In 2014, I was in the strange position of working at a newspaper covering racial unrest that was erupting in the little suburb where I happened to live. As I wrote that year, “That weekend was intense and surreal: I designed the front page of the Post-Dispatch each night, while watching on TV as my town convulsed with anger.”
I designed numerous Ferguson-related Sunday and Monday A1s for the Post-Dispatch in the subsequent weeks, months and years (See some here). I remain proud of all that work. But it was the one from the second night that will forever be ingrained in my memory.
The Newseum is a unique museum in Washington D.C. dedicated to the role of the free press and the First Amendment in our country. I had heard from coworkers and friends that the Newseum prominently featured (and, I believe, continues to feature) Pulitzer Prize-winning photos from the Post-Dispatch’s Ferguson coverage. For a short time, the museum also had a Ferguson exhibit which included my front page.
Although our family has visited Washington somewhat regularly over the years, we never made it to the Newseum. It was so expensive and we were a young family. Even though it would have been personally meaningful to me given my profession, we couldn’t justify the cost the couple times we had a chance.
Earlier this year, I reached out to the Newseum to ask if they had any photos of the Ferguson exhibit featuring my page. They sent me this:
Pretty cool to see my work featured in that way.
Unfortunately, it seems I have run out of chances to visit the Newseum. Last week, the museum announced it would close at the end of this year. This is disappointing news and a sad mirror of the reality of our shrinking industry.
If you’re out there reading this, subscribe to a newspaper, would you? The free and independent press is a cornerstone of our democracy. We journalists need your support.