APME Student Newsroom

'Rats' in the Newseum

Screams erupted when a rat scampered through the aisles of the Newseum's theater. The rodent wasn't real, but it felt like it.

"I wanna know how they did the rats," said Christopher Millette, photography supervisor at the Erie (Pa.) Times-News.

Participants were delighted by a 4-D video aired during the field trip to the Newseum today. The movie grabbed viewers' attention with shaking chairs complimenting a three-dimensional trip through a printing press and brought viewers "inches" from a soaring bullet on the battlefield. A gust of air blown at viewers' feet gave viewers the feeling of on-screen rats scampering up their legs.

The Newseum handed members of the audience goofy, black polarized glasses so they could be the first in public to view the 4-D movie. Earlier, conference attendees watched two other features aimed to teach the public about the ongoing changes of journalism and the importance of the First Amendment.

The latter video brought Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and Matthew Lyon to life. It examined the contentious relationship of the press and the federal government in early American history – a relationship that seems much the same more than 200 years later.

"If you threw a politician from today back into 1790, they would be crying for their mothers in a New York minute," one commentator in the video said.

Another video gave a telling tale of The Roanoke Times and its fight to successfully converge traditional print coverage with new media following the shootings at Virginia Tech University.

But it was the 4-D video that wowed the audience. It closed with a round of applause from viewers who seemed delighted by the experience.

-- Marissa DeCuir and Ginger Gibson

Lights, Camera, Action

3...2...1...

"I'm..."

Oh gosh, what's my name?

I stared at the bright blue lights where I was supposed to find my script on the autocue. My palms started sweating as soon as the camera began to record.

I stuttered the name of the president of the United States. I had no expression in my face. I was nervous. Really nervous.

The Newseum's interactive newsroom allows visitors such as myself to grab a microphone and get on TV as a news anchor in the nation's capital. The activity drew a constant flow of editors who wanted their 10 minutes of fame. Cameras lined the backdrop of the newsroom. We all took turns reading scripts, watching the playbacks and laughing at ourselves in photos of our performances.

My gig wasn't perfect. It definitely didn't compare well to those of the confident, smiling editors who preceded me on stage in front of the green screens.

But one Newseum worker gave me a rave review. She said she'd give me a 9 on a scale of 1 to 10. And an editor told me I did "really well."

Regardless, I don't think I'll pursue a career as an anchor. Broadcast journalism is harder than it looks. But at least I got a photo.

-- Marissa DeCuir

Funny flubs while you flush

Those who answered nature's call at the Newseum got some reading material while they conducted their business. In Jay Leno-esque fashion, the bathroom walls featured tiles displaying amusing headlines, flubbed photo captions and other strange items from news media past.

Here are some examples:

* "Statistics on women: some good and some bad." (Women in Communication, February 1972)
* "Red tape holds up new bride." (Milford [Conn.] Citizen, July 12, 1982)
* "Food stamp recipients turn to plastic." (Miami Herald, Dec. 22, 1991)

-- David Dinsmore

A touchless hands on-experience

The interactive section of the Newseum proved that touching isn't necessary to have a hands-on experience. One portion of the exhibit focused on media ethics and offered a game that posed various ethical questions.

Paul Sparrow, Newseum vice president for broadcasting, designed the interactive game that tested knowledge of ethical dilemmas. Participants were asked about topics like whether they would rewrite quotes in a story or apologize for a headline that calls an elected official a primary "pusher for drug bill."

A common compulsion by players was to touch the screen to move the various pieces and select the correct questions -- like is necessary to operate screen interfaces like the iPhone. But Sparrow said the game doesn't require touching; to interact one must only hold their hand above the table-top screen.

The game uses infrared cameras mounted in the ceiling above the table and infrared bulbs under the table to create an interactive atmosphere, Sparrow said. The bulbs display the images players see when looking down at the table. The cameras above detect where the person's hands are. While touching the screen will produce the desired outcome, Sparrow said the game works best when the participants hold their hand about a foot above the table.

-- Ginger Gibson

Conference kicks off at Newseum

 

The conference kicked off at 3 p.m. today with a sneak preview of the still-under-construction Newseum. Coach buses ferried conference attendees from the hotel to the Newseum, 10 blocks down Pennsylvania Avenue.

Conference attendees, among the first outsiders to step foot inside the building, had to sign waivers before being allowed inside. It's still a construction site, after all, with such unfinished work as electrical wiring still visible in the ceiling. But enough of the building was finished to make Bobbie Jo Buel, executive editor of the Arizona Daily Star, happy. She expressed relief that the air conditioning was fully functional.

The first event was a film in the museum's stadium-seating theater. That was followed with time in the interactive part of the museum and a 4-D video in the main theater. More on that later.

-- Ginger Gibson