When rereading a favorite book or watching a film for the second time, we often discover interesting things that we didn’t notice the first time around. Today, I received a simliar vibe when revisiting the Newseum, a gigantic museum that documents the history and development of journalism. It is my second day as a national youth correspondant at the Washington Journalism and Media Conference, and since I spent most of yesterday attempting to find my dorm room and meeting a ton of other students, I hadn’t given much thought to today’s trip. Since my visit to the Newseum last year with a similar journalism program, I had completely forgotten about the profound nature and sheer awesomeness of the place. Additionally, I’d forgotten that there were so many exhibits that I had left undiscovered.
Last year, I spent most of my time watching cheesy Newseum video, staring in awe at the 911 exhibit, and examining the remains of the Berlin Wall. This year, however, I took a second look at some of these exhibits and discovered some new hidden gems. Since I was profoundly impacted by the Berlin Wall exhibit last year, I didn’t really any different feelings this time around. However, the 911 exhibit impacted me in a whole new way. After watching the video about the photojournalist who perished while capturing pictures of the attack, I felt like I could actually relate to those who were directly affected by the tragedy. In addition, I took a look at the Pulitzer Prize winning photos. I had seen several of these pictures before without knowing that they had received this prestigious award. All of the pictures were shocking (most were really, really sad!), and it was really interesting to read the stories behind each photo. The photographer of the 1994 photo, which depicted an emaciated Sudanese child being watched by a hungry vulture, committed suicide several months after taking the picture. Such a fact is horrifying, but it demonstrates the potential power of images and expences.