A week ago I was in my local library. It had been so long since I had used it I had to get my library card renewed. While there I saw the poster for the upcoming free Friday films. And the one for last Friday was The Post. So I went. The film was shown on a standard home-style video system. The room was a simple community meeting room. The chairs were what one would expect in such a room, meaning not all that comfortable.
But it was indeed free and it was a chance to see the movie. I think about 30 people attended, most looked to be my age or older.
This is a story based on real life events. I apologize if my telling of these details are not historically accurate. The movie wasn’t always clear, but they seem an important part of explaining the movie.
Back in the late 1960s Daniel Ellsberg, a military analyst at the RAND Corporation, contributed to a report of what the federal government said about the events before and during the war in Vietnam contrasted with what the analysts told the government and what it actually did. This report included presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. Since the government was clearly lying to the public (like saying perhaps around 1967 that the war was unwinnable, yet continuing to send troops to die because America doesn’t lose wars) Ellsberg became annoyed that this extensive classified report was being hidden. So in 1971 he “borrowed” the may volumes of the report, photocopied them, and gave them to the New York Times. Nixon, of course, filed a lawsuit against the Times saying releasing the report threatened national security. So the Washington Post sought out Ellsberg to publish more of the papers.
The movie centers on the staff at the Post. It was a family owned paper that Katherine Graham’s father had willed to her husband Phil. But a few years after that Phil died, leaving Katherine (played by Meryl Streep) in charge. At the time she was the only female head of a major paper and she wasn’t sure she was up to the task (at least as portrayed in this movie). Ben Bradlee (played by Tom Hanks), the head of the news department, was as bullish as Katherine was timid.
The question becomes do they publish these papers? Nixon’s lawyers threaten a lawsuit and through cascading actions Katherine could be forced to close the paper. Lots of people would lose jobs.
It probably isn’t too much of a spoiler to say the Post did publish what became known as the Pentagon Papers. The government added the Post to their suit against the Times and the Supremes expedited the case. From the majority opinion:
In the First Amendment the Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy. The press was to serve the governed, not the governors.Nixon was so annoyed with the outcome of the case that he told his staff to try to discredit Ellsberg, which is what started the Watergate Scandal and ended his presidency.
From the International Movie Database trivia page for this movie, director…
Steven Spielberg wanted to have his film released as quickly as possible given the parallels between its theme and the burgeoning political 'fake news' climate in the U.S. According to Meryl Streep, filming started in May (2017) and finished at the end of July (2017) and Spielberg had it cut two weeks later, an unprecedented feat. The gestation from script to final cut lasted a modest 9 months.I’m sure Spielberg also wanted us to see the nature of the reporting in 1971 compared to now. Melissa McEwan of Shakesville has an opinion on what the press is doing these day. Too many news organizations are enabling and protecting his consolidation of power. A few organizations may be good at documenting what the nasty guy and the GOP are doing. But that is far from explaining why he is doing it and what the consequences are for the country. And they’re not doing that.
The passion to served the governed that Ben Bradlee and Daniel Ellsberg demonstrated are missing from modern news reporting.
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