Well DC isn't such a bad place after all, though it does seem to have much more poverty than other most parts of America. I saw a lady paying for her groceries with food stamps the other day- I can only imagine the uproar such a notion would incite if introduced in Ireland.
The highlight of DC for me was the Newseum. My very outdated 2002 guidebook told me it was across the Potomac River in Arlington, but it had since moved into Pennsylvania Avenue to a fantastic new building. So after a trip out and back to the old location I was back downtown but was a little shocked to see it was now $20, when it had been free in the old location. However definitely well worth it- six floors of exhibits and documentaries about journalism and the press. They have pieces of the Berlin Wall, a 9/11 front pages gallery and loads of little documentary theatres on issues like the role of the press in the civil rights movement and in Hollywood etc.
I was able to go back again the next day as the ticket was still valid, and looked at exhibits on issues such as press freedom. Ireland is of course classed as free but poor little RTE comes in for a slating for being a state owned monopoly! Managed to spend five more hours there on Friday. How you say? Two hours of looking at the exhibits, some lunch (and list making- thanks Siomha!) and finally there was an interview with a famous photographer, Joe Sohm, so went to that.
Finally, there was an hour long documentary about the role of the American press in the Holocaust. That was super interesting, it basically was saying Americans say 'we didn’t know it was happening', but the coverage was actually there, albeit tiny and buried in the paper. It said that the NY Times, as the newspaper of record, led the way in not covering it properly and all other outlets followed suit. The lack of coverage also helped the State Department refuse immigration visas for the persecuted. The ironic thing is that the NY Times is and has always been owned by a Jewish family…..
With a renewed sense of why I want to be a journalist I grabbed some dinner in Union Station and headed back to the hostel to sort myself for heading back to NY.
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