January 15

Blog #107 – The Post

 

I really hoped that you enjoyed the movie, The Post, this weekend.  I think we got to see some pretty smart acting, decent writing, and a slice of 1971 politics and newspapers.  As we saw, the Washington Post was trying to become more than just a regular, “local paper” as they called it, when Katherine Graham, the publisher played by Meryl Streep, looked to sell stock in the company and raise $3 million to hire 25 new reporters.  At the same time that this stock offering is getting ready to go, the New York Times began publishing the opening series of the Pentagon Papers, a 7,000 page report detailing American involvement in Vietnam from 1945 – 1967.  Ben Bradlee, the editor in chief for the Post, played by Tom Hanks, wants those papers too, since he sees the Times as his paper’s biggest competitor.  Image result for the post movie reviews

Please answer the following questions:

  1. A lot of the movie tries to be faithful to the 1971 time frame – pay phones, newspapers, teletype, black and white TVs, the clothes, etc.  How has life changed since then, and is this movie glorifying an age (the age of crusading newspapers) that may never come back?  Why or why not?
  2. Examine how the film portrayed Katherine Graham as the lone woman in a sea of powerful male players – lawyers, bankers, etc.  Provide specifics from the film as it shows her growth from socialiImage result for the post movie reviewste publisher to powerful player.
  3. The film’s reviews – many have made the case that this film is timely and completely relevant to today.  Freedom of the press is something that must be fought for, again and again.  You could see that Nixon had tried to muzzle the press with the injunctions against the Times and the Post, but the Supreme Court had rescued the press w/ its 6-3 decision in U.S. v. New York Times.  With what’s going on w/ the media (“fake news”) and other issues, how do you see this film as relevant and timely?  And why is freedom of the press so important?

400 words minimum for all  three questions. 

Due Monday, January 29 by class.  

NYT review – https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/21/movies/the-post-review-steven-spielberg-tom-hanks-meryl-streep.html

Variety review – http://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/the-post-review-tom-hanks-meryl-streep-1202631640/

 

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Posted January 15, 2018 by geoffwickersham in category Blogs

66 thoughts on “Blog #107 – The Post

  1. Ro Durand

    I love how The Post takes us back in time and shows viewers who may not have lived through the time that this event took place in. They did such an amazing job of really making it look like it was 1971 and put all the little details into it, even the cars I noticed were from around the 70’s. Some of the things that have changed that can be seen in the movie is that nobody throughout the whole movie was working on a desktop, laptop, or phone. Nobody was working on the New York Times.com or The Washington Post.com. Nowadays most people will look online to see the news or turn heads to a TV. It’s free and accessible unlike a newspaper which you have to pay for. People are moving more and more away from paper and moving closer to the internet to hear news.
    In the beginning of the movie her male co-workers would try and shy her away from the spotlight, and make her seem like she had less power than she did. They would tell her that a women in charge was going to be seen by other companies as if they weren’t taking their jobs seriously. She gets a sense of control as the movie moves forward and at the end when she has to make the decision whether or not to publish the Pentagon Papers. The men around her are telling her what she should do and that it would be a terrible idea to publish. She ignores them and makes a decision that is 100% hers. She knows what is right for HER company and doesn’t want any outsider to take her role as the leader.
    At the end of the movie when the workers at the Washington Post were listening to the Court ruling there was a quote that stuck with me, “the press is to serve the governed not the governors”. It made me think of how politicians today are frequently calling ‘Fake News’ to any news outlet when they hear something about themselves that they don’t like. The film reminds us that some things the government doesn’t want us to know can be leaked, and like today, many things about Trump has been leaked and news outlets report it. He tries to cover it up by calling fake news but that doesn’t really help. This happens with many other presidents but the film reminds us that freedom of the press means that these news outlets could say anything they want without the government getting in the way. It also reminds the press to not favor a candidate or whomever, because it is there to serve the PEOPLE not other people in the government to get more money. A lot of outlets will get paid to talk bad about one and favor another, and I believe that should be stopped.

  2. Nicholas Haddad

    1. From a presentist point of view, our nation has technologically and fundamentally advanced since the 1970s drastically, but I truly believe that many of the core values of our nation and of our communities remain. With the development of new technologies, among them computers, cell phones, wireless internet, and more efficient systems of transportation, the news has found new ways to deliver it’s information, whether that be in a digital copy or over television or radio shows. Newspapers, no matter how pleasant and interesting to read to some people (like me sometimes!), are seen as an obsolete piece of society by millennials and newer generations of Americans. The age today has ushered in a sense of true awareness of our differences and shared humanity, but conflict has arisen as a result. This isn’t much different from the ‘70s, a time of American rebound after the radical Civil Rights Movement, as well as other minority movements across the country. This movie does a great job of highlighting the differences between society now and then, and addressing the complexity of a time made out to be so simple by Americans today. I do believe that crusading news agencies have never and will never disappear completely, as long as freedom of the press is available, and as for the glorification of the age, the movie does make sure that certain elements of 1971 society are highlighted to put the story into perspective, as well as invoke the audience.

    2. Katherine Graham, near the beginning of the movie, is portrayed as a timid and motherly figure – she doesn’t invoke the authority that men in her field would if they were in her position. Her status as a women in her industry really struck me in one of the first scenes where she was meeting with the bankers in order to make stock for the Washington Post public. Afterwards, one of the bankers whom she was negotiating with made a remark that denounced the role of women in leading positions, and it really set the stage for an underlying theme that would prevail in the end. As Graham is drawn into the issue revolving around the Defense report, she has to make decisions, and looks to her father for examples of how a leading figure would act, and assert themselves. She takes a risk, endangering her friendship with Robert McNamara, and develops a confidence that women at her time didn’t necessarily have. This confidence is brought to light when Mr. Bradlee is conversing with his wife, and she states how brave Katherine is for publishing the truth and letting her voice be heard. As the court cases unravel, girls begin to look up to her for her perseverance and confidence, asserting her position as a powerful player in her field.

    3. In a time where our nation is divided because of political standings, it is extremely important that all groups are transparent and open with one another, as it promotes a sense of democracy and freedom that we as people are guaranteed. Yet, looking at news broadcasts that are being published, what our country really needs is clear facts, not tainted opinions mixed in. Yes, people have a right to express their opinions in their writing, but it is these opinions that are igniting controversy and uncertainty as to the truth. Spielberg and the cast of The Post convey the importance of the freedom of the press through their debate on whether to publish this controversial paper about the Pentagon Papers. Beginning with John Peter Zenger’s trial in colonial America, freedom of the press has been hailed as one of the great cornerstones of this nation, and it is our duty as citizens to hold our government accountable in keeping this a reality. It seems to me that many politicians within our government are more focused on sharing their opinions and keeping office than representing the people. The press allows us to be heard, and we need to keep this tradition alive.

  3. Jake Flaherty

    1.
    So… I mean, I suppose it’s somewhat obvious that life has changed since then. The phones were huge, and now they’re the size of our hands. (Unless you’re the president) (Okay sorry, it’s rude to insult physical appearances) You have a lot of newspapers, whenever you’re eating breakfast, you’re looking at the news; and now people barely read newspapers, they just go on Twitter. Or they go to an online version of a newspaper – It’s really different. Now it’s extremely difficult to find a place with black and white TV, the clothing’s a lot more chill, and casual, and the clothing’s also very exposing, as opposed to back then where going to work was like going to a dress party. (Somewhat) It’s just a different time now, we’re influenced by tech and being more “open” physically and mentally… And everyone has a phone – And stuff… Etc. You could go on and on about this, blah blah blah fidget spinners. Okay. This movie is definitely showing a time that may never come back. Newspapers, if you watch Leave it to Beaver or Andy Griffith it’s like a common item, or in plays, a newspaper is a common household item. And whenever a kid wants to like, make a paper mache thing or needs a bunch of newspapers, you go and get the stack from the garage. You can still see newspapers being delivered today, but now it’s not a necessity, and it’s dying, like Blockbuster. I think the newspaper is still a good concept, and there will always be people who want a physical copy, but everything’s moving online, it’s just easier- And papers like the New York Times have a decent website that’s updated a lot quicker than the newspaper comes out. There was a time where everyone had a newspaper, and everyone would read it- THAT was the source of news. But tech has come, and it’s changed how we communicate, and communication is what the news does! It’s going to be a “bit”, but we’re transitioning, and we will NEVER go back. Getting a good old paper, paper costs trees, and it’s just going to be more efficient as time goes on. Technology is getting a lot off of online news, and that’s not going away anytime soon, it’s growing. And so as the newspaper business declines, it’s chances of ever going up again decline, and yadda yadda… However, I don’t think they’re leaving us very quick. There’s a lot of stuff you don’t see online, comic strips, dead people- There’s a lot to it, and there’s a lot about going outside to get the paper – And many households still have a paper – Just LESS. It’s not going away anytime soon, it’s a big market. Well, depending on how you define soon. But I could see in the future as more and more things become tech and automated, a newspaper might move all of it’s resources online and just stop giving physical papers. But that might not pay as well… But people will stop using physical newspapers eventually, and I feel like no matter how long it takes, eventually all newspapers will just be online blog compilations. I wonder what will happen to the comic strip business… Scary.
    2.
    Well, Graham’s power starts out small. As much as she’s in charge of a newspaper, it’s not very well known – It’s not like if they post something the whole nation’s going to hear about it. You have the people defining her power by how many read it. You have her as a woman, yeah, she’s in charge, but all the men below her are really doing all the commands, she’s kind of just being there. When they receive the Pentagon Papers, it’s not Graham sorting out the papers and stuff, she’s talking on the phone. You have all these men who are doing the work, even though they’re below her. They’re the ones writing, talking, compromising, organizing… And she suddenly takes the reigns partway through the movie and says, “Hey, let’s make stuff happen!” And so stuff happens. She starts becoming more active. And as a woman in a society where the main focus is racism and not sexism – She’s really up there. And she gets more power when her newspaper gets read when they publish a bunch of stuff about the Pentagon Papers and jazz. At the end, you have the newspaper, where at the beginning they were publishing stuff about famous people’s daughters weddings, and now they got the juicy stuff- And their name is known, her name is known, her newspaper’s name is a name within the U. S.! And they get that power where many people are reading the newspaper, and now she can publish things for many people to see, and she’s known, the Washington Post finally has a voice, and they have their own say in what goes on with the News business now…
    3.
    This film is so relevant because it shows that, we know that the state governments have power and can fight the federals a bit, but the press- The press is one way to keep the Federal government in check. And there’s been challenges to this along the way – But the press is one way we can expose corruption in the government, and if it goes away, then (more) corruption might occur. And you have Trump who’s constantly insulting the press (Well, some of them), and this is something we need to make sure to maintain so the people can maintain universal ideas and have a say in what goes on in this nation! And there’s a lot of controversy with our government at the moment, so it’s a great time to celebrate that we have the press to make sure that if something bad’s afoot, we know about it! Of course, they can’t catch anything, but it’s a good comfort to know that if something crazy is going on, most likely you will be aware of it. Freedom of the press is so important because it’s part of our freedom of speech, and this is a huge speech, it’s a way to send big messages, and a way to publicize big messages. It’s also one of the check and balances, and it’s not written down literally, but it is! It’s the freedom of speech that’s saying – We can tell other groups of people things for our own safety and comfort, and it’s really important because it just shows that the people do have the power and freedom, that the government isn’t controlling what people see and hear! It’s a freedom that a government could take away, and it’s important and powerful which is why a government might take it away; and it’s something we need to preserve and praise, to help make sure that we have this right in the future and the future generations do. It’s just important because it’s ensuring that the people’s voices are heard, this is an easy way for groups of people to hear an idea and be constantly supplied with awareness of what’s going on in our nation, and so if something bad is happening, 9/10 times they’re going to hear about it- It’s a safeguard. And it also makes it easier to alert the nation of something bad, you don’t have to Paul Revere around (or that other guy), or be freaking George Whitefield… The press can help do that. And all of those reasons is why it’s so important. It’s even in our Bill of Rights. So it must be important. 😀 Totally.

