[ti:Newseum to Close after Years of Difficulties] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]The Newseum, a private museum showing modern history through the eyes of journalists, [00:06.80]is closing after 11 years in Washington, DC. [00:12.68]Opened in 2008, the building became recognizable [00:17.60]for its four-story high marble presentation of the First Amendment. [00:23.92]That amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects the freedoms of speech and the press among others. [00:33.28]After years of financial difficulties, the Newseum will finally [00:38.36]close its doors on December 31, the last day of 2019. [00:45.80]The building was sold for $372.5 million to Johns Hopkins University. [00:55.44]The school plans to use it for some of its graduate programs. [01:02.04]Sonya Gavankar is the outgoing spokesperson for the museum. [01:07.60]She noted several issues that led to the closing. [01:12.12]One was bad timing. [01:15.04]The museum opened in 2008 during an economic recession. [01:20.96]Newspapers were hit especially hard. [01:25.60]Some closed and many reporters lost their jobs. [01:31.12]Also, in a city full of free museums, the private Newseum charged visitors $25 to enter. [01:42.08]Just across the street is the National Gallery of Art. [01:47.36]Within walking distance are several Smithsonian museums. [01:52.44]All receive money from the U.S. Congress. [01:57.68]"Competing with free institutions in Washington was difficult," Gavankar said. [02:05.36]Claire Myers lives in the city of Washington. [02:10.08]She recalls coming to the Newseum on a class trip during her final year of high school. [02:17.56]She only returned in late December for a final visit [02:21.92]because she heard it was closing at the end of the year. [02:26.92]She said, "I do think part of the reason was because it's a paid museum. [02:33.00]Why go out of my way to do this when I could just go to any other free museum?" [02:41.64]But Myers said she was deeply impressed by the exhibits, [02:46.04]especially the Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs. [02:49.52]"I do wish it wasn't going away," she said. [02:54.88]In addition to journalism and historic event exhibits, [02:58.96]the Newseum has added others involving free speech and civil rights issues. [03:06.48]There is an exhibit exploring the cultural and political influence of comedian John Stewart [03:12.84]and his "The Daily Show" television program. [03:17.28]Others include a look at the history of LGBTQ rights and an exhibit of presidential dogs. [03:26.68]Gavankar said the Freedom Forum would continue its mission in different forms. [03:33.60]That is the journalism foundation that started the Newseum, which was first based in northern Virginia. [03:42.20]The foundation currently has exhibits on the Berlin Wall in two Washington area airports. [03:50.40]Next year, they will be replaced by exhibits on the women's voting rights movement. [03:58.40]The Newseum's popular Today's Front Pages, which shows nearly 1,000 newspaper's front pages [04:07.00]each day from around the world, will continue online after the December 31 closing. [04:16.08]Ken Paulson is a former president of the Newseum. [04:20.92]He called the museum's closing "a major disappointment to so many who care deeply about freedom of the press." [04:30.84]As for the marble entrance on Pennsylvania Avenue, Paulson wrote in USA Today, [04:38.08]"It was a dramatic and valuable reminder of the role our freedoms of press, [04:44.28]speech, religion, petition and assembly play in ensuring that the United States [04:51.36]remains the most vibrant, powerful — and free — nation in the world." [04:58.84]I'm Jonathan Evans. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM