I was in a hotel room in Washington DC when I saw a story on CNN about the city's newest museum which was hilariously named the 'Newseum'. It was a shrine to the media and it was opening that very day which was a very happy coincidence for me, a 'sort-of' journalist.

With its incredibly chic design, the Newseum building stands out among Washington's older buildings. It has fantastic views of Pennsylvania Ave and Capitol Hill.

Outside huge glass casings cover one side of the building, each displaying the day's newspapers from each state.

In the lobby the museum has the vibe of a 'brand new thing,' with excited staff to welcome you. The mezzanine-style museum has a real news chopper and a mock satellite suspended from the ceiling as well as a giant screen playing news items.

Like all the museums in DC, the Newseum is too full and fascinating to see in a couple of hours but sadly, that was all the time we had. For someone who's worked in the media for six years, it was like walking into a museum designed specifically for me.

We went first to the amazing Pulitzer Prize Photography exhibition, which displays every award-winning photograph - possibly one of the most powerful exhibitions I've ever seen. I left in tears.

Luckily the September 11 exhibition was complete with tissues for the more emotional visitors.

Rising metres in the air are displays of newspaper front pages from that day and it was fascinating to see how different countries dealt with the catastrophic event. My favourite was one which simply read: 'Bastards,' with the burning towers displayed at full broadsheet size.

The Newseum has parts of the Berlin Wall and looks at how the media played a part in bringing it down. It has a memorial wall for all the journalists who have perished on the job.

There's special areas for online, radio and television journalism and an interactive area where kids (and some adults) can stand in front of a blue screen and pretend they're presenting the news. There's a cartoon gallery and three theatres playing documentaries about various aspects of journalism.

As you can tell, I was totally in love with the place. And just when I was truly gobsmacked by the enormity of it all, we wandered into the huge News History Gallery which has front pages from newspapers going back 500 years, including display cases on all the massive stories to happen over time. There were TV screens and interactive computers everywhere - hours and hours of entertainment.

It's a DC must-see and I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't find it a totally enthralling look at how the media has shaped history.

Next stop: More tears at the Washington DC Holocaust Museum, said to be one of the best in the world.

Check out more photos from my trip in my Flickr album.

Find out about Washington DC.

Read more of Kelly's blogs.