to take the photo, this big vulture landed nearby. He took the photo and then chased the vulture away. Afterward, he sits under a tree and cries. The picture ran in newspapers world wide. Carter received outraged letters and phone calls. Why didn't he pick the child up.. Journalist had been told not to touch any famine victims.

He told a friend," I'm really, really sorry I didn't pick the child up" But the controversy overwhelms him and on July 26, 1994, he commits suicide at the age of 33.

Looking at this picture and reading this story just made me cry. I felt so sorry for both of them. And every single Pulitzer picture had this kind of incredible story. This museum gave me a new respect for journalist and reporters. I know they often get it wrong, exaggerate, etc. but boy is news important.