Many people do not fully understand the persistence with which the US has been defending fundamental human rights on the international arena, as well as powerlessness of American government that was not able to ban anti-Islamic film, which caused massive protests in the Muslim world. However, it is easy to explain: there is no restriction of freedom of speech in the USA, which is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution. Moreover, the way basic human rights are promoted among the population of the United States can be a good example for many other countries. They even have a museum in Washington dedicated to the freedom of press. Newseum was opened in 2008 and became the only interactive museum in the world dedicated to mass media. Its construction was worth 450 million dollars, with more than 100 million collected by the newspapers. This is one of the few museums in Washington, DC, where you have to pay for admission. Still, Newseum is very popular, every year it has 800,000 visitors.
Visitors of the media museum have an opportunity to try themselves as a TV host or a reporter in an interactive newsroom. Besides, anyone can replay the news about the most important events with the help of multimedia exhibits and artifacts, as well as watch the daily news in real time on a huge video screen.
Among the rare artifacts there are the Declaration of Independence which was published in 1776 by the newspaper Pennsylvania Evening Post and the Gutenberg’s Bible. The walls of the museum are decorated with many posters with statements about the media and freedom of speech.
Every four years the Newseum organizes exhibition called “Presidential Campaigns and the Press.” This year visitors could see how media covered the presidential elections from William McKinley, who in 1896 campaigned from the patio of his own home, to Barack Obama, who in 2008 carried out his presidential campaign through the Internet. Visitors can also “vote” for this year’s candidates in special booths for voting.
Newseum is not simply a museum, but also a memorial to journalists, who died performing professional duties. There is also a portrait of Heorhii Gongadze.
However, perhaps, one of the most important tasks of the Newseum is promoting the value of press for the country. One of the implementations of that is the gallery called the First Amendment to the US Constitution and the lane of five freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of assembly, freedom of petition, and freedom of religion. In this museum there are surprisingly many school students brought in here by school buses. This is not by an accident. Leading US newspapers offer special discounts for schools on tickets so that more school students would learn about the important role of the press and the five freedoms guaranteed to all Americans.
By the way, a similar museum is now being built in Hamburg. It is also planned to open Chinese Newseum in Hong Kong. It would probably be a good idea to open a similar museum in Ukraine as well because the number of Ukrainian journalists who died defending the right of Ukrainian people for information has already reached 50. However, not every citizen can appreciate it and understand the importance of freedom of speech and assembly for the development of the country. On the other hand, perhaps, Ukrainian Newseum would facilitate the sense of responsibility to the country among media workers.
During his trip to the United States the author visited editors’ offices of two newspapers that survive in different ways in the situation when the number of printed media in the US goes down.
WE GOT CRITICIZED FOR MOVING UP TOO FAST
Politico is an American political journalism organization based in Washington, which makes the full use of the factor of closeness to federal authorities.
Web newspaper Politico that belongs to Capitol News Company, LLC began operating in January 2007. As we were told by the managing editor Bill Nichols, at that time newspapers tried to most effectively integrate into the web network, thus, the opening of a printed media was considered a crazy idea. According to him, initially Politico’s staff was 50 people, and now it grew to 175. The newspaper posts the news on-line and only 40,000 printed copies are distributed for free among politicians, business leaders, and individuals, who can influence the decision making process at the higher levels. “In order to take such decision we presumed that web-king goes first, therefore, we have to get information through telephones or other devices,” said Nichols. “We got criticized for moving up too fast, but the world is also moving fast.”
Politico “survives” thanks to the revenues from advertising on the site and in the printed version. Advertising takes from 50 to 68 percent of the printed space of 24 pages and is a tool for lobbying in Congress. Therefore, as Nichols noted, influential politicians prefer to publish articles or reviews in the printed version of the publication. Fee for access to analytical articles on the Internet on the so-called Paywall brings 10 percent of total revenues. Besides, the newspaper receives revenues from a variety of roundtables and conferences. The newspaper is subscribed mainly by private companies.
Professional journalists and experts, who analyze the political situation in the country, work for Politico. However, the newspaper covers practically none of the foreign policy issues. The exception is made only to publications of articles about the reaction of Washington to a particular event in the world. “We decided not to cover everything and instead chose to work with specific topics and dominate in them,” Nichols explained the position of the newspaper. Before taking the job with Politico Nichols worked for the USA Today since 1984.
WE FOLLOW THE OLD TRADITION AND TRY TO BE THE VOICE OF VOICELESS AND NEGLECTED BY THE GOVERNMENT
Meanwhile, a successful newspaper Sun Sentinel, whose editor office is based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is published seven days a week and sticks to traditional views on the role of mass media. This newspaper sees its mission in protecting the public interest, exposing government corruption and injustice against people. “We follow the old tradition and try to be the voice for the voiceless and neglected by the government,” noted Sally Kestin, who has been working in investigative journalism for 14 years.
The newspaper effectively uses new technology in its web version. In order to access it online you have to pay a certain fee. The Internet version of the newspaper along with the articles also posts video and photo reports.
Half of its income Sun Sentinel receives from subscription and the other half comes from advertising, which takes up 50 percent of the newspaper. The newspaper works with 100 journalist-reporters, three of which are engaged in investigative journalism.
As Ms. Kestin told us, recently the newspaper published materials about corruption in the police, in particular, about the fact that policemen excess the speed limits while driving and it caused 350 car accidents and 20 deaths. The newspaper also investigated the fact of embezzlement of funds allotted for elimination of natural disasters by the local authorities. The topics for investigations, which can last for six months and even longer, are defined by the newspaper’s board of directors. “We believe that because of our publications the situation will be resolved,” stressed the Sun Sentinel’s journalist.
Obviously, in the US there are many politicians or other influential figures who do not like such publications in the mass media, but the Constitution was designed from the very beginning in such a way that legislators were deprived of opportunities to limit the freedom of speech, and therefore the press in any way. It is all simple. The First Amendment states: “Congress shall make no law 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.”
