Washington Dc Culture

Washington is home to numerous national landmarks and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the United States. The National Mall is a large, open area in the center of the city featuring many monuments to American leaders; it also serves to connect the White House and the United States Capitol buildings. Located prominently in the center of the Mall is the Washington Monument. Other notable points of interest near the Mall include the Jefferson Memorial (see right), Lincoln Memorial, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, National World War II Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, District of Columbia War Memorial, Albert Einstein Memorial, and United States Navy Memorial.

The world famous Smithsonian Institution is located in the District. The Smithsonian today is a collection of museums that includes the Anacostia Museum, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Hirshhorn Museum, National Air and Space Museum, National Museum of American History, National Museum of the American Indian, National Museum of Natural History, National Portrait Gallery, National Postal Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Renwick Gallery and National Zoo.

There are many art museums in D.C., in addition to those that are part of the Smithsonian, including the National Gallery of Art, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Corcoran Gallery of Art and Phillips Collection.

The Library of Congress and the National Archives house thousands of documents covering every period in American history. Some of the more notable documents in the National Archives include the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights.

The District of Columbia operates its own public library system with 27 branches throughout the city. The main branch — which occupies a multi-story glass and steel-framed building at the intersection of 9th and G Streets, N.W., designed by modernist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe — is known as the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library.[18] It has a large mural in its main hall depicting the civil rights leader.

Other points of interest in the District include Arena Stage, Chinatown, Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Blair House, Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, Folger Shakespeare Library, Ford's Theatre, Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, International Spy Museum, National Building Museum, National Geographic Society, the Awakening at Hains Point, Old Post Office Building, Theodore Roosevelt Island, Franciscan Monastery, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Washington National Cathedral.

Washington is a major national center for the arts, with many venues for the performing arts in the city. Arena Stage, one of the first non-profit regional theaters in the nation, is rich with history and produces an eight-show season ranging from classics to world premieres, dedicated to the American canon of theater. The Shakespeare Theatre Company is regarded as one of the world's great Shakespeare troupes. Numerous other professional theaters, such as The Studio Theatre and Woolly Mammoth, and venues such as the National Theatre, make the city a major theater center. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts hosts the National Symphony Orchestra, the Washington National Opera, the Washington Ballet, and a variety of other musical and stage performances.

The Lincoln Theatre hosted the likes of Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald on U Street (known as "Washington's Black Broadway") prior to the 1968 riots.[19] Notable local music clubs include Madam's Organ Blues Bar in Adams Morgan; Blues Alley in Georgetown; the Eighteenth Street Lounge in the Dupont Circle district; and the Black Cat, the 9:30 Club, the Bohemian Caverns jazz club, the Twins jazz clubs, all in the U Street NW area. The U Street area actually contains more than two dozen bars, clubs, and restaurants that feature jazz either nightly or several times a week.

Notable Washingtonians in the entertainment industry include singer-songwriter Marvin Gaye, film actress Merle Oberon, comedian David Chappelle, musician Duke Ellington, filmmaker Ted Salins and two members of the rock group Jefferson Airplane: guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and bass player Jack Cassidy.

D.C. has its own native music genre, called go-go, a post-funk, percussion-driven flavor of R&B that blends live sets with relentless dance rhythms, so-called because they "go and go and go." The most accomplished practitioner of go-go was D.C. bandleader Chuck Brown, who brought go-go to the brink of national recognition with his 1979 LP Bustin' Loose. Go-Go band and Washington natives Experience Unlimited (E.U.) hit the American pop charts in 1988 with their memorable dance tune "Da Butt" Other notable go-go bands include Rare Essence, Trouble Funk, Junkyard Band, Backyard Band, and the Northeast Groovers.

