The Post(2017–)

Submitted by Julio M

Oscar Nominee: Best Picture,  Best Actress (Meryl Streep)

Short pooper:
Graham (Meryl Streep) gives the ok to publish the documents, despite the risk of legal retaliation from the Nixon Administration. Eventually, Graham and Bradlee (Tom Hanks) are summoned by the Supreme Court, where the historical rule in their favor happens, and other fellow newspapers also run the documents in solidarity. Nixon banned The Washington Post from the White House, and a year later, the Watergate Scandal -which eventually caused Nixon’s downfall- kickstarted.

Longer version:
Bagdikian (Bob Odenkirk), The Post’s Assistant Editor, manages to track down Ellsberg (Matthew Rhys) as the source of the highly controversial documents, which the paper yearns to publish -especially to get ahead of The New York Times-, but, due to the Federal injunction, they fear to do, at risk of becoming criminally liable. Ellsberg turns over the full report, which Bagdikian brings back to The Post, and the staff scopes thoroughly in search of good material for key headlines. The paper’s Legal Department advises against going any further since The Nixon Administration is legally entitled to bring forward charges against them all.

Conflicted between her own social standing, now jeopardized because of all this, and her desire to serve the truth and crack a breaking story, Graham discusses the matter with Bradlee, McNamara (Bruce Greenwood), and Fritz Beebe (Tracy Letts). Beebe, in the name of the Board, reasserts to Graham that she could be brought charges from the White House, becoming a social outcast in Washington and losing the newspaper to financial ruin by running the story. Bradlee, however, retorts that Graham’s “high-profile friends”, including JFK himself, lied to gain political leverage. Moreover, things escalated when The Post’s lawyers figured out that Bagdikian had used the same source as The Times, instead of an independent one, to obtain the material, which would put Bradlee and Graham in Contempt of Court and at risk of being accused of Espionage.

Weighing the pros and the cons of her decision -the pros being the public interest in the truth and the possibility of The Post bouncing back from going to Court as a strong, reputable informative institution-, Graham authorizes the publishing of the documents. Consequences ensue: both The Post AND The Times are subpoenaed by The Supreme Court, where they present their cases under the premise of The First Amendment as their defense in what comes to be the landmark “New York Times Co. v. United States” case. In solidarity, many other important newspapers of the nation also run the story at the same time, thus furthering the cause.

On June 30, 1971, a breakthrough ruling of 6-3 happened in favor of both newspapers, which validated Graham’s decision to run the story. The Post skyrockets in importance and prestige, but Nixon forbids it from ever being brought to The White House again.

The movie ends by showing the sequence of events involving the discovery of the Watergate Scandal, which would eventually be covered in its totality by The Post and snowball towards Nixon’s resignation from the Presidency two years later.t, Daniel Ellsberg, realizes to his disgust the depths of the US government’s deceptions about the futility of the Vietnam War, he takes action by copying top-secret documents that would become the Pentagon Papers. Later, Washington Post owner Kay Graham is still adjusting to taking over her late husband’s business when editor Ben Bradlee discovers the New York Times has scooped them with an explosive expose on those papers. Determined to compete, Post reporters find Ellsberg himself and a complete copy of those papers. However, the Post’s plans to publish their findings are put in jeopardy with a Federal restraining order that could get them all indicted for Contempt. Now, Kay Graham must decide whether to back down for the safety of her paper or publish and fight for the Freedom of the Press. In doing so, Graham and her staff join a fight that would have America’s democratic ideals in the balance.