Newseum is a museum of news that offers visitors an experience that blends five centuries of news history with up-to-the-second technology and hands-on exhibits. On April 11, 2008, after years of development and a cost of roughly $450 million, the new Newseum finally opened in Washington DC on Pennsylvania Avenue and near the National Mall and White House, in a six-level, interactive museum tracing back the history of news reporting from the 16th century to the present day. In its 250,000 square feet of exhibit space, the Newseum offers visitors 15 theaters, 14 major galleries, two state-of-the-art broadcast studios and a 4-D time-travel experience. The exhibition galleries explore news history, electronic news, photojournalism, world news and how the media have covered major historical events.

In 1997, the original Newseum opened in Rosslyn, a business neighborhood in Arlington, VA. It was closed in March 2002 after attracting only 2.25 million visitors during the nearly five years it was open. The Freedom Forum, a nonpartisan international free press foundation, worked on bringing a grander version of the museum. Construction began on the six-story, $450 million replacement in Washington on December 2003.

Newseum greets its patrons and passers-by each morning with a display of newspaper front pages from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Newseum includes more than 250,000 square feet of exhibition space spread through seven levels, a 50-ton marble tablet displaying the First Amendment, a chunk of the Berlin Wall in the Cold War newsgathering exhibition, and a September 11 exhibition. Newseum also features a gallery containing the largest and most comprehensive collection of Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalism ever assembled. Visitors can access an electronic database featuring 300 video clips, 400 audio clips and 1,000 Pulitzer photos.

Visitors can also visit the restaurant which is attached to the museum called The Source, run by chef Wolfgang Puck, and offers chickens roasted on the spot, signature pizzas, a serious salad bar and a coffee bar with gelato and pastries. All that news is bound to make even the most hard-core media junkies hungry.