The Newseum in Washington, D.C., is facing enormous financial problems. It officially opened in 1997 in Arlington, Virginia, before moving to a huge building on Pennsylvania Avenue, a structure that cost approximately $450 million to construct and design.
This week, the Newseum’s President and CEO Jeffrey Herbst resigned in the wake of the fiscal challenges.
A statement from the Freedom Forum, which created the Newseum, said that as part of a review process, it “has retained counsel to review any and all available options regarding the building, including an outright sale.”
The structure itself is seven stories and 250,000 square feet.
One critic of the Newseum and its current setup is Jack Shafer, longtime media reporter currently with Politico.
He wrote, “If the Newseum goes down, it will have deserved its death. Truth be told, it never deserved birth. Featuring a facade constructed from 50 tons of Tennessee marble, the seven-level structure has sought to commemorate the news business by stuffing its exhibits with 60,000-plus baubles and artifacts from the trade.”
Shafer was unavailable to speak with us.
For an overall perspective on the Newseum, we turn to Rick Edmonds, media business analyst at the Poynter Institute.