  4. Ethan B

    1. Life has changed in many ways since the 1970s. Technological advances are certainly the most obvious of these changes. TVs are no longer black and white, and pay phones have been obsolete especially since the creation of the cell phone. Additionally, reporters now type up their stories on computers, rather than typewriters. The political climate has changed as well. During the 1970s, the major political issues of the day were almost all related to the Cold War. The US military was fighting to contain communism in Vietnam, and the United States began diplomatic relations with mainland communist China, instead of the nationalist government on Taiwan. I believe that the movie is trying to glorify the age of crusading newspapers that may never return. With all of the scrutiny over whether or not the media is spreading truth or lies, the public will never trust the media the same way. Television is a more common medium for the media to share the news, rather than paper newspapers. Additionally, the media does not release bombshell stories like the Pentagon papers and Watergate in the 1970s. Often the media focuses on stories that ordinary Americans do not feel are very important, especially on channels with 24-hour news that are simply looking for stories to pass the time.
    2. The Post does a very good job of showing Katherine Graham as the only woman involved in the newspaper. When Mrs. Graham attends the first meeting in the movie, there are many shots that show that she is the only woman in the room and that there is some bias against her because of that. Throughout the movie, we see Mrs. Graham completely surrounded by men who are constantly pushing her to make decisions. The movie shows her growth from a socialite publisher to a powerful player in the newspaper in a very interesting way. The film begins with her accepting many of the suggestions given to her, often under pressure from the other men involved. As the movie progresses, we see Mrs. Graham make decisions and defend them against these men. For example, the decision to publish the Pentagon Papers was opposed by many of the men that advised Mrs. Graham. Despite this pressure to not publish, she stuck with her initial decision knowing that it may cost The Washington Post so much for the newspaper’s future. She prioritized getting the truth to the American public over her own newspaper.
    3. I think that the film is relevant to current events involving the media. It does this in many ways. Firstly, it shows the importance of freedom of the press. Without freedom of the press, we never would have known about the dark secrets enclosed in the Pentagon Papers, and the United States would likely have been bogged down in Vietnam for much longer. I believe that the film was certainly meant to target the “fake news” rhetoric and show that newspapers can (and usually do) tell the truth, and that newspapers exist to share the truth with the American public, not to do politicians’ bidding. However, I also think that the movie is also directed at the press. By showing the cautions that The Washington Post took to ensure that they had the evidence to back up the claims they were going to make, the movie is trying to tell today’s media that before breaking any news, proper evidence must be obtained. Another aspect of the film that is important is that it shows that the system of the American government can and does work. Even though President Nixon wielded enormous power, he still had to submit to the decisions of the Supreme Court and allow The New York Times and The Washington Post to publish.

  5. Neve Robinson

    1. Life has changed so much since the time frame when the post was set. Mainly I think with the rise of the internet, technology and social media, it has made it easier than ever to publish news and for news to get around. I think that has made the biggest change to society and news industry. For example, now, if a big newsworthy event or tragedy were to happen within minutes there would be an article posted online. Whereas back in the seventies you had wait until the next morning, to read an article from the newspaper after something newsworthy happened. I believe that the movie isn’t glorifying the age, as I remember Mr. Wickersham said, after the pentagon papers were released and all of watergate unfolden because of Neil Sheehan and Daniel Ellsberg, that made Mr. Wickersham want to become a journalist. I think events like that make me so pleased that we do have the first amendment. I also believe that this was one of the biggest accomplishments of the journalism industry. I think that most journalist will fight to give people the truth, which in the cause of watergate, the pentagon papers and the movie they did find the truth.

    2. Katharine Graham at the beginning was pertarade as kind of a mess who was just given her role at a smaller newspaper but as the movie goes on I think you develop a sense of respect for her being the only high up female executive who is really trying to work hard. I think the movie also displays how women even though the sixties and seventies, made big impacts on women’s rights, there was still so much that needed to be improved especially in the workplace. For example, the scene were Katharine walks into the board room with a bunch of other executives for a meeting and she was the only women out of like 20 men. Also, during that meeting when she tries to talk no one listens to her, they just talk over and then when she was taking good notes about the meeting and making good points, the man sitting next to her steals her notes, says it and is listened to because he is a man. This scene displays how much of an improvement we have made, to women being heard in the workplace since the seventies even though there is still work to be done. Now, I think if I was in Katharine Graham’s position and that happened to me in a meeting, I wouldn’t be afraid say something. Whereas back then she was just told basically to shut up and sit there. By the end of movie it shows how Katharine was not afraid to do what she believed and gained confidence.

    3. I think the movie is very current especially with a lot of the media trying to get Trump in trouble for things that has done in the past. For example the TMZ video where there is footage of Trump saying and boasting about how he sexually assaulted a women. Without the media and the first amendment this wouldn’t of happened, even though it didn’t stop him from losing the election, It changed some peoples views on him. I think freedom of press is extremely important like Oprah said in her acceptance speech of the Cecil B. DeMille award, she was more grateful for the press than ever before, which I completely agree with. Even though now there is a lot of different reporting, I think we still have to trust some of the news to find out the truth.

  6. Isabelle

    Isabelle Borr
    Mr. Wickersham
    AP US History
    21 January 2018
    Movie Questions
    1. Since the invention of the internet and more modern technology, life has been very different. For example, pay phones are now a rarity due to the wide availability of cell phones. In the Washington post and all the other newspaper companies, they were using teletypes to write their articles, but with the emergence of computers they have all been replaced. The culture as a whole with the sense of fashion has been very different and similar at the same time. The business causal clothing has remained in its Skelton the same; women wear skirts and men were slacks and a button down. The movie is for sure glorifying the age of newspaper. It was a key way of communication for current events, but they did not mention at all the TV networks that were on at the time and acted like the newspapers were the only form of news. The age of newspaper is long gone. Sure, you can still buy newspaper, but almost all companies have transferred over to digital only. You can’t go back at this point, and must begin to compete as a digital media provider because of the quick transfer of information at the reader’s fingertips.
    2.
    At the beginning of the movie, it begins as she comes to a man to consult her on the newspaper matters before an investment meeting to bring their company public. Even though she has all the information, she let a man talk over her to investors. She was the only woman in the boardroom, and did not have their respect. As the movie progresses and the plot thickens, she becomes overcome with this decision of whether to post the Pentagon papers. Even though she has many people telling her what to do, this was her final say, and she chose a risky move to publish them. This starts to show her confidence level increases and she starts to take control of the company. Another challenge comes from this as the justice department tries to stop the publishing of the Pentagon papers. She was now faced with criminal charges that would destroy Katherine and the Washington Post, but she decided to keep publishing the papers. Soon the at the supreme court, The New York Times and the Washington post cite the 1st amendment for their right to publish. After they win, you can see the change of Katherine’s confidence to lead the company. The character change from someone taking input from people around her because she was unsure to someone to take charge is seen in this movie.
    3. This movie is very timely and relevant. Today, the truth has been questioned and challenged by our current administration. The media has been questioned lately more than usual. This is dangerous. It begins to bring our 1st amendment rights and freedom of press into question that should be protected. The purpose of this movie was to show the gross overstep in a presidential administration in a way that shows what is at stake today. By using real audio clips from Nixon it can give us a comparison of what is happening today. Freedom of the press is very important. It is essential in our democracy and keeping the government in check. The press informs the citizen that elect these officials on what is happening. Without this government could easily become too powerful and eliminate our rights.

  7. Nikki Barnas

    1) In the The Post, the seventies were prominent in the settings that the actor and actresses were portrayed in. This includes themselves, as square glasses and shirt collars seemed to be a distinguished theme. To me, one of the most fascinating aspects in viewing this event as it occurred almost forty years ago was witnessing the way newspapers were mass produced. It was incredibly interesting to watch the editor send the final copy of the paper spiraling down a tube to be greeted by workers in the basement. I loved hearing the noises of the clunky, outdated machinery and how each word of the original paper was brandished into a metal block, until they had crafted several building blocks of text to organize into a metallic paper. The metal sheet was assembled to form the conventional newspaper look, blanketed in ink, and stamped onto a series of sheets rushing down a conveyor belt. I never really thought about how newspapers were massed produced, especially in pre-Internet decades where this form of communication was essential and millions were eager to read the news. Now, reproduction is basically all digitally structured and completed electronically through laptops. Typically, computer files are transferred onto metal plates, which is in contrast to how The Post represented it, where workers constructed the design by hand without online accessories. I also really appreciated the home design and traditional interior and architecture of Katherine and Rob MacNamara’s homes. I liked their elegance, especially when Katherine hosted house parties, and how they held traditional rooms like a designated nursery and dining room. Although I’m assuming that they were both wealthy and their houses did not completely exemplify the conventional American seventies home, I thought it was very extra how Kate had an assistant in her home to help with house parties. Now, house designs are more loosely structured and I would find it very awkward if I had an assistant in my house. I believe The Post did a phenomenal job portraying the excitement of journalism and the paper-based media. It glorified newspapers by portraying the Washington Post office as constantly swarming with eager journalists, ready to exploit a subject for the enjoyment of the reader, and of course the sounds of typewriters. I think it was emphasizing the development of newspapers rather than reminiscing over a decade of media. It might have cause some nostalgia over this era of journalism, but I kept thinking how much easier it would’ve been to access the Pentagon Papers if they had had the luxury of the Internet.

    2) In the beginning of the film, the audience initially sees Katherine Graham as studious. She is witnessed asleep on her bed with her head being comforted by binders, complimented by random papers askew over the blankets and her room taking the appearance of an office. As she anxiously performs her business spiel to her coworker, he drills her hard, and then follows up with reassurance that she’ll easily tackle the business conference. Immediately following the beginning of the conference, she stands as an outlier due to being the only female and the only one accompanied with a mountain of binders to back up her speech. She is visibly uncomfortable, especially once another male comments on her preparedness. When she starts delivering her speech concerning her future prospects for the company, the man shes talking to doesn’t direct his questions towards her, but to her male companion. When he asks him questions, Katherine utilizes her intelligence and quietly mutters the correct answer, only to have another businessman steal and repeat her response. After the patronizing meeting, she overhears two men discussing how the company was originally given to her husband, not her, and how the readers would be cautious towards female leadership. Because she does slightly lack experience in this industry, she constantly has male advisors telling her what to do and how to conduct the company. She clearly states her independant position when she visits her friend Rob McNamara, who urges her not to publish and seems to not give his permission to Katherine to conduct her company the way she wants, as if his opinion is superior to hers. Once Rob says this, she makes her words transparent by emphasizing that she doesn’t need his approval. Furthermore, the real growth happens when she starts to differ and break away from others advice, and becomes a more prominent individual. We see this link to advisors sever when she gets interrupted during a houseparty,and needs to decide whether to commence or halt the publishings of the Pentagon Papers in the Washington Post. Despite the bankers severely warning her of the consequences of publishing, she remembers the core of her her father’s newspaper and the origin of it’s civil duties. With the help of Ben, they beat the time restraints and publish the papers- a risky but essential move in the game between freedom of the press and the government that was happening with the New York Times. In the end, she recognizes that it only took one decision to trigger the journalistic revolution, as local newspapers across the country followed her footsteps and published their own version of exposing the government, despite the potential consequences. Lastly, we see her new role as an empowering female ripple and effect a young women who she runs into during the court case. Although she was technically working on the opposite side, she reveals in an intimate moment alone with Katherine that she wishes her all the best.

    3) Freedom of the press is a staple of American democracy. Social media is what keeps our country united, as the news has a historical legacy of giving Americans something to bond and relate to. This film is extremely relevant to today’s connotation to social media, as our country’s Oval Office is currently being occupied by a man whose dedication to Twitter is almost equivalent to his dedication to his country. The film illustrates the ripple effect journalism has amongst the American people. Once the big newspapers like the New York Times and the Washington Post utilized their resources and innovations to create a government-exposing article, smaller local newspaper latched onto the idea. With the avalanche of social apps that have flooded Iphones, false information has spread like wildfire. We need adequate resources to keep democracy afloat and properly educate the American people. I loved the chaotic and exciting atmosphere the movie portrayed in terms of journalism, and it made me want to get more involved in journalist aspects. Overall, I loved the cast of The Post and how they illustrated the Pentagon Papers of 1971, especially watching Meryl Streep’s character advanced into an empowered female individual. Journalism is an essential way to convey accurate and influential information to the youth of this generation, so they can develop into the leaders this country needs.

  8. Katie Lucken

    1. Since 1971, life has changed a lot. Personal phones have taken the place of pay phones, news is commonly found on the internet and sites like CNN even though newspapers still exist, TVs are in color, and fashion and appearance has changed too. I think that this movie is kind of glorifying the age of crusading newspapers, and it will never come back. I believe this because although many people still do use newspapers for the current events, the internet is a much faster news source. Not only websites like CNN exist, but also digital versions of newspapers. The New York Times has a website, as does the Washington Post, and so many others. If these newspapers are easily accessible and faster to get to online, not to mention free, I don’t see how the age of newspapers as primary current events news sources could come back.

    2. The film portrayed Katherine Graham as the lone woman in a sea of powerful male players, including lawyers, bankers, and more, by giving the audience wide shots of entire rooms filled full of men in suits, and then Katherine Graham in a skirt and necklace amongst them. Another shot shows her making her way through a crowd of women on the stairs, and then at the top, the doors open to a room full of men in suits. This is a particularly contrasting scene because it shows the separation that existed between men and women at this time, specifically in the news / press world, and the room of men at the top could be symbolism for the pyramid of power that existed (and still does exist, but less), because women were below men in not only this industry but in many areas of the professional. Specifics from the film that show Graham’s growth from socialite publisher to powerful player include, all around, that in the beginning of the film, Graham was frequently absent from the newsroom with men running the show. Near the end of the film, Katherine Graham appears more and more as she makes more executive decisions, and the final scene where she is in the printing area with Ben shows her fully committing to her role and getting involved in every part of the business. Also, when she is on the call that determines that the Post will publish the papers, she is alone in her office while others listen on extensions and gathered around. This symbolizes the authority she claims and takes responsibility for.

