Movie Review: The Post

The Post is a 2017 American historical political thriller film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg. | Photo from: Google

I have recently watched a film titled The Post. The Post is a 2017 American historical political thriller film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg. It stars Meryl Streep as Katharine Graham, the publisher of the Washington Post, and Tom Hanks as Ben Bradlee, the long-time executive editor of The Washington Post.

The film was set in 1971, that depicts the true story of attempts by journalists at The Washington Post to publish the infamous Pentagon Papers, a set of classified documents regarding the 20-year involvement of the United States government in the Vietnam War and earlier in French Indochina back to the 1940s. Here are what I understood from the film, as well as my thoughts on it.

1. How does the Washington Post got copies of the Pentagon Papers?

The 7,000-page “Report of the OSD (Office of Secretary of Defense) Vietnam Task Force,” also known as the Pentagon Papers which was a secret government study about the Vietnam War, was first leaked by Daniel Ellsberg, a former U.S. State Department military analyst, who was then working at the RAND Corporation at the time. Ellsberg leaked the papers to Neil Sheehan, a New York Times reporter.

In order to enhance their reputation, The Washington Post's editor-in-chief, Ben Bradlee, assigned an intern to go to the New York Times office and investigate what Neil Sheehan and the New York Times were up to. While in an elevator with Sheehan and other New York Times employees, the intern noticed a mock-up of the front page of tomorrow's New York Times newspaper. He then informed Bradlee of Sheehan's plan to leak the Pentagon Papers.

One day, a general assignment reporter for The Washington Post received a parcel at his desk from an unknown woman. It was later revealed that the parcel contained over 100 pages of McNamara's Vietnam War study. I did not quite understand this part because I do not think the movie explained who the woman was, why did she left the parcel, or where did she get the copies from.

After determining the source of the leak, The Washington Post assistant editor Ben Bagdikian was tasked with tracking down Ellsberg. Bagdikian went to meet Ellsberg after successfully tracking him down, and Ellsberg gave him the same Pentagon Papers copies that he initially leaked to Sheehan. This was how The Washington Post obtained complete copies of the Pentagon Papers.

2. Why Washington Post decided to publish articles on the Pentagon Papers?

For the most part of the movie, it was shown that Katharine Graham, the publisher of The Washington Post, has always opposed to the idea publishing news on the Pentagon Papers since they could result in legal issues and jeopardise the paper's existence. Ben Bradlee, on the other hand, was adamant for it to be printed because the public should be aware of the government's study and the way the government has been lying about the Vietnam War. He intended to hold the U.S. government accountable, believing that this was the best way to ensure that their power could be controlled and also swaying the public opinion against the war.

Bradlee also criticised Graham, questioning what would happen to The Washington Post's reputation if the public discovered they were aware of the Pentagon Papers but chose not to report the story and publish it.

After facing a lot of doubts and receiving multiple advises not to report the story, Graham finally gave her team the greenlight to publish the article. Graham mentioned on The Washington Post's mission of " outstanding news collection and reporting." She also stated that the newspaper principle is to always be "dedicated to the welfare of the nation and the principles of a free press". She believed that if they kept the Pentagon Papers secrets and did not publish them, they would be violating their organization's values.

From my understanding of the movie, these were the reasons why The Washington Post decided to publish articles on the Pentagon Papers.

3. Do you think the decision to publish articles on the Pentagon Papers was correct by the newspaper? Why?

In terms of whether it was ethical or not, I would say no. The Pentagon Papers was the government's secret study. The papers were stolen and then leaked, which was an extremely unethical way of gaining the source of a news story.

However, I believe it was the right call to publish the articles, and I would have done the same. The Pentagon Papers was indeed a government secret study, but keeping the information from the public would mean lying to the them. Everyone needs and deserves to know the truth, and the only way of achieving that is through the media. So, if the media knows a story that could change the perspective of the public and decided not to report it, who will? The public will always be kept in the dark and would be ignorant of what really is happening to the world around them.

There might be an ethical practice to follow before publishing the story. For example, they could have notified the government that they have the documents and discuss with them which parts of the documents that can and cannot be published to the public. However, sometimes the unethical way of acquiring information is the best way to keep the story raw and complete without any information missing, and I believe this is one of those cases where the journalism ethics can be put aside.

4. How do you feel after watching the movie?

I was impressed with the dedication and passion from The Washington Post team to report this story. When they received the Pentagon Papers copies, they were out of order with no page numbers, but the team worked together to study the documents and write articles.

I also admired Ben Bradlee's determination to get this story out to the public. He persisted in convincing Katharine Graham to accept to publish the story despite her repeated refusals. Bradlee was so determined to inform the public about the government's lies about the Vietnam War that he did not care if he would be prosecuted.

In my opinion, reporters should always have the fire and determination to report the truth and should never be afraid of anything. As I have learned, the first and most important aspect of journalism is the truth. As a result, the truth should always come first, and reporters must reveal the truth without being influenced by their relationships with powerful and influential people.

As we saw, Graham's decision not to publish the Pentagon Papers was heavily influenced by her relationship with Defense Secretary Robert McNamara. However, in the end, she chose her principles over the relationship and decided to reveal the truth.