Nicolai Ouroussoff

NYT Architecture Critic Spies 'Jingoism' in Newseum's 9-11 Exhibit

Finding "jingoism" in a journalism museum? Only a hypersensitive New York Times critic could possibly uncover that.

The Newseum (which is precisely what it sounds like) opened in the nation's capital last weekend in a prominent spot along Pennsylvania Avenue. The Times's architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff found the design by turns "muddled" and "slapdash" -- but what he really disapproved of was the political message he managed to discern in a 9-11 exhibit titled "Attack on America," which he found to border "precariously on jingoism."

From his Friday review, "Get Me Rewrite: A New Monument to Press Freedom."

In another convoluted move, the museum exhibits the front pages of scores of daily newspapers along the street each day. At first it seems to be a salute to the newspaper's traditional function in a democratic society, and pedestrians seem to love it. But the row of newspapers is oddly punctuated by a pedantic display explaining its meaning.