Washington was an important center in the genesis of punk rock in the United States. Punk bands of note from Washington include Tru Fax & the Insaniacs, the Slickee Boys, Fugazi, Bad Brains, the Dismemberment Plan, Government Issue, and Minor Threat. Washingtonians continue to support punk bands, long after the punk movement's popularity peaked. The region also has a significant indie rock history and was home to TeenBeat, Dischord Records and Simple Machines, among other indie record labels.

There have been several television series that have featured the District. Most of these have been related to government (The West Wing and Commander in Chief) or security organizations (The District, Get Smart, and, most famously, The X-Files). Other programs had the nation's capital as a secondary focus, using it merely as a city setting. For instance, Murphy Brown focused on the lives of the reporters of the (fictional) Washington-based television newsmagazine, FYI. The soap opera Capitol allowed for stories about political intrigue alongside the traditional class struggle sagas. The sitcom 227 portrayed the life of the African American majority as seen through the eyes of residents in a Washington apartment building. Cory in the House on The Disney Channel uses Washington, D.C. as a backdrop. There are also many movies shot and filmed in the city yearly.

Other professional and semi-professional teams based in D.C. include the USAFL Baltimore Washington Eagles, the NWFA D.C. Divas, the Minor League Football D.C. Explosion, the Washington RFC rugby union team of the Rugby Super League, as well as a host of others playing in the Potomac Rugby Union and the Washington Cricket League. It was also home to the WUSA Washington Freedom, from 1987 to 1989 home of the Major Indoor Lacrosse League's Washington Wave, and during the 2000–2002 NLL seasons, the Washington Power was based in the city. In rugby league, the Washington D.C. Slayers play in the American National Rugby League.

There were two Major League Baseball teams named the Washington Senators in the early and mid-20th century, which left to become respectively the Minnesota Twins and the Texas Rangers. In the 19th century, the town was home to teams called the Washington Nationals, Washington Statesmen, and Washington Senators on and off from the 1870s to the turn of the century.

Washington was home to several Negro League baseball teams, including the Homestead Grays, Washington Black Senators, Washington Elite Giants, Washington Pilots, and Washington Potomacs.

The Verizon Center in Chinatown, home to the Capitals, Mystics, Wizards and the Georgetown Hoyas, is also a major venue for concerts, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) professional wrestling, and other events, having replaced the old Capital Centre. Since its opening in 1997, the arena has served as a catalyst of prosperity in Chinatown. Office buildings, high-end condominiums, restaurant chains, movie theatres, and other luxuries have sprung up around Chinatown. On the downside, the growth has forced out many Chinatown landmarks, and only a fraction of Chinatown remains "Chinese".[citation needed]

The city's soccer team, DC United, is the most successful franchise in MLS history, with 4 league championships and 10 total tournament victories, both league highs. The city is also considered the most passionate soccer market, with a list of people including MLS Commissioner Don Garber and TV Commentator (and former US National team and MLS star) Eric Wynalda outright declaring Washington the country's best soccer market.[citation needed] Washington will host the 2007 edition of MLS Cup at RFK Stadium.

Washington hosts the annual Legg Mason Tennis Classic tennis tournament that takes place at the Carter Barron Tennis Center on 17th Street.

The Marine Corps Marathon and the National Marathon are both held annually in Washington.

The Washington Post is the oldest and most-read daily newspaper in Washington, and it has developed into one of the most reputable daily newspapers in the U.S. It is most notable for exposing the Watergate scandal, among other achievements. The Washington Post also has a daily free newspaper called the Express, summarizing events, sports, and entertainment. The daily The Washington Times and the free weekly Washington City Paper also have substantial readership in the District. On February 1, 2005 the free daily tabloid Washington Examiner debuted, having been formed from a chain of suburban newspapers known as the Journal Newspapers.

The weekly Washington Blade and Metro Weekly focus on gay issues, and the Washington Informer on African American issues. Bi-weekly Street Sense focuses on issues of homelessness and poverty.

