“BASTARDS!”
The giant headline of The San Francisco Examiner?s 9/11 coverage roars with raw emotion ? illustrating the enduring power of print media even in this electronic age.
Such examples of gripping reportage fill the recently opened Newseum, a multimedia extravaganza showcasing both history and the future in the making. The accounts and images of iconic events run rampant, but just as intriguing are the stories behind the stories.
The Newseum shows, not just tells, with all manner of media ? including a pillowcase on which Canadian TV journalist Clark Todd scrawled his final words after being hit with shrapnel in Lebanon in 1983. “Tell my family I love them.”
Covering everything from wars to narcoterrorism, reporters have been targets of violence, explains Newseum Executive Director Joe Urschel. A white Datsun?s blasted metal bears testament to a bomb that killed Don Bolles in 1976. He had been set up while investigating mob activities in Arizona; more than one person got away with murder.
Satire as a news medium gets its due, with clips from “Laugh-In,” “Saturday Night Live” and “The Daily Show.” A display reveals Mad magazine began in 1952 as a comic book.
The evolution of sports from game to news electrifies “Press Box: The History of Sports Reporting,” among the best films on view at the venue. Witness the transformation of Joe Louis from black boxer to American hero, the magnetism of Muhammad Ali, and Olympic drama high and horrific.
Here, print media trumps the Internet. Through her newspaper The Lily, publisher Amelia Bloomer pushed for women?s rights ? to wear pantaloons. Eventually she realized sartorial crusades detracted from more serious issues such as women?s right to vote and own property. There?s a 1541 earthquake report from Guatemala and a 1594 broadside illustrating the attempted murder of King Henry IV.
Artifacts include a 13th century B.C. clay brick announcing, in cuneiform, a temple?s building progress; a West African harp used by news-singing griots; a manual typewriter; and a BlackBerry.
Visitors can use touch screens to view hundreds of news clips and photos documenting moments that made history. In the Pulitzer gallery, photographers tell how they got those timeless shots. Less honorable moments in journalism can be found as well; it?s worth the hour to screen “Holocaust: The Untold Story.”
It doesn?t take a newshound to cover the 643,000-square-foot building, but start early to get your money?s worth.
