Newseum | Politico | CBS News | Buzzfeed | The Atlantic Wire
The Newseum reconsidered the inclusion of two suspected terrorists in its Monday rededication of its Journalists Memorial after several journalists and advocacy groups raised concerns.

Al-Aqsa cameramen Hussam Salama and Mahmoud Al-Kumi were initially part of the group of 84 journalists killed on the job whose faces were projected onto a screen at the Newseum's Washington, D.C., memorial. Jewish groups and conservatives opposed their inclusion, citing al-Aqsa's backing by Hamas. Buzzfeed's Rosie Gray wrote about how the Newseum defended their inclusion as recently as Friday.

Associated Press

The museum issued a statement Sunday saying it was not including the pair, after all.

"A number of serious questions have been raised and we are going to take our time to re-evaluate the circumstances surrounding the deaths of these two men," Jonathan Thompson, manager of media relations, told Poynter via email. "Moving forward we’ll establish a new initiative to explore, discuss and address some of these challenging new issues." (more...)

Gannett Blog
The Newseum says it "eliminated 16 positions" this week. The Gannett blog reported the Freedom Forum, which funds the Newseum, "laid off 20% of approximately 150 employees at the Washington museum and other programs financed by the foundation":

These are just the latest cuts since the museum opened in new quarters in 2008 that cost nearly double the original $250 million construction estimate.

In a statement sent to Poynter earlier Thursday, the Washington, D.C., museum says the cuts were part of a "restructuring," and that new hires will get the museum back to its pre-layoff staffing level. In a later statement, Freedom Forum CEO James Duff said " When the Newseum's restructure is complete, we will actually have more associates at the Newseum than before." Duff was paid $1.6 million in 2011, Gannett Blog reports. The Newseum laid off 29 full-time staffers in 2009. Correction: This post originally got James Duff's first name wrong.

WTOP radio's mobile-journalism pioneer Neal Augenstein covers D.C.-area news using only his iPhone. Today, Augenstein and WTOP are donating his iPhone 4S to the Newseum, which welcomes it as an artifact of the new era of mobile-empowered reporting.

"I'm delighted the Newseum is recognizing that mobile journalism is taking its place along legacy reporting tools," Augenstein told me via email. "Being able to record and edit audio and video, take and edit pictures, write Web stories, and do social networking on a single device has revolutionized my job." (more...)

Romenesko Misc.
This will be the first time since the Newseum’s grand opening on April 11, 2008, that admission has been free to adults. (It had a kids-get-in-free promotion over the summer.) “Our 9/11 Gallery is one of the most visited and memorable exhibits in the Newseum,” says Newseum CEO Charles L. Overby. “We hope that by offering free admission on Sept. 10 and Sept. 11, many more visitors will have an opportunity to experience this important reminder of why we should never forget 9/11.” (more...)

Romenesko Misc.
Good news for families who stayed away from the Newseum because of the $12.95/per kid admission fee: That price is waived for all visitors 18 and under, beginning July 1 through Labor Day. The “Summer Fun Deal” promotion is sponsored by Washington all-news radio station WTOP.

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WWD.com | NAA.org | Associated Press
The Associated Press's report about newspapers being in demand on Monday includes this tidbit: The Newseum -- host of "Today's Front Pages" -- was processing more than 2,800 requests per second when it became overloaded Monday. (Poynter's front pages were a popular draw, too, but were accessible all day.) || At the New York Times, the presses were literally stopped on Sunday night; it was only the third time in the last 43 years that that happened, reports John Koblin.

To the best of anyone’s institutional memory, the only other instances when the Times is believed to have stopped the presses in the last few decades: Lyndon Johnson’s abrupt announcement that he would not run for reelection in 1968, and the night of the 2000 cliffhanger election.

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The iPad and iPhone app hit the iTunes Store this week. You can browse a newspaper's website from within the app and create a list of "favorites" for easy access.