    3. I do see this film as relevant and timely. This is because with many politicians following Trump’s lead in concluding that any news that they don’t like or news that portrays them negatively as “fake news” damages the public’s sense of reality about our government. The public doesn’t know who or what to trust, but the news is many people’s lifeline to politics. We have no way to know what is going on with our own government without the news, and now we have no way to know what is really happening. Freedom of the press is so important because, like I said, the news is the public’s link to current events and their government. They should know the truth about what is going on, because at the federal level every decision impacts so many people in the nation.

  9. Jocelyn Warnica

    1. In 2018, the year 1971 was 47 years ago. Daily life has changed a lot since then. For example, we don’t use payphones anymore,and we rarely see them. When you do see them, little kids ask what that is. In the scenes when the people in the newsroom are all watching the news on Nixon v. New York Times, the TV they use is a big box, and is still in black and white. Now, our TVs are inches thick instead of closer to a foot. Also, the TVs were in black and white. Now, they are in color and they are coming out with “better” color such as High Definition and 4K. Newspapers were one of the main ways to receive news in 1971. Now, the old person stereotype is that they still read newspapers. Today we have technology that allows us to get live updates and news much faster than reading a newspaper. The clothes in the movie looked very stiff and starched compared to the clothes we wear today.
    2. At the beginning of the film, Katherine Graham was sitting in the meeting with the bankers to discuss investing stock in the Washington Post. Prior to the meeting, she figured out how much money the Post would earn and how many reporters she could hire with that money. When she got to the meeting, she tried to speak up, but it only turned out to a whisper. If it wasn’t for the guy sitting next to her, her information would not have been received. Over the course of the movie, certain things are brought to her attention, and events happen that help the characterization of Katherine Graham into her personality at the end of the movie. For example, when she is putting her grandkids to bed, she found a note that her daughter wrote to her when her husband and owner of the Washington Post, died. This made Katherine realize that it wasn’t her late husband’s company anymore, it was hers. This realization came into play when she had to decide whether or not to publish the Pentagon Papers in the next day’s newspaper. Also, by the end of the movie, you see Mrs. Graham having more social gatherings. This could also represent the transfer of traits that make up Katherine’s personality.
    3. I do think the film is still relevant to today with the things in current events, fake news, etc. It depicts freedom of the press perfectly. The definition of Freedom of the Press is the right to publish newspapers, magazines, and other printed matter without governmental restriction and is only restricted to the laws of libel, sedition, obscenity, etc. Therefore, whatever the press can get their sticky fingers on, they can publish unless it is very inappropriate. Along the lines of fake news, I think that people should be able to publish it because there are no laws that restrict it, but it should be labeled as fake news. Freedom of the Press is very important because it lets people express their opinion without being restricted. This comes to mind in the presidential years and certain TV stations being for/against different political parties.

  10. Hanna Lupovitch

    1. Life has immensely changed since the 1970s.  There has been an indisputable technological revolution since those times.  For instance, payphones, while still existing, are rarely used in day-to-day lifestyle anymore (in most cases).  In addition, the major forms of use of the newspapers themselves have been and will continue to change.  Even though newspapers and their companies remain intact and are still important, most people these days read the newspapers off the internet.  Also, lots of people get their news from sources other than the newspapers.  Even twitter can be considered a news source, with all the bickering that happens on there.  The setting of time used in Steven Spielberg’s The Post was, in my opinion, glorifying that period (compared to ours).  Not only did Spielberg not emphasize that using payphones were more difficult, but most of the time throughout the movie, characters would go to each other’s’ houses when they needed to have productive conversations; and issues were worked out when they talked in person.
    2. I felt so bad for Katherine Graham throughout the entire film.  I was getting so frustrated, because I wanted her to speak up, and say what she felt, and knew!  For instance, during the investment meeting, Katherine had all the answers, statistics, and ideas about the topic being discussed.  This was a financial meeting, and even though the other professionals (all men) respected her as a woman, they did not respect her as a publisher.  Bradley Whitford, who played Arthur Parsons, was so awful to her the whole time.  He was exploiting her vulnerability, and was just trashing her all over the place.  Finally, however, she had a realization.  She recognized that she was the head of the company, and she needed to act like it for people to treat her like it.  It was now she told Arthur that “she was not talking to him,” that the audience comprehended her mental change as well.
    3. Steven Spielberg’s The Post is remarkably relevant to today.  When Nixon tried to stop the newspapers from publishing the truth about the Vietnam War, the only thing that stood in his way was the Supreme Court overruling him.  This relates to today because of Donald Trump’s actions.  Whenever a truthful news source says anything that contradicts Trump or makes him look bad, he calls it “fake news,” misleading and/or confusing the public.  This just displays why freedom of press is so crucial.  Without the press, the public would never know the truth.  Nixon, just like Trump is today, was desperate to keep up his reputation, that he was willing to sacrifice the truth.  Not only does this make both presidents look bad (because the truth came out with Nixon, and it always does with Trump), but it is also just so unbelievably unfair to the public.

  11. Maddy Penoza

    1. The movie did an excellent job giving it’s viewers a peek into life in the 70’s. It gave its views a glimpse of 70’s life, with the old-fashioned phones, and cars. It seems that so much has changed in the country since then, and it is hard to imagine what people will think of today, 50 years from now. For women especially, everything from the way they dressed to the way they did their hair (although, it was probably over complicated for movie purposes), to the way they carried themselves has changed. I would say that the movie glorified the 70’s, but not extensively. The issues of the time period, such as racial gender, and sexuality tension were kind of glossed over, however, it did show the divide between men and women quite well, without being offensive to men today.

    2. In the film, Katharine Graham was a woman with a job, and not just that, a leadership position. The men she worked with did not respect her to the degree they would have, had she been male, but more importantly (to me anyway) was the way the other women in the parlor after the dinner party saw her. For me, I felt like the others would have looked up to Katherine, seen her as strong and a good role model. However, it almost felt like they pitied her, one of the women told Katherine that she didn’t know how she did it, with that day job and all. This was remarkable to me because the lack of women in the workforce always seems easy to blame on men but that really wasn’t the case, it was embedded in the culture, and believed across gender lines. At the start of the movie, I didn’t like Graham much, she felt weak and incapable. Later in the film, she made a total 180 and was strong, powerful, and just awesome all around. It pretty much happened in a moment, right when she made the decision to go ahead and run the story about the papers. From that point on, she stuck to her decision, she stood up straighter, spoke louder and clearer, stuck to her decision, and was overall more confident. She really became a leader toward the end of the film, in more than just a title.

    3. I think the film was relevant because we have a lot to learn from our past. If you ignore history, you are doomed to repeat it, and that isn’t always a good thing. The film proved that you cannot hold back the press, and it showed the press as a check on the government. But with that, comes responsibility, and the press today does not always hold true to that. The post showed that clear, accurate facts are a people’s best defense against a government, not rumors, opinions, or stories made up altogether. In the 70’s, nobody would even think about a newspaper companies making something up, if it was in the news, it was true, and that was accurate, today, the news is not, exactly, always accurate, and that creates tension and distrust between the press, the people, and the government.

  12. Kiran Krishnan

    1. Life has changed tremendously since the 1970s. Over the past almost 50 years technology, style, and women’s positions have all been revolutionized. Pay phones are still available, but nowadays cellphones are more widely used, newspapers are still important sources of information, but they are now available online and you can read about anything at anytime, anywhere you are. TV has also become portable, as you can access it on your mobile device. There is not a rush to the newsstands every morning to get the daily news. Teletypes have been completely replaced by the portable computer because you can work on it and contact people from any location. Reporters can write right on the scene and from home, to give more flexibility. One of the things that was really fascinating to me was the way that the newspapers were printed and the way that it was someone’s job to put together the blocks that contained the newspaper for the day because nowadays it is all done digitally. The fashion of today is more casual and women don’t have to wear clothes that look like a feminine version of male clothes anymore. The role that women play in our society has changed as well, there are more women in positions of power today then there were in the 70s. I didn’t think that the movie glorified “the age of crusading newspapers”. I think that it was interesting to see the differences in the way we receive news from the 70s to now. I don’t think it glorified as much as it showed growth.
    2. The film focused very much on Katherine Graham’s role as a powerful woman in a world dominated by men. Kay’s struggles to get the respect of the men all throughout the movie, beginning when she is in the meeting with the investors in an attempt to get them to help her create stock to pay for more employees to expand the newspaper. She has rehearsed what she wants to say over and over, but feels intimidated and ends up letting her colleague do most of the talking. When her advisors talk to her about the decision they sounded somewhat condescending towards her. She also faces the challenges of ascending from the position of the socialite wife of a powerful man, to being in charge herself. Towards the end of the movie Kay has to make the tough decision to publish the pentagon papers even though it could result in a lawsuit like the New York Times. As she makes this decision her colleagues advise her, but they seem to have more respect for her, even though some of them don’t agree with her decision.
    3. I think that this film is completely relevant to today, and I think that the issue of freedom of the press will always be relevant and important. Today the world of journalism is much more complicated, there are fake news websites that post completely misleading articles. Being an informed and critical reader is even more important. Our president seems to deem anything that portrays him in a bad light as fake news and it can be hard to differentiate. Instead of attacking news sources through lawsuits it has come to just calling them inaccurate and attacking the site. But these news stories are important, even when people don’t like how they make them look. The public needs to be informed and deserves to be. I don’t think that opinionated news is necessarily bad and it still needs to be protected under freedom of the press. It just means that people need to understand that the news they are receiving is biased, and they need to understand and read about both sides of the issue before coming to their own conclusions. Without freedom of the press and an informed public, the government can take advantage of people and morph their understanding of reality. People need to be given the facts and make their own decisions for our democracy to work effectively.

  13. Sathvik

    1. I really enjoyed how the movie portrayed the time period and how it felt like to be in the press at that time in history. It was also great how they showed the atmosphere and how the public reacted to the Pentagon Papers and the Vietnam War. The Post also shows the political tension in the government and how they reacted to the publishing of the papers. I think that the directors of the Post did this to show how different things are today. A lot has changed between 1971 and today. For example, most people don’t even use newspapers anymore, they usually get the news online or hear it on TV. The technological advancements since 1971 have changed the world of the press drastically. I also think that they are showing the pay phones, newspapers, teletype, and the black and white TVs, because they think that this age will never return due to the technological improvements that have occurred since 1971.

    2. In the beginning of the movie, they portrayed Katherine Graham as a very shy, submissive, and weak figure amongst “a sea of powerful men”. For example, in the scene where all the executives are meeting, barely anyone paid attention to her when she was trying to talk even though she has a lot of power. The men in the room really didn’t care what she had to say, even if it was valuable. But, at the end of the movie, they show her as a powerful, strong-minded, and gutsy women. For example, she gave the order to print the Pentagon Papers even though she knew it could potentially lead to her staff and her going to prison for it. Katherine Graham went from a weak, socialite publisher to a powerful and headstrong player.

    3. I think this movie is very relevant and came at a perfect time. This movie is relevant because it reminds every one of the 1st amendment and the power of the press. This movie comes at a perfect time because currently in the United States, we are seeing a similar relationship between the president and the press. Nixon had a short temper and made aggressive actions towards the New York Times and the Washington Post to stop them from publishing leaked government documents regardless of them being protected under the 1st amendment. And now, today we are seeing “president vs. media”. The first amendment is important because it shows that people can save and or publish what they want. People having the right to free speech is tied into what this country was founded on. Without it, we are in a way authoritarian.

  14. Luke L

    1. Since the 1970’s american life has significantly gone through many changes. We dropped the use of pay phones, newspapers, and other things in return for smartphones and the internet. In today’s day and age we are reliant on what is online rather than what is physically given to us. People nowadays are a lot more acceptable to change while some aren’t, but most of us can realize that we live in a completely different time than the 70’s. I feel that The Post actually does try to glorify the age of newspapers, as it portrays how passionate these characters are about showing information they think the public should know and risking their jobs to get out information before their competitors do as we see with the conflict between The Washington Post and The New York Times.

    2. We see Katherine Graham struggling in her workplace throughout different places in “The Post”. During the meeting we see Katherine being the only women in the entire room out of all the other men. As they converse, she finds a hard time to put herself in the conversation, and when she actually gets the chance she decides not to speak due to her lack of confidence. However, that all changes when she has to make the decision of whether or not to publish the papers involving confidential information about Vietnam from the Pentagon. Deciding to publish the papers she gets a lot of backlash from her coworkers and starts to reconsider her decision. However, during an unexpected meeting she makes her decision final despite the pressure and sharply replies with “I am talking” to one of her peers while going over her plan with her associate Ben. This moment shows her finally standing up for herself and showing the independence Katherine was capable of.

    3. We can see relevance from “The Post” today through issues such as fake news and how it affects other media outlets who want to show the truth for what it is, rather than appealing to a specific demographic. How does this relate to “The Post”? Well, “The Post” is about the struggle of a few journalists who want to expose the truth about the Vietnam War to give people the view they need for their own consideration, and we can see this today as many journalists struggle to reach out to show everyone the truth instead of having them believe in the lies they have already been exposed to. Freedom of the press is important because it allows others to obtain views they may have been unable to see before or inform others of what they need to hear.