Many neighborhoods in the District have their own community newspapers. Some of these include The Current Newspapers, which has editions serving Dupont Circle, Foggy Bottom, Georgetown, Chevy Chase and Upper Northwest, and a Capitol Hill paper called The Capitol Hill Current/Voice of the Hill. Additional papers include In-Towner (Dupont Circle, Logan Circle and Adams Morgan), Hill Rag (Capitol Hill), East of the River (Anacostia) and D.C. North (Northeast D.C.). In addition, several specialty newspapers serve the U.S. Congress; most notable are Roll Call and The Hill.

The metro area is served by several local broadcast television stations and is the eighth largest designated market area in the U.S., with 2,252,550 homes (2.04% of the U.S. population). Major television network affiliates include WRC 4 (NBC), WTTG 5 (Fox), WJLA 7 (ABC), WUSA 9 (CBS), WDCW 50 (The CW), WDCA 20 (MyNetwork TV), as well as WETA 26 and WHUT 32 (PBS) stations. Channels 4 and 5 are network owned-and-operated stations. Public access on cable television is provided by the Public Access Corporation of the District of Columbia on two channels simulcast to both local cable TV systems. One channel is devoted to religious programming and the other channel provides a diversity of offerings. A regional news station, News Channel 8, is carried on Channel 8 on all cable systems in Washington, D.C. and surrounding communities. Additionally, most Baltimore area television stations can be seen in the Washington region. Besides being viewed clearly in the District, they can especially be seen in the suburbs of the Interstate 95 corridor between both cities. They are:

WMAR 2 (ABC) WBAL 11 (NBC) WJZ 13 (CBS) WMJF 16 (Ind/MTV2) WMPT 22 / WMPB 67 (PBS/MPB) WUTB 24 (MyNetwork TV) WBFF 45 (FOX) WNUV 54 (The CW)(The Tube on DT2)

On July 2, 2007, WTTG added an 11am newscast. With this addition, viewers have a choice of 7 and a half consecutive hours of live, local newscasts (from 5:00am until 12:30pm):

• WJLA: Newscasts from 5am-7am and 12-12:30pm.
• WRC: Newscasts from 5-7am and 10-11am.
• WTTG: Newscasts from 5-9am and 11-12 noon.
• WUSA: Newscasts from 5-7am, 9-10am, and 12-12:30pm.

The WTTG Television Tower, built in 1963, is a 214.8 metre high guyed TV mast; it is only 17.2 meters shorter than the Hughes Memorial Tower, the tallest structure in Washington D.C.[citation needed]

Spanish-language television is also represented by Telemundo WZDC-LP 25 and TeleFutura affiliate WMDO-CA 47, but these are low-power television stations limited to within the Capital Beltway area. Univision's WFDC 14, however, transmits as a full power station and can be received as far north as Baltimore.

On April 10, 2007, Telemundo WZDC-LP switched channel locations from 64 to 25, as the higher band of UHF channels is to be eliminated in the digital switchover of 2009. The channel switchover was also supposed to increase coverage over a larger portion of the metropolitan area. However, viewers still report an inability to see its broadcasts in upper Montgomery County (Burtonsville and Laurel) and Howard County (Columbia/Ellicott City).

Incidentally, D.C's Univision and Telefutura stations (owned by Entravision) switched call letters on January 1, 2006; meaning that now Univision is the only Spanish station which can be seen at full power over the whole Washington metropolitan area. The Univision network moved from low-powered Channel 47/WMDO to full-powered Channel 14/WFDC; Univision's youth-oriented TeleFutura network moved from 14 to 47. The change caused Univision and TeleFutura to exchange channel locations on D.C. area cable TV systems, too.

Azteca America announced they would start transmitting from a new full powered Spanish-language broadcast affiliate in the region, Channel 69/WQAW on October 6, 2006, as well as its addition to local channel lineups for Comcast Cable. However it has not been seen on the air as of yet. Earliest reports from viewers do not indicate availability of its broadcasts inside the District, as far south as Prince William County, Virginia, or as far north as the Columbia/Baltimore area. According to the FCC, WQAW has filed a license application to move their transmitter to Lake Shore, Maryland, thereby rendering better coverage to the area between Baltimore and Washington, and moving to Channel 8.

