Tim Russert's Whiteboard Among Artifacts of Good Journalism at Newseum

While a painful reminder of the 2000 presidential election for many, the late Tim Russert's whiteboard with the prescient words "Florida! Florida! Florida!" could be one of the greatest American museum pieces ever. The fact that it's a piece of media (and primitive one at that) gives some credence to how great media can be when you have the right people with the right foresight and integrity. Tim Russert was one of the rare ones to have every bit of that, which is why the impact was so strong when he died on June 13. It's probably fortunate then that he was a trustee for an incredible museum in Washington, D.C. called the Newseum where his own history-making whiteboard will be on display forever.

This museum may also help secure a link between the media and the public that'll be sorely needed in the future as media becomes more politically one-sided. They'll need the public looking upon them more favorably as the truly integral media elite start to retire or pass away.

When the Newseum first opened in 1997, its Virginia location was much more modest and even had free admission. It nevertheless had a huge collection of media artifacts and educational exhibits that helped the public get a better understanding of how the media has always worked and the credos they live by. Consider this museum to also be the architectural bastion of the First Amendment if not the ultimate perspective on this country. In fact, when the museum moved to a newly-designed and larger building on D.C.'s Pennsylvania Avenue in 2002, the first lines of the First Amendment were placed on a giant stone panel near the main entrance. As complex as the First Amendment is, the Newseum at least tries to break down the equally complex world of how we view media.