  15. Kyla Hurns

    Blog #107 – The Post
    The directors of The Post did a very good job at showing the audience what life would be like in the 1970s. Even those viewers who may have lived in that time period were able to feel like they were living their past life. There were many differences in the 1970s compared to the current time of 2018. For example now no matter where you go everyone has some sort of technology device and a majority of Americans work involves the use of a computer or another device. I don’t think that movie glorified the age of newspapers because during that time period that’s how important it was to daily life. In the 1970s that was how Americans received their news and updates about things that were happening in the world. The movie may seem like it’s glorifying the newspapers because now it is something that we are not used too.
    Towards the start of the movie, the main female character katherine Graham is portrayed to the audience as a very shy and submissive women. She doesn’t like to exert her power and authority despite the fact that she is in charge of the newspaper. There are many instances in the movie where they directly insult her as women and indirectly with many of the decisions and choices they make. Graham follows all of their suggestions and doesn’t make her own decisions, but as the movie progresses we see a big change in that. The Post does a wonderful job showing the growth in Katherine Graham’s character, we begin to see Graham stand up for herself against the men and show her strength not only as a boss but also as women in a leadership position. The viewer can see this when many of the men that she worked with didn’t believe that they should publish the Pentagon Papers as they felt it was too risky. But, she ignored them and followed her gut and made the decision to publish them despite the inevitable consequences that she might face. By the end of the movie Katherine Graham was making decisions to help inform America for the better not just please the men she worked for.
    This film is relevant and timely to today because during the entire 2016 election period and campaigning many politicians used the news and their negative criticisms of them to attack the news and their goal of informing the public. The results of this conspiracy of the “fake news” has made it very hard for Americans to know what to believe when they are told about important information or news. It has gotten very hard for news anchors to down their job and inform the public of information because the news is now constantly being attacked by different politicians. When there are Americans who do not trust the news or what the reporters say, it leads to a lot of misinformed Americans who don’t know what is going on in their country which is extremely dangerous. Freedom of the press is important because it is crucial for the success of any country. The freedom of press allows the public to participate in making decisions based on the information and ideas that they are given by the press. Without the freedom of the press it can lead to very dangerous decisions being made by the majority which will eventually affect every single level of government.

  16. Will D

    Will Drake
    1/28/18
    The Post Blog
    Since the 1970s, life has clearly changed in countless ways. Many of these advances are in technology, such as the internet or our current cell phones. Also, reporters for newspapers or TV now type their stories on computers instead of typewriters, as seen in the film. Since the 70s, the political climate has also changed. During the 70s, all of the political issues were in relation to the cold war. For example, the US military fought to contain communism to North Vietnam as it had done 20 years prior in Korea, and the United States began to negotiate relations with communist China. I think that The Post is attempting to glorify the age of crusading newspaper the will probably never return. Since the 70s and the release of the Pentagon Papers and Watergate, the people of the US will never again trust the media as they once did. Also, TV is a much more common way for the media to share news compared to newspapers. It is also common for the media to release very large or important stories like they once did in the 1970s. Many times, many of the media outlets run boring or unnecessary stories to pass time on their channels. And personally, many of the things on the news nowadays I do not care for, as they are either boring, or I know that I am not getting the complete story (This goes for both sides by the way).
    Katherine Graham is shown very well as the only woman involved in the newspaper. When the movie first starts and there is the first meeting, the movie does a very good job of showing that she is indeed the only woman in the room. They accomplish this by showing many different shots of the room, to which she is the only woman in it, and also showing that there is some bias against her because of that. Next, throughout the entire movie, we see her surrounded by many different men who are pushing her to make decisions. She does not commonly back down to their demands though, and does what she wants to do and what she believes is best for the paper. The movie shows her growth from a publisher to a powerful player in the newspaper as well. As the movie goes on, the audience sees Mrs. Graham progress from accepting decisions given to her, to defending her own decisions and refusing to change them. An example of her defending her decisions is in her decision to publish some of the Pentagon Papers. Many of the men around her did not want the papers published, but despite the pressure not to publish she went with what she believed was right, even if it might cost the newspapers future. This shows her prioritizing getting the truth to the American people over her own paper, which means a lot.
    I believe that the film is still indeed relevant to current events involving the media in many ways. First, it shows how the freedom of the press in our first amendment is so important. Without this freedom, the American people at the time would have never known about the secrets enclosed in the Pentagon Papers. Without these papers being published, it is possible that the Vietnam War would have progressed for even longer than it did. Also, I think that the film meant to show that the news does usually tell the truth, despite the backlash against them. It is to also show that the press is for the people and not for the government. But I also believe that The Post is directed at the press as well. In the movie, it showed the Washington Post took caution to make sure that they had the evidence to back up their claims. This is telling the current news sources today that the news they provide out should be backed up with credible sources first. Finally, the film shows that the system of the US government does work. Nixon attempted to shut down the press, but he eventually had to submit to the decision of the Supreme Court and allow the Times and Post to publish their articles.

  17. Henry Berthel

    1. The Post stayed very faithful to the 1971 time period. Other than the quality of the camera being used to record the movie, everything in this movie existed 45 years ago, and it could have been made that long ago too. One of the main things in the movie that sets it apart from a modern-based movie is the newspaper companies themselves. In the modern day, most people get their news from online sources or the television. This movie shows how the only real major source of news was through the newspapers. This made me think about the “fake news” in our current media and if it would be such a big deal in the media back then. Most people would only be reading one or two newspapers usually, so if those newspapers decided to put in “fake news”, a lot more people would believe them, because there is less media to prove that they are incorrect. I feel that the post glorified the age of newspapers, as they made it seem like it was an age of competition for newspaper companies, and that any opposition to these companies was bad. However, I still love how the movie really makes it seem like it was recorded back in 1971.

    2. The film portrayed Katherine Graham as the lone woman in a sea of powerful men by zooming in on her situation throughout the movie. When she is told by the men at the beginning of the movie that other companies will see her as weak because she is a woman running a company, she is not phased. This is how a lot of the movie goes, where tons of the men are telling her what to do, but she is the one who gets to make the decision, and she only does what she thinks is best. As the movie progresses, you see her going from just a normal publisher to a very strong person. Later in the movie, she must decide to risk her friendship with Robert McNamara in order to find out the truth. At the beginning of the movie, she may have not done this, but she truly grew as a person and she decides that she must take the risk.

    3. This movie is extremely relevant today. The Washington Post had to risk their entire company in order to spread the truth found in the Pentagon Papers. With Freedom of the Press, they should not have to worry about this to the extent they did. In today’s society, we can see that this applies now too. News companies may have to worry about what extent of the stories is available for them to release without getting backlash from many people. Freedom of the press is extremely important, because we should be able to know what the truth really is, and without it, we could be left in the dark on major issues relating to the government, or anything else.

  18. Kate Karaskewicz

    1. There is no question that life a changed since the 1970s, you can get news pretty much instantly, fewer and fewer people rely on the morning newspaper for breaking news. Weather or not the film glorifies this time is a different matter. I feel as if you could say almost all movies based on true events, or set in the 20th century somewhat glorifies the way people lived before the “digital” age. I think one of the post’s main themes is that there trying to deal with change as well, the Washington post is going public and there is all this new information about how our government was lying to the country for years. I feel as if another key part of the film being true to that time is how it seemed they were all still “cooling down” from the 60s. Kathrine is now running the company that her father and her husband once had, Tom hanks’ character explains how close he was with JFK, the day he died and how much he misses him, and again the pentagon uncovering how bad and how long U.S had really been involved been involved. When Katherine Graham went to talk to Robert Mcnamara and even though he was a closed friend she kind of goes “what the hell dude” because her son who went to fight could have died, as so many others actually did, for a country whose government didn’t even have hope of winning the war.

    2. This aspect of the movie was actually my favorite part. In the beginning you see Katharine Graham a widow and head of the Washington post kind of by default, getting ready to go to the board to discussing go public because they company needs the money. You see she knows her stuff but once she goes to the meeting which is full men she gets nervous and a man steps in to state all the facts and arguments that she had rehearsed. How every by time she needs to make a decision on whether to publish, which would paint a close friends in a bad light, risk the future of the Newspaper and with like 8 different men arguing she decides that she is for it.

    3. The film has somewhat perfect timing. They too we dealing with a somewhat ridiculous presidential administration trying to cover up whatever it was the was going on. A predicament that seems similar to the struggle between trump and the press today. Who publishes fake news and if and when it is published is completely beyond me. However, i feel it has caused people to question the media more. In the 1970s plenty of people still thought of the government as truthful, productive, and having the best interests of the people always at heart. Those adjectives are seldom applied to the government these days. The big difference is everyone trusted to press but now increasing more people don’t. Freedom of the press is still so important because the all people should know the good bad and the ugly, ignorance is not always bliss. Restricted access or censoring the news is something that happens today in counties we look down upon.

  19. Dorian Campillo

    1. In the movie The Post, we see precisely the lifestyle of people in the 1970s. In the movie, we see thing we do not generally see in the modern era, such as payphones, different clothes/hair styles, and old TVs. Since then, life has greatly changed as now we have 3D television. We also have completely different clothes that would probably be considered unusual in that time period. This movie also definitely shows an age of newspapers that may never come back. In The Post, people rush to get their newspapers, which is something we do not see often recently. Newspapers now however, are less common. Sure, you can buy one at your local Kroger, but currently, TVs, cell phones, social media, etc are much more widely used among people as basically everyone has one and it comes with free news. Due to all the technology that is now so common, people (including me) do not have the need to have to pay for a newspaper, if we have devices where we can look up literally anything and everything we want. Also, new news will spread around everywhere in a matter of minutes, where for newspapers, you would have to wait until the next day to find out about it.

    2. In the beginning of the movie, we see Katherine Graham be portrayed as “innocent” and not having too much power. Yes, she was in charge of the Washington Post, but they were not well known (they were more of a local newspaper although it did not really seem like it in the movie). After the publication of the Pentagon Papers, the Washington Post became a big-time new source, and every other big newspaper was publishing it which led to the huge rise of Graham. Because it was her decision to publish the Pentagon Papers, she was now well known and people knew not to mess with her. We see a drastic change from her personality because at first she was not well known compared to the end of the movie.

    3. We see this film be timely and relevant with how some presidents claim that news outlets have been apparently lying. However, most of the time we see that the news expose bad things a person has done in or not even in the government. Freedom of the press is important as it helps the people of a country see what is really going on with their government, as they should know at all times whether what their government is doing is right or wrong or if they’re lying to them or not. By having the freedom of the press it is easier to see or to be angry with the government and it helps regulate what the government does by forcing them to make things that wont anger people.

  20. Hadin Sayed

    1. I think life in terms of the media business has changed a lot due to technology. From the movie you can tell that back then the news was mostly reliant on the newspapers. Back then the newspaper were the huge businesses that investors were investing in. Nowadays, because of technology, I feel like people that are trying to get the news are less reliant on newspapers and are just going to turn on the television and watch a major cooperation like NBC, CNN, Fox, etc. Even the newspaper business is changing their model, and are becoming big online. I feel like the movie did glorify that age of crusading newspapers, and showed how different the newspapers were viewed, and the difference in technology from then and now. At the same time I don’t think the age of crusading newspapers will ever completely die, because as long the big players in the newspaper businesses are constantly adapting to the advancements in technology, they will be fine.

    2. The movie did a great job showing the growth of Katherine Graham from the beginning to the end of the movie. In the beginning, there was a scene with Katherine Graham and board members discussing the financial aspects of the Washington Post. When the men were asking questions about the finance, Graham knew all the answers but felt shy to raise her voice for the men to hear her. Also discussing her view on the finance she was shy, and never talked back to the board members. The movie made it clear Graham felt powerless amongst those men. Later on though, when the board members were questioning Graham’s decision to publish the story, Graham put them in the place. Graham made it clear that she was the leader of the Post, and anyone who doesn’t acknowledge that fact should not be part of the advisory board.

    3. I definitely think the conversation regarding the freedom of the press is relevant today. As you can see from the movie the press exposed the real reasons why we were in Vietnam and exposed the Government. This conversation is relevant in the current climate because people and the current administration are bashing and discrediting the press so much, that if the press finds any huge scandal about the current administration, the current administration will just call it fake news, and a lot of American will believe that. An example of this happening recently is when the New York Times wrote a story on how Trump ordered the firing of Muller, which was confirmed by sources on the right and left, and Trump just brushed the story aside by referencing the source New York Times. The freedom of the press is extremely important to a functional democracy. This is because, as the movie explained the press holds the government accountable for its actions. No matter who is in office, the press is how the people connect with the government; so therefore, must tell the people all the things going on with the government (including the shady and bad things).