Several cable television networks have their headquarters in the Washington area, including C-SPAN on Capitol Hill, Black Entertainment Television (BET) in Northeast D.C., National Geographic Channel in Downtown D.C., and Discovery Communications in Silver Spring, Maryland, as well as the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in Alexandria, Virginia. Major national broadcasters and cable outlets including NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, and CNN maintain a significant presence in Washington, as do those from around the world including the BBC, CBC, and Al Jazeera. America's Most Wanted is the only network primetime program produced in Washington.

There are several major radio stations serving the metro area, with a wide variety of musical interests. The Contemporary music station (and arguably the most popular) is WIHT 99.5 FM (Hot 99.5) located in Rockville, Maryland. Rock stations include WTGB 94.7 FM (The Globe - Triple A) and WWDC 101.1 FM (DC 101 - active/alternative rock). Urban stations include WPGC 95.5 FM (rhythmic top 40/urban contemporary), WHUR 96.3 FM (Howard University urban adult contemporary station), WMMJ 102.3 FM (urban adult contemporary), WKYS 93.9 FM (urban contemporary) and Radio CPR 97.5 FM (a popular pirate radio station broadcasting in the area around Mount Pleasant, Adams Morgan and Columbia Heights). Two major contemporary Christian music stations in the region are WGTS 91.9 FM (of Takoma Park) and WPER 89.9 (of Warrenton, Virginia).

Stations that concentrate on talk and sports include WJFK 106.7 FM (FM talk), WMAL 630 AM (conservative talk), WWRC 1260 AM (progressive talk), WOL 1450 AM (urban talk), WTEM 980 AM (sports talk), Triple X ESPN Radio 92.7 FM/94.3 FM/730 AM (sports talk station controlled by Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder), WAVA 105.1 FM (Christian talk radio), WTOP 103.5 FM (news) and WTWP 1500 AM/107.7 FM (Washington Post Radio-news/talk). Radio duos Don and Mike and Ron and Fez both had great success on WJFK, although the latter now broadcast on D.C.-based XM Satellite Radio via the network's New York studio.

WOL 1450 AM, WKYS 93.9 FM, and WMMJ 102.3 are owned by Washington's Radio One, the largest African American media conglomerate in the country. It was founded by Cathy Hughes, a prominent figure in Washington radio since her days at Howard University's WHUR.

There are two National Public Radio (NPR) affiliates: WAMU 88.5 FM (NPR and Public Radio International programming, community programming, and BBC news), broadcast from the American University, and WETA 90.9 FM (around-the-clock classical music). Other stations include WASH 97.1 FM (adult contemporary), WMZQ 98.7 FM (country music), WLZL El Zol 99.1 FM (Latin/Tropical), WBIG 100.3 FM (classic hits), WPRS Praise 104.1 FM (gospel), WPGC 1580 AM (gospel), WPFW 89.3 FM (jazz and progressive talk), WJZW 105.9 FM (smooth jazz), and WRQX 107.3 FM (hot adult contemporary). In some parts of the city and suburban Maryland, listeners can hear WMUC 88.1 FM (freeform) the only remaining FM college radio station in the area. Additionally, most major radio stations from Baltimore can be heard in the Washington metropolitan area.

XM Satellite Radio and NPR are based in Washington. The Voice of America, the U.S. government's international broadcasting service, is headquartered in Washington.

The Jefferson Memorial at dusk

Smithsonian Castle

National Museum of the American Indian

Mount St. Sepulchre Franciscan Monastery

Kennedy Center

Verizon Center, home of the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals

National Public Radio headquarters, located at Mount Vernon Square