Any Combination of Coins Accepted

The latest edition of the Newseum opens in Washington in a couple of weeks, and John Robinson points out that admission will be $20 for adults.

Twenty bucks? Excuse me??

Look, I know museum construction and operation is expensive, and somebody's got to foot the $450 million bill for multiple interactive news displays. the "4-D time-travel experience," the TV news chopper hanging in the middle of the museum and all of the other bells and whistles. But I thought that was why Freedom Forum, Gannett's house charity, and other corporate sponsors were paying for this exercise in news industry self-indulgency in the first place. (A notable omission from the major donors list: The hometown Washington Post and the various Graham/Meyer family charitable trusts.)

The Newseum will be operating in the center of Washington, D.C., mere blocks from the Smithsonian's dozen or so museums, not to mention hallowed tourist attactions like the White House, Washington Monument and Capitol Building.

And here's the perfect irony: Admission to all of these competitors for tourist time (and dollars) is, um, free. Yes, free. Just like Craigslist and news on the Internet are free. And we know how well that's worked out for the news industry. (I suspect the 4D time-travel experience overlooks that.)

Good luck, Newseum, and your $20 admission fee. Maybe you can garner attendance by offering weekends free to those who buy daily admission or by shoving tickets under the doors of Washington hotel rooms or something.

Comments

[ej]

Actually, the WashPost did finally kick in -- it's paying for a "scholarship" fund that will finance visits by schools that can't afford the $20-a-head fee.

Incidentally, the cost doesn't end with the $20 admission fee. Some of the exhibits inside are also charging hefty fees.

[RJC]

That the Newseum (a truly stupid name, by the way, reminds one of nauseum), has the effrontery to charge an admission fee of 20 bucks smacks of the storied arrogance of the news business. My goodness, they say, we're so important we deign to give you the opportunity to pay for the privilege of entering our hallowed halls and nevermind that our infrastucture is crumbling as we speak.

[RJE]

Freedom Forum is no longer a Gannett affiliate. Formerly the Gannett Foundation, it was whisked away from Gannett by Al Neuharth upon his retirement. This is what it says in it's "Who we are" web page.
When the Freedom Forum announcd the purchase of the land for Newseum, the price raised more than a few eyebrows. But this was pure Neuharth. Al never let a few hundred million get in the way of his oppulent lifestyle and image.
There is a new Gannett Foundation started by the company when John Curley was running the show.

[Rocky]

Maybe they could just offer an invasive user survey with 20 questions (that I can lie about) which in the end don't target better than anonymous ad network cookies?