  21. Kyle V

    Life since 1971 has changed in big way from technology and clothing too what we see today as normal. Payphones are never seen anymore as many people today use cell phones to communicate. T.V’s today are all in color compared to T.V.’s in the 70’s which were still black and white and only a few people had color T.V.’s. For clothing they pictured most of the people in button down shirts with ties, Suits and dresses. Nowadays people don’t use newspapers for information or the daily source of news, we use television stations for news like; CNN, Fox news and we use the internet to look up news too. Most Newspapers now have their news stories online for people to read rather than just having them in the newspaper. Most people just think that their grandparents read the newspaper and that might be true now that newspaper starting to go online, so this might be a great way to show the glory of the newspaper that may never come back.

    In the beginning of the film Katherine Graham is shy and caring in the beginning of the film like when she presents the plan to have the Washington Post go public and have the stocks for the company be bought. She knows the information she just can’t finding her voice in the company. The other members of the board try to take advantage of her and try to pressure her into decisions telling her it’s what her late husband would have done. As the film progresses she begins to find her voice she stands up to Robert Mcnamara to publish the papers and stands up to the rest of the advising board to publish the papers after the New York times was shut down by the government. Near the end she is the power player for the Post and that no one will make her decisions for her.

    The issues of freedom of the press and speech in the post are relevant in today’s issues. President Trump has disagreed with an argued that what some sources like CNN and calling them fake news is a little like bit what was happening to President Nixon. While Trump is not shutting down news paper like Nixon and we are not in time of war it is just as important for sources like the New York times and CNN to tell their stories it’s just up to the reader or watcher to listen. Freedom of the press is important because it gives the people the right to write whatever they believe without any worries that the government will punish you for your beliefs. By writing anything from a newspaper to small local blog you can always be safe to write freely about your beliefs and that’s what makes this country and it’s rules the greatest in the world.

  22. Carolina Ishikura

    1. This film is very faithful to its timeline and setting of 1971, and it gives time for you see the laborious process of mass-producing newspapers. The world has changed a lot since then and it can be seen in a positive or negative way. Most young adults often glorify and fantasize the 1970s, but they mainly talk about bell bottomed pants, record stores, and peace signs. Granted, those were the 70s fads but like any era of American history, there were negatives. Though we’re looking at more of the posh side of the 70s with our main characters as professionals, it doesn’t take away era. The Post doesn’t glorify the 1970s and gives the audience the truth. This movie is somewhat glorifying the age of newspapers and it’s quite clear that we’ll never go to back to such a time. Everything news related is associated with technology, and the newspapers that still are being manufactured are often dismissed. It’s unfortunate now that America have the term “fake news”, The Post shows that whatever was published was real and no one ever thought twice to publish something false about the government. It was so uncommon that “fake news” was not even a concern. From our era and on it’s only technology sources.

    2. In the very beginning of the film Katherine Graham was shown to be a very delicate person. Her character development lacked until the big decision in the end. Her fragility is mainly affected by her surroundings of powerful men. As the story unfolds you are informed on how she ‘inherited’ her husband’s position in the Washington Post after his passing. In one of the well-known scenes of the film often called the “Hypothetical Question” showed how Ben Bradlee confronted Katherine with her faults on her and her husbands association with the previous two presidents (Kennedy and Johnson). In that scene it evidently displays Katherine’s concern for what people would think about her. In another scene when Ben Bradlee and others are urging Katherine for her say on publishing the Pentagon Papers, it shows how much she has grown. The anatomy of the scene is complex because her vulnerability is easily displayed due to the fact that she had just gone to bed and she’s in her nightgown. Even though she’s surrounded with men in dress clothes as per usual, she hesitates (to show her habit) before deciding even though it was clear that she was going to publish no matter what. The ending is very satisfying because we saw Katherine’s personal journey from beginning to end.

    3. Freedom of press should always be fought for and defended, and it should always remain independent. There should be no circumstance where the President can hush journalists. The Post is relevant and timely in such a convenient way. I saw this film as a reminder that government secrets don’t last long, and that we should not repeat the past. Freedom of press is so important to the country because as it is we’re already not informed of many things. Journalists work very hard and sometimes risk their lives to bring justice in the world, and have our lives not at a risk. That should not go unnoticed and everyone on this Earth should know everything going on. I do not mean what celebrities are doing because that’s all worthless information.

  23. Nick Johns

    Everyday life has changed a lot since 1971. Most noticeably, everything is digital now. Almost everybody carries around smartphones now, where you can make or take a call from anywhere in the world, yet in 1971, everything was landline based, so your telephone was only as mobile as far as the cord could stretch. Typewriters have been dominated by writing programs such as Microsoft Word, or Google Docs. Additionally,the usage of paper in general is on the decline because of the digitalization of many things such as newspapers, books, and even messages. Even physical currency is beginning to compete with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. The movie The Post really glorifies the days of analog objects, as many are shown throughout the film. Most noticeably, the movie itself is about a newspaper company, so actual newspapers are shown continuously throughout the film. Another recurring item in the film was payphones, which are used very often, especially in the first half of the movie. This is why I believe that the film is trying to glorify the analog age.
    Katherine Graham, the owner of the Washington Post starts off as a very nervous, clumsy person at the beginning of the movie. This is best shown during a conference meeting where Graham is the only woman in the room, and she looks very overwhelmed with the discussion, and when it is her turn to speak, she can’t find what she needs to say, which makes her look like she isn’t fit for the business. Towards the end of the movie, starting when the Post publishes the rest of the pentagon papers. Suddenly, the people in the movie start treating Graham like a very powerful person with a lot of influence.
    The Post probably came out when it did, to attempt to criticize President Trump and his effort to call out what he seems as biased media sources, such as CNN and The New York Times. The intent of the movie was probably to try to remind people that it is important to have freedom of the press. An unbiased media is important because it keeps people educated on current events and issues. Unfortunately, we live in a time where a majority of major news sources have political agendas, and this influences them to publish biased news, in accordance to their beliefs. Hopefully we can soon return to a time where news sources are purely objective, and the people get the real truth.

  24. Nia Kepes

    Nia Kepes
    Mr. Wickersham
    APUSH
    22, January 2017

    1. Since the time that the Pentagon paper scandal took place in 1971 so much has changed. For example, dial phones and payphones have changed to cell phones, typewriters have been replaced with computers, and cars have modernized. One of the biggest changes that stood out was how they printed newspapers. In the movie they had people who typed up the different sections on typewriters, then those sections were made into stamps and put in place where they belonged on each page and pages ran under them to be stamped and added to the newspaper. Now we have a much more efficient digital system for printing newspapers. I think that this age that seems so simple to us may never come back but I’m not sure it’s glorified since the movie focused more on the events than making the time period seem better than it was.
    2. From the beginning of the movie it is clear that Katherine Graham is out of place in running a company. She goes to a meeting of bankers and investors and is swarmed by men with not a single woman in the room. She is sitting in the meeting with her notes but has to have her assistant read the notes to the because didn’t feel comfortable talking and negotiating with them. Once they get back to her office from the meeting, her board members are talking about how the investors in the company wouldn’t want a woman in charge. When she had to make the decision about putting the papers in the news all of the influencing opinions were coming from men. When she finally the decision to put the papers in the newspaper over the board members it seemed like a clear sign of defiance and of expressing her powers as a women. Eventually she even yelled at the men about being on the board of HER company. That scene was amazing because there was a constant undertone of male superiority in the movie and she had just shown them that she was superior and she owned the company so she could make decisions and expected their full support after having made them.
    3. This film is relevant and timely because people today can compare and contrast the conflict in the movie then with the events going on right now. For example one contrast that could be made is between the forms of communication and publication. Back in 1791 during the pentagon paper scandal most news came from either the newspapers, tv, or radios. Now in 2018 we get our news from so many different platforms. There is a constant digital record of presidential quotes streaming from twitter. The thoughts of the president on any issue are out there for the world to see. A comparison that could be made is between Donald Trump trying to delegitimize all news outlets that say anything bad about him by claiming that they report “fake news”, and Nixon who went as far as to sue the New York times and Washington post for publishing classified government papers. Freedom of the press is so important because without freedom of the press the citizens of America could be more easily controlled and manipulated by whatever the government would put out. Plus, at this point the movie has proven that the government lies to us with freedom of the press, without freedom of the press we could be constantly lied to.

  25. Jake Stollman

    I) It’s been 48 years since 1971 and the events depicted in The Post. In that timeframe, the world has been nothing if not transient. Among other societal shifts, we have observed an unprecedented increase in globalization, or in other words, am increase in the connectivity of the world. What a profound and incredible change in technology this has been! For example, In 1971, to contact someone from across the country, one had to input (comparatively) large quantities of change into a phone booth. Now, all one needs to do is say the name of their contact into the phone, and in a matter of seconds, you will have them on the line indefinitely. This change is even more drastic in sending information from somewhere to somewhere else. Back then, one needed to collect the information in person or mail it via snail-mail. Now, we have email, which enables us to send messages from one to another, over the internet, instantaneously. This has been very much evidenced in the newspaper, which has transitioned into a new form in the digital age. Chiefly, newspapers have become relatively obsolete. They have currently been replaced by news sites/corporations, this will be discussed later. Socially, the 70’s were relatively tumultuous as compared to today. African-Americans had recently ended segregation and were still facing difficulties fitting into society, as women were finally claiming an equal economic foothold as men. I hold that The Post is indeed glorifying the 70’s as an era of great social change of crusading newspapers, as we are currently seeing a similar age of ruling papers. Not only may this age come back, it has. As newspapers have become obsolete, we now have crusading news corporations. Some examples include CNN, FOX News, BuzzFeed, Breitbart, The Huffington Post, and The Washington Post, as it were. Though the monolithic printing machine complexes have been compressed into a relatively short stream of binary code as of late, the fundamental principles of the news companies have been the same. We compulsively check out phones for the news, have live updates when it happens, and such. However, as opposed to the TV stations that report the news as it happens, we have miniature newspapers in our pockets to watch the same news from anywhere.

    II) The film portrayed Katherine’s rise to action in many ways throughout the film. For example, we see Spielberg’s directorial genius in the first shot of her in the movie. In this shot, she suddenly wakes up from her slumber. This is a foreshadowing of what is to come, and a summary of her character change throughout the movie- she elevated herself from a domestic, extravagant lifestyle (a slumber, if you will) to real, potentially life-threatening consequences. She is portrayed throughout the prior half of the film as a more pusillanimous individual, being reluctant or unable to take any massive action. She attempts to secure more money for The Washington Post at the beginning of the film to hire more reporters, but is dismissed. She seems to be, in the eyes of her male coworkers, a relatively nonessential member of the company, having little experience since she had come into the position of publisher from her husband. However, after she realized her paper would be threatened with legal action if they published the Pentagon Papers, she did away with her calm façade and chose to take the actionable position, publishing. Having a woman make a decision that momentous for a company of that influence was nigh-unheard of. In spite of the sexism that was prevalent at the time, also depicted in The Battle Of The Sexes (which took place two years after this film), Katherine Graham decided to publish the papers, cementing herself as not a motherly face of the company, but as an important decision-maker.

    III) The film is incredibly relevant to the issues of today, obviously so. As mentioned before, the oligarchy of news corporations that dominate our phones and airwaves have replaced newspapers, and said newspapers faced a similar issue as today: a presidential disdain for negative news. In Nixon’s time, the paranoia was vaguely justified; they were highly sensitive documents that detailed the involvement of several US presidents in Vietnam, though they were very disgraceful nonetheless. However, in the present day, this is more nuanced. Donald Trump has done a similar deed of silencing news that doesn’t support him, often calling them “fake news.” However, the issues surrounding Trump are less extreme than Nixon’s, for Nixon’s Pentagon Paper scandal involved many other presidents and arguably over a million deaths in the Vietnam War, while Trump’s issues involve a less extreme possibility of a Russian collusion. However, the basic presidential opinion is the same: they want(ed) to limit negative coverage of themselves. This has been true since America recently began, from the Alien and Sedition Acts to cries of Fake News. However, that doesn’t mean it is acceptable. Freedom of the press has been a hallmark of U.S. life. In some countries (Hello North Korea), freedom of the press is unheard of. Freedom of the press allows writers to criticize the government, which can in turn lead to improvement because of criticism, but where there is no freedom of the press, the government is monolithic. The Post details the importance of freedom of the press, because if they had not published the papers, many more would have gone to Vietnam to die.

  26. Gray Mulligan

    1. The post is faithful to the time period and uses a lot of as the variety review called it
    museum-piece re-creation of the 70s and shows the audience just how much the world and the news landscape has changed and wants to pay its respects to the era of the newspaper and to paint it in a good light to honor the work of the post. The age where an anonymous leak causes front page news and a competition from newspaper to newspaper like the pentagon papers/watergate might be dead in print media but will hopefully live on in television and internet based news sources with the push for the truth falling to them. I think the time where a newspaper can find a source and publish their findings in full to reach the people is gone because of people losing interest in long stories and want quick, brief, and punchy news stories that a newspaper just can’t deliver.
    2. The movie showed us the change in katherine graham’s role in the paper through how she carried herself through her actions. In the beginning of the movie in the lunch meeting with ben bradlee she is focused on the drama about the stories and leaving the making and work behind them to others showing almost disinterest with the work behind them this starts to change starting with the board meeting where she stresses how much a few new reporters could change the paper and starts to become involved with the work. This scene also illustrated how she had to speak through people and showed us how much she contrasted the scene as a woman. The change is accented through the movie by her conversations later on with those same male figures that she now is able to speak to as an authority not as a bystander lets us see how much she has changed from the lunch meeting in the beginning of the movie where she was gossiping with bradlee to now where she is a determined fighter for the truth.
    3. I see this film as timely because it focuses on how the freedom of the press is a necessary check for the government that can be called upon and used to right their wrongs. The way the freedom of the press was saved by the supreme court in the movie is an example of how the press can highlight the wrongs of those in charge. However, now i feel that people aren’t giving enough attention to what the media brings to light and dismissing the work of the press. I fear that if people stop caring about fixing the wrongs and ignoring the work that the media brings to our attention we might allow for abuses of power to go unchecked and let them run rampant.

