The Annenberg Foundation has ponied up $15 million for the Newseum, the largest gift yet for the Freedom forum-backed news museum that reopens in fancy new D.C. digs Oct. 15.
That makes $79 million the museum has gotten from 11 media companies, foundations and individuals who get to put their name on a gallery or theater in the Newseum. That list includes NBC NEws, ABC News, News Corp., Cox, and Time Warner.
The names of Walter and Lenore Annenberg will go on a 535-seat theater, the museum's largest, that will host special evening screenings, debates, town halls and performances, according to the Freedom Forum.
But it's day job will be as host to a kind of news theme park ride, described as a "high-tech, four-dimensional, interactive time travel" that whisks visitors to great news events throughout history.
The Newseum will be a 250,000-square-foot "warts and all" look at the collection of news, says the Forum, with an emphasis on interactivity.
