The rough
draft of
This fight between
those who seek the truth
and those who distort
it is something we have
seen and continue to
experience.
HISTORY
By Tracy Gesare
P
ress freedom is the
mother of journalism and
it must be upheld as such
if the truth is to be heard, without
bias. Newseum was established
in 2008 to provide visitors with
a deeper understanding of the
unique and critical role the First
Amendment plays in the nation’s
history, its present and its future
through Journalism.
This particular purpose strug-
gles to stand in the wake of fake
news where everything we hear,
say or share could be true to
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someone else who doesn’t know
better. Through this, we are bet-
ter placed to tell that Journalism,
in every sense of it, has power
and sets the agenda in society
as Philip Graham simply puts
it “Journalism is the first rough
draft of history”.
Its’ existence is to honor the
truth . All seven levels of the
building tell a story through
multimedia galleries, interactive
exhibits, and unique artifacts.
The floors have different galleries
from News History Gallery, FBI
unit, Pulitzer Prize photographs
from way back, colorful and
serene civil rights corner to the
9/11 gallery and technological
development of TV, radio and
internet to name a few.
The exclusive establishment
was built with over $450 mil-
lion and now has over 60,000
exhibits to commemorate jour-
nalism. The first museum of its
kind attracts almost 800,000
people interested in the history
of journalism and getting to
understand the role of press
freedom in major events in
history across the world.
One of the most focal points
in the Museum, is the part of
the actual inviolate Berlin Wall
and the Berlin guard tower in
a secluded gallery. News and
information penetrated the
repressive society and set its
people free. Other unique arti-
facts include, a satellite truck,
Unabomber shack
In 2009, a Kenyan journalist
who died in the line of duty
was honored by having his
name among the 1900 fallen
journalists on the third level
of the Journalists memori-
al. Another Kenyan honored
is activist, Boniface Mwangi
was among the international
champions honored at the
2016 Free Expression Awards.
This award recognizes those
that exhibit passion for and
dedication to free expression
through personal or profes-
sional risk in sharing informa-
tion and showing courage by
pushing boundaries in media
expression.
They have free learning tools
on media literacy and the first
amendment freedoms. They
are very keen on eradicating
fake news by holding both
online and physical learning
centers and workshops on
focal topics such as misleading
media, Fighting fake news,
Media freedom and the likes.
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