  27. David Mueller

    The world has changed much since the times presented in the movie The Post. One major one in relation to the film is the way news is moved around. Newspapers are becoming less common, and people look much more to TV and the internet to stay up to date on current events. News today is more instantaneous than it was back in the 1970’s. Articles can now be immediately published, and are spread incredibly quickly due to the internet. This makes time more important to modern news, because being behind by even an hour can now leave you in the dust. It also feels as though there is significantly less thought into the publishing of government secrets. We see leeks being published more often now, and it feels like less thought is put into their possible effect. But in a whole life moves much faster by the instantaneous nature of the internet, and the feeling that you are always on call is constantly with today’s people, youth especially. I don’t feel that The Post is trying to push the greatness of a time before fake news and huge leaks, as the Pentagon Papers were in fact a huge leak. But it comes down to more that the focus was on accuracy then on making everything pristine and perfect. The story doesn’t feel heavily polished to make the Washington Post look noble, as controversy and infighting towards the publishing still occurred.

    In much of the beginning of the film, Katherine Graham is almost unseen by the rest of the large members of the company. She was often ignored because she was a woman, and many believed her role was unfit for a woman to fill. We see this specifically in the first board meeting, when she had all the information and math done, but no one listened to her. Throughout the movie we see her be more assertive and stand her ground as head of the company. Finally culminating in her decision to publish the Pentagon Papers. This took her to the role of powerful player, as she not only ended the squabbles of the men around her, she made her newspaper more than something local.

    We live in a world of fake news and government leaks. Many have stopped listening to news or will simply write off anything they don’t want to here as fake. News still is incredibly important. How else would one know much of anything current? We rely heavily on companies to come us and tell us honestly and truthfully what is going on. That is one of the reasons that freedom of press is so important. Without it we could completely lose any honest news. The government could make it illegal to criticize it and ban whatever they wanted, ultimately hurting the people by suppressing their knowledge. In a world where the President of the United States of America is at war with media, a movie about the Pentagon Papers could not be more timely. Nixon tried to crush freedom by quieting the Washington Post with legal action, and ultimately, the press won. Trump is doing the same, but with his Twitter account, but history repeats itself. The war on fake news has great parallels to the Pentagon Papers, including the importance of the 1st amendment right of freedom of press.

  28. Jackson Gugni

    1.) I think the biggest difference between the 1970s and today would be the difference in how news spreads. As the movie shows, most people of that time bought newspapers and relied on them to gain information about the world. Today, that is much different. Today people rely on one thing, the internet. Not only is a majority of the United States connected to the internet in some way, but a large portion of us don’t ever touch a newspaper. This changes the way big name newspaper like the ones portrayed in the movie run their businesses. Rather than being as mobile as they were, they would use computers to access more information, as well as cell phones to contact sources rather than using pay telephones as seen in the movie. In my opinion, the golden age of newspapers was a great time period. The world today is fast paced, we gain all of our information within minutes of it happening. Back then, information was given out to everyone at the same time, in the morning by newspaper. Newspapers were constantly striving to get stories to share with the world.

    2.) In my opinion, I feel the movie did not do a great job of showing Meryl Streep to be a powerful woman plowing the way for other women hoping to be as powerful as her someday. Though I understand that she is supposed to be nervous and fearful at first, I saw her character as fickle and unable to make a decision by herself. I suppose you could defend that the directors were trying to make her that way, but I didn’t see it as impowering. Non-the less, in the beginning, Meryl Streep was lower down on the totem pole making her way up rapidly. At first, we see that she is extremely sacred during an all-male meeting, but as we progress we see other women back her up and support her. As she enters a building for a meeting in one scene, we see many women standing in front of the doors letting her in showing pride in her. Later we see that she is in charge of making some of the most important decisions within the company including whether or not they release the pentagon papers.

    3.) I guess the underlying point you are alluding to here is that Donald Trump is trying to silence the press based on their backlash to his decisions as president. Though I feel that this is definitely something that is problem, I feel that the bigger problem is how many forms of news are completely biased one way or another. Too many news stations as well as newspapers are either conservative or liberal, which is a huge problem because it sways readers or watchers in one way or another. The reason freedom of press is so important is because citizens need to be informed one way or another. They need to be fully included in what events are happening, and by having biased networks, you are turning citizens against another side in which they shouldn’t necessarily be against. News needs to be shown to inform people of what is really going on, not to provide a political agenda.

  29. Ugo Uchendu

    I think life has changed tremendously since the 1971 time frame as a result of the many technological advances that have been made. Nowadays, even though they’re still abundant, payphones are rarely used since everyone has a cellphone. In like manner, I can’t remember the last time I saw someone reading a newspaper because one could easily access all the information they would’ve gotten from doing so by doing a quick search online. As I observed the clothing and appliances from the 1970s I noticed a lot of things that weren’t available then, which I take for granted now. For example, instead of typing this essay on my laptop I would’ve had to use a typewriter and submit the document in person. I don’t think that the age of crusading newspapers will ever really disappear, because while there’s freedom of the press there will always be someone somewhere who makes and publishes a newspaper, and there will always be the people who prefer to read their news from the paper instead of online.
    From the moment the film started I picked up on the portrayal of Katherine Graham as the lone wolf in a sea of powerful male players. I can recall specifically the night before one of her meetings, she stayed up late trying to memorize flashcards that would guide her through the gathering. Once she got to the meeting, she didn’t say a word. It seemed like she was overwhelmed and intimidated by all the male figures around her. She constantly asked the people surrounding her to validate her opinions as if she didn’t know that what she had to say mattered despite whatever they may think. It wasn’t until towards the end of the movie where she gave the go ahead to publish the article, that she became a true leader. She was seen for the first time being sassy, confident, and speaking her mind unapologetically. That’s probably what I liked most about the movie. Just seeing Katherine Graham’s character development.
    Freedom of the press is extremely important because without it how would we know what is truly going on with the government? They could keep us sheltered from anything they didn’t want us to see, leaving us in the dark. The Post is relevant to today because by the same token, it shows the importance of the freedom of the press. In the movie we see how the uncovering of the lies told by the government affects people’s views on the system.

  30. Cole Sutton

    1. Life in this world has changed a ton since the post occurred. I believe with the increase of internet and technology, news has become more accessible and more open to the world. I think with this increase it has made the biggest change to our society and the way we look at politics, with these influential factors almost everywhere it’s hard to look away. An example of this is if something serious would to happen to this country it would get almost inentaniousley posted on the internet. Whereas back in the seventies you had to wait until the news was posted and printed, to read an article from the news after something important happened. I believe the movie wasn’t glorifying the time because it showed the difficulties and hardship of posting and writing news. I think events such as these make me feel important to be in a country with the first amendment. I also believe that this was one of the biggest accomplishments of the journalism industry. I think that most journalist will fight to give people the truth, which in the cause of watergate, the pentagon papers and the movie they did find the truth.

    2. In the start of the movie, it begins with her waking up in a pile of papers that shows you she is a hard worker, then she is consulted on her abilities explaining the matters in the news before entering an important meeting to bring the company public. Even though she knows all the information, she is too afraid to interfere with a “man’s conversation,” and lets a man talk over her to investors. She is noted as the only woman in the boardroom, and several times throughout the movie members of the company showed they had no respect for her. As the movie progresses, she becomes overcome with this decision of whether to post the Pentagon papers. Even though she has many people telling her what to do, the choice was ultimately hers and up to her word, and she chose the risky path to publish them. This starts to show her gaining confidence and she finally claims her leadership position. Another challenge that arises is the justice department tries to stop the publishing of the Pentagon papers. She was faced with criminal charges that would destroy Katherine and the Washington Post, but she decided to pursue. KAtherine continues and you can finally see her take charge of her company and lead it to a successful business.

    3 I agree with seeing this film as relevant and timely because the news today is continuing to post controversial things on the internet. People may say that the papers are going against the government like in this movie which leads you to connect that this has already happened in history.

  31. Megan Zacharias

    1.     Since the 1970’s, the time period that the movie The Post took place, we have achieved many technological advancements. We went from pay phones to cell phones and from black and white TVs to flat screen TVs. One of the most important developments, that was significant to the movie, are newspapers. Newspapers are not as popular now as they were almost 50 years ago. Today, most people get the majority of their news from apps on their phone, twitter, or the TV. Journalism is not a prevalent career today. The Post did glorify the newspaper industry. To me, it seemed that the job was important and possibly heroic. The movie made the journalists seem dominant because of the huge impact that one article had on the country. They had an impressive power that they could use against the government.
     
    2.     Katherine Graham is seen as the lone women many times throughout the film. In the beginning, you can see her as more reserved and unsure of herself when talking to large groups of men. Even though she is in charge of the newspaper, many people did not respect her authority. They do not trust her as they trust men. During the meeting at the start of the movie, Katherine would state a fact or data, but her staff would not listen or react unless a man said the same thing. As the movie went on, you could clearly start to see Katherine’s confidence in herself grow. Near the end, her male co-workers were pressuring her to not publish the pentagon papers. She strongly believed that she should, so she stuck with her gut and made the decision she thought was right. She proved that she deserved to be the head of the newspaper, even when many thought she did not.
     
    3.     This film is prevalent today in the aspect of media, because it shows the power that publications have when they present unknown truths. With the newspaper, the article on the pentagon papers would reach many people. The idea was to expose the government and what they were hiding from the country. The same idea applies to today in social media. Anyone can post articles about anything to tell the truth. I think this coincides with fake news because powerful people will claim that the news is not accurate, when in reality they are trying to protect themselves. This film shows how the media today could affect people’s opinions as the newspaper did in the 1970’s. 

  32. Devin Woodruff (3rd Hour)

    1.Life has changed a lot since 1971.Including are clothing, technology advancements and the way we speak up for what we believe in. Things also changed by the way we read the newspapers. We now read our paper digital which has lower the papers rating including Washington post and the new york times since we can view our news online now. Nor, do I believe that we will ever find a newspaper and or new publishers like Katherine Graham to stand up for what she thought was right. In today’s age, there aren’t a lot of people that will fight for what they think is the right thing to do.

    2. Katherine Graham grew a lot throughout this film. She started off doubting herself, not knowing if she could make the right decisions. In fact, during her meeting with the board of directors, she had prepared a speech and everything to say before they turned the company public but she got too nervous and another man spoke up and said what she was going to say. Increasingly throughout the movie, she was doubting if she was the right person to be publisher/CEO of the Washington post and maybe thought that someone would be better within her position. But When Katherine was called into her office to take a phone call that changed everything. It changed the way the Washington post in know today. I believe in that moment she realized it was time for her to take a risk in order to make and change. As the audition, we really knew she was turning into the power play when she told some of her board members that she didn’t care what they thought and if they didn’t respect her decisions maybe she needed to find some new people that would. To sum up, Katherine Developed throughout the movie from needing to take everyone’s advice and be the car to a strong woman that knew what she was doing.

    3. I see the film the post very relevant to today’s newspapers.The newspapers server to be able to the news in order to inform the American people and the papers have a right to publish what they see necessary. Even though that there are fake new we just hope that people are educated more about real and fake news, Furthermore, freedom of the press is so important because it allows for the newspaper to express what’s real and what’s fake. Also, by having freedom of the press it promotes the ability for the press to speak the truth. To end off, having freedom of the press is important for the press to do their job and report the news to keep the public in the forum.

  33. sofia di stefano

    3. I do think the film is still relevant to today with the things in current events, fake news, etc. It depicts freedom of the press perfectly. The definition of Freedom of the Press is the right to publish newspapers, magazines, and other printed matter without governmental restriction and is only restricted to the laws of libel, sedition, obscenity, etc. Therefore, whatever the press can get their sticky fingers on, they can publish unless it is very inappropriate. Along the lines of fake news, I think that people should be able to publish it because there are no laws that restrict it, but it should be labeled as fake news. Freedom of the Press is very important because it lets people express their opinion without being restricted. This comes to mind in the presidential years and certain TV stations being for/against different political parties.

