News that stays news.

• Author: Balko, Radley
• Position: Briefly Noted - Newseum - Brief article

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Media critics have had some fun at the expense of the Newseum, the glimmering new 250,000-square foot edifice on D.C.'s Pennsylvania Avenue. It's true that the Freedom Forum--sponsored journalism museum--complete with a Wolfgang Puck restaurant and a 74-foot marble etching of the First Amendment--seems a bit ostentatious for an industry purportedly on its death bed.

But with all the pomp and vanity on display in Washington, it's good to spare some veneration for the First Amendment and the press's watchdog function. And the Newseum venerates well. It's hard to avoid a pleasing sense of nostalgia...