Freedom of Speech, Press, Religion, Assembly, Petition - First Amendment of the Bill of Rights of 1791

The Newseum can be seen as the figurehead and the bulwark for the First Amendment, which many consider to be the most important of all Amendments. Because it is not a Smithsonian Museum, there is an entry fee which gives you access for two days. The price is worth for what you get offered, of course on the premise that you´re interested in media and journalism. In the age of internet and new media everybody should be. All sections of the museum are designed to spark interest, even if you´re not into the subject that much. Here one becomes a Journalist or an Anchorman at least for the time of the visit. All the exhibitions underline the importance of media, the flow of information, especially the uncensored essence of all information, which is truth. Even though a lot of information is somewhat filtered in one way or another, there is a big desire by most involved in the Media Zoo, to forward pictures and information that is unobstructed, pure and raw to the core. Still, by the time we all read or see the news, many contents will have been peeled, edited and reinterpreted. The Newseum helps explain how news is used, why it is handled so differently, and how news influences our perception of almost everything. Especially social networks and it´s users with their ambitious but often unexperienced and not so neutral and balanced views, can make forwarding of information quite dangerous. Dangerous for those who do not take their time to learn how news works, and who obtain everything from the internet without second thought. The process of brainwashing comes in small but unceasing steps. This can be true for all providers of information, the big well organized corporations and the small underdog one-man shows. A walk trough the museum makes clear that information and it´s distribution comes at a price. The worldwide incessant deaths of Journalists and our strange desire and demand for 24/7 availability and documentation of even the most trivial dog poop at the other end of the globe, bear witness to this.

The ten Amendments are an additional instrument to limit the power of Government following

Article VII of the Constitution. They were single-handedly written by James Madison.

Kids learn perspective and depth of view

Journalism in action. This was a report about "Creating Camelot",

a Photography Project with the Kennedys.

Above and below: The Cold War and the Berlin Wall are always good

for a retrospective view on Propaganda in the Media.

Left: The mangled leftover of the antenna which topped the WTC in Manhattan. 9/11 had a massive impact on

the american media-landscape. American journalism was on the brink of being a tad too nationalistic and out of

perspective. Neutral ground was lost, world-renowned professionalism lost in a single day.

                                                Right: Wall of loss. Journalists killed at, and because of their work.

More pics of Newseum