  34. Gabriel Gamlin

    1. The United States, and the world at large, hasn’t changed too drastically from what it looked like in the 1970s, materially and socially. True, that in those days people didn’t use the then rudimentary Internet for non-business-related use, people talked to each other superficially rather than introspectively, and people used payphones, which could give you ear cancer. The Media was mostly clean and focused on easy viewing in tv shows like Hanna-Barbera and Informative tabloids, like NBC News, there wasn’t much of an “open conversation” about social problems, as they sometimes either went ignored or were brushed over by society, but plights like the war on crime and left-wing protests were incredibly aggressive and rebellious for their time. Music was evolving and growing wildly in the time, as Rock acts such as Led Zeppelin and the infamous Sex Pistols took over the “underground” scene of music, Disco was the hot sound of the night life from your average city brick-in-the-wall worker to a rebellious young punk, and a new, rebellious sound called “Hip Hop” was being created by the inner-city New York youth. The rise of the Conservative movement was in full force, as Richard Milhouse Nixon, proverbial demagogue of the time, took center stage in the nation, and held the power of the executive seat with great force. Raging Conservatism, weird music and counter culture, and large protest is something that we clearly still have today, maybe even too much. It was a wacky and weird time to be alive, but I think that the film we watched did not glorify the Era to a large extent, because a lot of what the Movie was trying to do was reveal the ongoing attempts to subvert the rather toxic norms that were being established during and prior to the events of “The Post” by Steven Spielberg., the almost totally legal attempts to silence the Washington Post and the New York Times from reporting the truth was reinforcing the reality of the limited social awareness of the time, back when instead of calling something “fake news”, you could straight up cut them off entirely from their freedom of press, and the god awful transportation services and communication where they had to send their fresh out of college interns to sneak into places and risk their jobs for a small piece of info instead of browsing the latest WikiLeaks batch release, was representative of that. If the movie was trying to glorify the 70s than this would have been an awful way to do it.
    2. The Post’s head chairwoman was seen terrified by the environment of encroaching old white dudes surrounding her and drowning out her opinions due to their alleged social power over her, and she at first remained submissive to the will of the company’s other councilmembers, as seen in the scenes depicting the board meetings where she failed to speak up upon her statements, but at the same didn’t relent to the very corporate options offered by the others in order to further the business, instead trying to keep the Post like a family business of some sort, evident right after the aforementioned scenes. Her goal was to maintain the purity of the business, and for them to prosper and coast along without risk, even in it meant little reward. Eventually, when the case of the Times was brought to the Court, Katherine mustered the courage and leadership to make a statement in the name of hers and other news companies, making her and the business’ plight known to the nation, and she stood against the betrayal of the Government, who sought to take away the freedom of the press from American News outlets.
    3. The freedom of the Press is important because if the press is not allowed to report using any amount of information or push any sort of message, than people could live in a world where all they see around them is rhetoric and lies, fabricated to build a mental shell around the minds of civilians, diminishing their humanity by restricting their knowledge, and denying the “truth” about the world around them. Today, we almost see a problem formed by the opposite issue: too much freedom of the press, to the point where there is no obligation to report on the truth or reality of the world around us, and there is nowhere to look to have an example of sobered thought and information. I don’t think that the message of restricting the freedom of speech or press in “The Post” is entirely like that of the fake news issue of the current era, as one has an emphasis on restricting information and news altogether, and the other is an issue of people not valuing facts and information at all, rather settling for a narrative that pushes the idea of a certain reality.

  35. Diego Roell

    Diego Roell
    APUSH 5th Hr

    1. Life and society has changed greatly since the seventies in many different ways. The advent of technology and the Internet has molded society: the exposure of American society to the much larger world has shaped the current American psyche. In the past, countries were mostly self-contained. Ideals and values of one country could and often would remain within a country, expanding and changing slowly. Each country had its trends and its issues, and although international diplomatic organizations and issues existed, they were mostly sidelined. The world is now more interconnected, leading to the quick spread and change of ideas. A prime example is the events that occurred during the Arab Spring of 2010: the rapid introduction of progressive ideals in North African and Middle Eastern countries due to increased social media and global connectedness unleashed a wave of social unrest that culminated in insurgencies, civil wars, coups, and even revolutions that ousted authoritarian, traditionalist governments. Social and technological progress are directly related, and technological progress happens as a function of time. I don’t feel that The Post glorifies that past; the time period is purely incidental, in my opinion. The story just happens to occur at a time when newspapers were grand institutions that guided progress in the world and could be greatly influential. In fact, I feel that that they still hold that role, but the way they exercise their power has changed. Newspapers can now reach a larger audience than ever, and the value of information has increased. Journalism has changed but its impact has not diminished. An example is the publication of the Panama Papers in 2015 that resulted in the resignation of several government officials across the world.

    2. Katherine Graham had a meteoric rise from being a rich socialite with inherited wealth to being a powerful businesswoman who helped bring down a corrupt government. It is quite clear that the seventies were perhaps not the most progressive time: gender roles were still rigid and women were not expected to be particularly successful or independent. In the beginning of the film, when Graham is at the conference with investors from the bank, she practices and repeats statistics and facts to negotiate with investors. However, he barely even says a word during the meeting, instead letting a business associate speak. As the movie goes on, Graham begins to become emboldened by her goal to truly take control of the company and turn it into a powerful newspaper that could go toe-to-toe with the New York Times. She goes off to confront McNamara about the report that was acquired by her newspaper, and eventually chooses to publish the report even after being threatened by the government. She made the company public and guided its development, resulting in the Washington Post becoming one of the largest and most recognized newspapers in America.

    3. The making of the movie is timely; with the election of Donald J. Trump as the 45th President of the United States, the press and media have become a hot-button issue. Trump has declared that mainstream media is inherently biased (against him), and that people simply should not trust newspapers and other forms of journalism. He has repeatedly attacked news networks in the past, even going as far as claiming that so-called “fake news” organizations (which are a myriad of companies that generally seem to oppose him) are the enemy of the people. This has made many people anxious and worried, since the discrediting of the press and eventual gutting of freedom of the press is a classic move for authoritarian leaders and dictators. It is clear that Trump is no dictator, but the sudden increase in people believing that news organizations cannot be trusted is worrying. Freedom of information is the life force of democracy, and a decline in the availability of information and unwillingness to trust journalists could be heralding the beginning of dark times. Liberty is dependent on an informed society. If news organizations are silenced, the people become vulnerable to people with ulterior motives that seek to deceive and control. If the government or any organization gains a monopoly on the truth, they can make the truth be whatever they please. As the Washington Post’s new slogan states: Democracy Dies In Darkness.

  36. sofia di stefano

    1-Our nation has changed extremely since the 1970s, one of the most drastic changes is, how technology has impacted our life.It is obvious that phones and computers are not as big nowadays like they were back in the 70s. As well as new or more developed tools we have more efficient systems of transportation. In this case the news has found new ways to deliver it’s information, whether that be in a digital copy or over television or radio shows. Newspapers, no matter how pleasant and interesting to read to some people are no longer used as much instead people read news on their phones or use social media such as twitter. This movie does a great job of highlighting the differences between society now and then, and showing how that age of crusading newspaper might not come back, because the world of technology has improved so much. I personally that part of that age will never disappear because there is a difference between holding the newspaper and feeling the paper and turning the page and just scrolling on your phone.I think there’s people that will always appreciate a real paper newspaper.
    2-The Post does a very good job of showing Katherine Graham as the only woman involved in the newspaper. An example where her power is clearly shown is when Mrs. Graham attends the first meeting and in that scene there are many shots that show that she is the only woman in the room and some tension is notable because of this. Throughout the whole movie were it’s clear that Mrs. Graham is, for most of the time, completely surrounded by men who are constantly pushing her to make decisions.The movie decides to show her transition from a socialite publisher to a powerful player in the newspaper in particular ways. In the beginning of the film we see her accepting many of the suggestions given to her. These suggestions are often coming from men involved. As the movie progresses, we see Mrs. Graham making decisions for herself and also being able to defend them against the men that were previously trying to convince her into different decisions.A very clear example is when Mrs. Graham is pushed by many of the men to not publish the Pentagon Papers, but despite this pressure against her decisions she stuck with her initial decision knowing that it may not be the easiest option.
    3-I definitely think this film is relevant to today with the current events and as mentioned “fake news”. It also represents the freedom of the press perfectly. As the definition of “freedom of the press” says we have the right to publish newspapers, magazines, and other printed matter without governmental restriction. For this reason the press has the right to publish whatever they find or believe is needed to be seen by the public. After understanding the meaning of this right we have we also have the issues of fake news. think that people should be able to publish whatever they are trying to publish because there are no laws that restrict it, but it should somehow be told to the readers or the public in general that what they are reading can be expressed as fake news. This freedom of the Press that we are lucky to have is extremely because it gives everyone the right to publish and let the public know different types of news, this right could be even compared to freedom of speech.

  37. Dominic Gullo

    1. Obviously things have changed since the 1970’s. Clothing styles have changed, cars are different, and technology has greatly improved. But I do feel that this “age of crusading newspapers” has ended. In the film, the newspaper industry is portrayed as a business that fights for the truth, because the people have a right to know. Nowadays I see so many news websites that don’t even give a crap; websites that obviously put little effort into their research, and that are loaded with scam advertisements (we’ve all seen these websites). Websites like these only care about drawing people in, and they’ll jump on anything that seems the least bit popular. Many of these websites are successful in fooling people too. It only takes a few seconds to look something up and to find a random article on google. Another thing that bothers me is that so many news websites focus more on famous people and pop-stars than on actual world issues. So yes, I do think the movie is trying to glorify the old age of newspapers. Back then, the word “newspaper” had a different meaning.
    2. Throughout the film you can see Katherine Graham gain more confidence in her position. At the beginning, you saw her in that room full of male investors, and she couldn’t get a word in. At some points, she felt like she was incapable of running the business. I think it was really cool to see her gain confidence and take charge as the owner of the company (to be honest when she stood up to that guy and chose to publish I almost clapped). I imagine that being a woman in the 1970’s must’ve been hard, especially in Graham’s position. A lot of those men were probably surprised to see a woman in such a position, and many probably thought she couldn’t handle it. I think it was cool to see Katherine Graham overcome the obstacles that came with being a woman in the 70’s.
    3. I think in terms of freedom of the press, this film is definitely relevant to today. It is always important to remember how good we have it in America. We are allowed to express whatever thoughts we have, and the press is allowed to publish whatever they want. It is important that we don’t take these rights for granted, because some countries don’t have these rights. Does this connect with all the “fake new” stuff? I would say it does. Certain politicians are claiming that news networks are “fake news” possibly because they don’t want certain things leaking about them. Just like Nixon, there are certain politicians today that think they can get away with scandalous things. Don’t get me wrong, there are some news networks that can be rightfully accused of having fake news. But most of the time the politicians are the ones at fault.

  38. Jana Dinkeloo

    1.) You can see the difference between now and the 70s by just walking through your house. Gone are the black and white tvs, large landline phones and bulky teletypes. The technological advances since the 70s are oh so obvious. We’ve taken huge leaps in terms of technology and how we work, and have basically revolutionized the office. The movie could be interpreted as trying to glorify the days of newspapers, because those newspapers are becoming less and less common. Nowadays people just check twitter or other social media and rely on news websites to get their news, and the problem with this is that sometimes unimportant and maybe even fake things are reported. The Post shows a time where the newspapers all worked tirelessly to get the best stories and best sources, and in a world where all that some news sites do is shame women’s outfits, it seems like they’re trying to make a point about how important and relevant newspapers used to be.
    2.) The movie establishes from the beginning that Katherine is whip smart and dedicated to her newspaper company, but these sentiments are kept almost entirely to herself with the exception of some of her advisors. She’s the only woman trying to succeed in an extremely competitive business, and at the beginning she seems to hide behind her coworkers and let them just take credit for the many things that she figured out. An example that stuck with me was in the beginning when she and her coworker were meeting with the bankers, and she had been practicing and practicing what to say and had worked out all the numbers, but when the time came, she hid behind her male coworker and let him helm the conversation. She’s not as confident around all of the big business names as she is when she’s seen at home, but as the movie progresses we see her start to get more passionate about the newspaper and printing the story. She bursts out of her shell and takes charge when deciding about the printing of the Pentagon Papers, and when everyone is on the phone trying to convince her either to print or not to print, she doesn’t shy away and become wishy-washy. She makes her decision and doesn’t shy away from it, despite the reservations of her lawyers and coworkers.
    3.) This movie is extremely relevant to today’s issue with the media and fake news. It highlights again and again the freedom of the press and how important it is. Without the freedom of the press, the Pentagon Papers wouldn’t have come out, and Nixon could’ve continued on doing bad stuff until he had gotten out of office, and who knows what could’ve happened to our country? It also shows how the news should always be backed up with good, reliable sources, because especially these days, there are people who will believe anything that’s on the news, even if it’s biased or fake or satire. It relates to our Fake News trend, where the government fights back at any press that gives them a bad reputation, even if it’s completely true. I think The Post sent a really good message about the press and how it should handle news stories in this day and age.

