Promoting, explaining and defending free expression

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As Pennsylvania Ave. turns into Constitution Ave. in our nation's capital, it sort of pops out at you like a giant reminder.

On the southwest corner of the Newseum, a 74-foot tall sign displays the 45 words of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.'

The Newseum exists to make sure those 45 words are better understood by the citizens of this country. It exists to promote discussion among people — of all professions and types — who have different viewpoints. As a simple mission statement, the Newseum, 'promotes, explains and defends free expression and the five freedoms of the First Amendment,' said Jonathan Thompson, Director of Marketing and PR at the Newseum.

In a tumultuous time in our nation's history, when the tension between our elected officials and the media who cover them is at a level that's almost unparalleled, the Newseum's mission becomes all the more important.

Thompson said their goal is to ensure anyone who visits Washington, D.C. leaves with a better understanding than when they arrived — which not coincidentally is also the mission of news organizations.

'(If) you walked through the museum, you (would see) a number of examples where the press has acted as a watchdog against government, used its constitutional freedom to tell stories, to discover truth and ask the tough questions of those who make our nation's laws,' Thompson said. 'Obviously one of the things we want to do — hopefully, when folks leave the museum — is leave with a little better understanding of the First Amendment and the freedoms it guarantees.'

Those freedoms — religion, speech, press, assembly and petition — are often not well-known among the public. Thompson said a report produced each year by the Newseum's Chief Operating Officer Gene Policinski includes a survey that 'routinely finds most Americans cannot name a single freedom in the First Amendment.'

That might be changing, even if slowly.

Thompson said January and February saw 'higher than normal visitation,' to the museum, in part because of President Donald Trump's inauguration and nice D.C. weather, but also — based on social media and online conversations — because people are more aware of free speech and free press given the public discourse between media and the President.

Some of the most poignant parts of the Newseum involve people who've either put themselves in danger or lost their lives in service of the First Amendment. It's no coincidence that boxes of tissues sit in the areas where displays about coverage of 9/11 are held or — in what's routinely considered the most impactful section — the journalist memorial, which contains the names of more than 2,000 journalists killed while reporting the news.

The wall's existence is not vanity or self-importance; rather it seeks the same purpose as the Vietnam or Korean War memorials: to convey the price paid by those doing their jobs — in this case to uncover truth.

'A couple people remarked — including journalists — after President Donald Trump made his remark about some American press being enemies of the American people that just down the street from the White House is this memorial to journalists who died while trying to find the facts; who died while trying to find the truth,' Thompson said. 'I think that's something that resonates with a lot of people who come through here.'

However the tension has been inflamed, and on whatever side a person stands, there's no question the relationship between the media and Trump's administration is tenuous at best. The same could be said, in many ways, between media at the public.

That's why Newseum's CEO Jeffrey Herbst and FBI General Counsel James Baker met at SXSW to discuss and examine 'the tensions between privacy and national security.' That's why the Newseum is organizing a discussion to be hosted at the museum for April 6 that will be called 'The President and the press: the First Amendmen in the first 100 days,' that Thompson said will 'convene a number of journalists, news executives, bureau chiefs, heads of news organizations and people from the Trump administration,' to address 'some of these concerns and challenges to the First Amendment.'

Thompson said the Newseum prides itself in being a non-partisan organization that simply exists to make people think critically about the First Amendment and how its applications affect them.

It's why there haven't been admonitions or stances taken against President Donald Trump in the wake of waves of 'fake news,' accusations. The Newseum's broader purpose is what matters to those who work there, Thompson said.

And in the end, that view you'd get driving southeast from Pennsylvania to Constitution Ave. is all the Newseum needs to say.

'I think we've got that tablet on the front of our building which says precisely what we stand for, which is the 45 words of the First Amendment,' Thompson said. 'When President Donald Trump drives from the White House to the Capitol Building, he passes that tablet, 74 feet high. I think that says where we stand and what we believe in.'