  39. Graham

    The Post

    Throughout the film, the director Steven Spielberg stays true to the stereotypical scene of the era giving sets props such as pay phones, newspaper, teletype, black and white television, and even the clothes worn by the actors and actresses of this movie. One of the factors in showing what time period the movie that I had noticed was the common smoking in the workplace or the common smoking in general as in almost every scene it was seen that at least one person was smoking. There are many different changes within the present compared to when the movie was set to take place in the time frame of 1971. One of these changes would be the portable phone and the effects it would have on the movie is it could be much easier for the government to track one of these paper leakers well as it would be much easier to find a safe location to have a disclosed telephone call with a leaker of said papers. Another change would be the transition from the teletype to having every document stored on some type of computer to become more portable to have ease on the writer as you could erase a word within a computer if you had messed up whereas on a teletype, you would have to start over again. Some minor changes in the present that would have been in the movie would be the decrease in smoking as you just would not have seen it in as many scenes, the creation of the modern television in full picture, as the television was not focused on within the movie, and the clothes worn the the actors and actresses within the film as that more portrays what time frame the movie is. This age of newspapers may never come back, but it has evolved into something newer as the newspapers have moved into the digital era now having “newspapers” and online news and these newspapers feud within the internet for popularity. Also the newspaper companies such as the Times and the Post most likely find it easier to find stories and the email exists and you could send a story to a writer. Within the film however, the papers had to be brought by plane then scanned one by one. I think the question is not if the age of newspapers will ever come back, but more how has this age evolved as the human race does with newer electronics and ways of publishing.
    Katherine Graham was portrayed as a lone women in a sea of men as she was passed down ownership to the Washington post and was merely a cog in a machine even as the owner. Her Male counterparts, CFO’s and other important businessmen also in charge of the post basically made all of the rules and decision even at one point telling Graham that she would not be listened to as much based on her gender, as the 1970’s were a different time in human history and gender discrimination could be described as highly accepted around the time. There were little points in the movie where Graham could be even seen talking to another woman, either from the possibility of the patriarchal society of the 1970’s business world or just to amplify truly how alone this woman was within a “sea of men” and how she had to fend for her own and what she believed in. At one point within the film, Graham is portrayed with the option to either publish these groundbreaking stories of America’s involvement completely within the vietnam war or to not publish as just like the New York Times who originally had the papers and were under fire with the US Government for exposing their top secret plans of the Vietnam war.
    I agree with the news and media standpoint on how we face and issue such as our president attempting to cover up the news for secret actions that could hurt himself or the government. Our current president, Donald J Trump can possibly be seen with traces of this cover up with the name calling with news sources such as CNN. President Trump will constantly call the news “fake news” if they publish an article that he believes in propaganda against him and in order to defend himself, he claims the news that these newscasting companies fake and that they cannot be trusted as the news they report on is fake and full of lies. This however, most likely not being the fact as news companies such as CNN are very popular and cannot risk publishing fake news, as the president would be right and most likely, all news would be under fire as the question would be asked: who really can be trusted? Freedom of the press is important as it gives the truth on the sea of an oppressing government. An example of where freedom of the press should and could be used is North Korea. All news within the country is propaganda based and controlled by the government which means the flow of what information that is put out, is controlled by the government which means that the government could cover up specific new stories from getting out into the public. Freedom of the press changes this as the people are given their natural right of what happens within their life as they also live in the country.

  40. Emily Parker

    #1.) I think that the Post did a great job of showing what 1971 was really like. For example, it showed what people would wear then, the kinds of cars people would drive. But I think the most important thing that the movie showed us was how people communicated back then. It showed people (like me) who did not grow up in the 70s, how important the newspaper was to people. Today, we can just turn on the TV and see what is happening right now. Almost everyone these days also has a cell phone where they can read the news. News Papers are I guess still important, but there just not really a “newspaper” anymore, they are just digitally uploaded to their website. People can also listen to the news in their cars on the radio as well. I think people are just drifting away from paper and moving on to getting their news from an electronic source because it is easier and faster. I don’t think that people will ever go back to that era because reading the news on your phone or listening to it on the radio is much easier, and considering how people now have zero attention span, it would be hard to go back.

    #2.) Katherine Graham in the very beginning of the movie is seen as a very timid and anxious person. For example, when she was meeting with the bankers in the beginning of the movie, she had all these notes and papers. She was rehearsing in her office before the meeting and was extremely nervous. During the meeting, she wanted to speak but she just couldn’t bring herself to. This scene also clearly showed that she was the only female in the room. These men are acting like they are in charge and they are doing all of the work, even though Katherine is the person in charge. Throughout the movie, Katherine really comes out of her shell. About half way through the movie, she sort of takes the bull by the horns. She realizes that she has the power to shape the company how she wants to, she doesn’t need all these people telling her what to do. She decides to publish the Pentagon Papers, and by making her own choices, she was able to turn the Washington Post into a very successful source of news.

    #3.) This film is for sure relevant and timely with fake news and current events today. Our president, Trump, is similar to Nixon. They both would do anything to make sure they have a good reputation. I think freedom of the press is important because without it, people would not know the truth about people like Trump. Trump deems everything negative about him as fake news, and yes, there are many news sites are not true to their word. These “fake news” sites often have many misleading titles, but with Trump denying every bad thing said about him and these sites that may or may not be telling the truth, it’s hard to know what to believe. It is especially bad today because we are in a time where the country is really badly divided between political parties.

  41. Brody H

    1. Life has changed in so many different ways since 1971. There have been many different changes in the world since 1971 such as technological advances, clothing changes, industrial changes, political and governmental changes, etc. The biggest change has to be technological because the inventions of computers, cell phones, and the Internet have revolutionized how we go about our daily lives. Instead of a slow, heavy, time-consuming typewriter; we have a fast, light, easy laptop. Instead of getting all of our news off of paper newspapers, we can access every single news article off of our phones or laptops. Newspaper companies such as The Washington Post have online newspapers and post their articles online now because they realize that this age doesn’t read the paper anymore. The Internet has not only pushed people reading newspapers off the map, but it’s revolutionized how and when people get their news. Back then in the 70s, you had to wait till the next morning to receive your news from the day before, now you can turn on your phone and see news from 30 seconds ago. I believe this movie is definitely trying to glorify the age of the newspaper because it showed what it took to make the paper. It showed the journalists going out and getting their information, the process of picking which articles should be incorporated in the article and what should be on the cover. It showed writers typing away on their typewriters, what it took for the machines and factory workers to spell out, then print out all of the articles. I don’t think the age of the newspaper will ever come back because now instead of having to by a newspaper each morning, people can just access news on their phones for free.

    2. The film portrayed Katherine Graham as the lone woman in a sea of powerful male players because she was. In the beginning of the movie, they showed Mrs. Graham, whom was played by Meryl Streep, doing calculations and taking notes before a meeting to prepare. When she got to the meeting she was the only woman there, every time someone asked a question she would have the answer already in her notes and she could answer all the questions, but she didn’t. Mrs. Graham was afraid to speak every time she would start to talk, nothing would come out of her mouth, and if her and a male colleague started talking at the same time she would let him speak even though she knew the answer. Throughout the movie it shows how slowly she starts to share her opinion and make her own decisions for her company. In one of the last scenes, it shows Mrs. Graham and around 6 other male colleagues in her house debating whether or not she should make the decision to post the story about the pentagon papers or not. Many of them told her not to post the pentagon papers, saying that it would be the end to the company, but Mrs. Graham went with her own decision and posted the article. She realized it’s no longer her father’s company, no longer her husband’s company, it’s her company and she can do whatever she wants to do with HER company.

    3. I think the movie is currently relevant to the media today because the New York Times and Washington Post were trying to expose Nixon and the other previous presidents on how they handled the war in Vietnam through the pentagon papers and now the media is trying to expose Trump for things he has done in the past and how he has handled things. This movie is also relevant to what’s going on with Larry Nassar, the media was investigating old documents and doing research and finding all of these different sexual assault charges on Nassar and they are exposing him for the man he is. They can do all of this now because of the Court case that decided that the 1st amendment the freedom of speech and the freedom of press, can press anything they’d like, which keeps the government and all people in check.

  42. AJ Zako

    Back in 1971, life was much different than what it is like now. We are talking more than forty years later. We have great new inventions now like Iphones, computers, and many other great things that help us in everyday life. In my opinion, while most young people in my generation don’t know much about newspapers, I believe it is still very prevalent. I know we have the news and stuff on our phones now, but my dad still reads the newspaper and so do many other people. I occasionally read it as i find some of the local articles very interesting and can connect to them. In the movie, I would say they in a way kind of glorify this time period. They do this by showing all the big, beautiful houses along with cool classic cars. But I believe we may never have a time period like this again. The way technology is developing and the way we are growing as a civilization, I see it as not very possible. But anything can happen.
    The way Katherine Graham is portrayed by Meryl Streep is phenomenal. Throughout the film we really get to see Katherine Graham’s character develop from a just a women newspaper owner, to a powerful force to be reckoned with. At the beginning of the movie, you could clearly see that she was mostly dominated by men in powerful positions such as bankers, lawyers, and even other paper owners. Like the scene when she is sitting in the boardroom with all the powerful men at different positions and she is the only woman. But you can see toward the end of the movie that she starts to find her place and hold her own as she is the one that wants to publish the pentagon papers. She starts to realize that she doesn’t need to take anything from any of these powerful men and can she can make her own decisions.
    While the movie is about a real event that happens back in the 70s, it is still very prevalent to today. With issues happening with trump and fake news it connects quite well. Freedom of the press is still very prevalent today because of how while we might not be writing as many news paper article anymore, we are still writing articles online and posting things that is probably easier to see and be accessed by more people. Freedom of the press and of speech is very important cause we are at a day and age where so many people have so many different opinions. That’s why it’s is kind of cool that so many different platforms for them to express those opinions. Hopefully in a calm way people can kindly agree or disagree with.

  43. Kevin Gruich

    1 Life has changed in many ways since 1971. In pure comparison, life has become much simpler with the advent of the information age. But life has also complicated with these new technologies and added more anxiety and worry into our daily lives. Much of this worry resulting from the constant feed of information altering views of the world like never before. The movie does glorify the ideal journalistic golden age of the time. We have not since lived in a time of groundbreaking journalism. And with the advent of 24 hour news, it may never come. While profit has always mattered in new companies, never as much as today. Now news is highly embellished and constantly pumped out in order to maximize viewers and profit. Why leave such secure profits for a risky, low reward endeavor like hard-hitting investigative journalism.
    2 Graham receives the most development in the entire movie as a character. This is seen in her changing role and becoming a true leader of The Post. At first she is pushed around and subservient to her political friends like McNamara. You can see her hesitation throughout the film as to whether or not she should take a more active role. This changes when she decides to publish the paper, even against many warnings from her staff and friends. She becomes a major player and is no longer just following the whims of her friends and is making her own major decisions. She is even standing up to the dominant power structure of the time.
    3 The ideas behind the period and the movie will always be relevant as long as opposing views exist. People will always attempt to silence one another when their views cannot compromise. The ideals don’t change only the methods, people will still try to silence, but more subtly than before as to avoid suspicion and a supreme court case like Nixon failed to. Fake news is just the latest incarnation of this, avoiding the direct action that could be constituted as infringing on the 1st amendment. Instead they settle for discrediting any source without reason. This still works to control the information as in any case an unprovable point will have more affect than the counter to the point, no matter how potent. Until we reach a utopian society of agreement and pure efficiency, this film and the events surrounding it will always be timely. Freedom of the Press is extremely important as it is inherently a strong counter to despotism, corruption and tyranny. If people have the power to say what they want they have more control over themselves and in turn over their government. They are not force fed an idea, and if they are it’s from their own choice.

  44. Alex Smith

    1.) Life has changed greatly since the 1970’s which was the era of time portrayed in the movie. The movie portrayed the use pf black and white televisions, typewriters, and many other everyday things that aren’t everyday anymore. For instance we have computers instead of type writers. Our tvs are multi colored and most people don’t use home and pay phones anymore. But what the movie seemed to exaggerate the most as the biggest change from then to now is the use of newspapers. The movie would obviously revolve around news papers since its a movie about a news paper company but it truly gave an insight into how important news papers were in the 70’s. It seemed as though the whole country depended on them as the primary news source which they did. In the present day we just turn on our colorful tvs or turn on our smart phones and have the news instantly at our fingers. With constant updates. I believe the era of news papers will never come back because compared to the devices we have its very slow and not reliable as often.

    2.) The film showed Kathrine Graham as a strong outer shell with weak insides until the decision was made. Throughout the movie she was constantly under fire by criticism seeing as though she was a woman in a powerful position. She was also coping with her husbands death. She had a lot of stress and while she knew what she wanted for the company she had trouble achieving her goals. But at the end she toughened up and took charge. She showed who was in charge and used the full extent of her power. She truly found who she was and realized her priorities. She had a lot of power in the freedom of the press and in the future of the Washington Post and was a major influential lead in the success of news papers all around.

    3.) I see the film as very relevant to today because the accusations of fake news being thrown around and the real stuff that is happening in our government are things that the public need to know. Freedom of press is a very important freedom for the press because the press is the way that the news can get out into the public. The public needs to know the news especially in a democracy where everyone gets a say in the government.

  45. Philip Bradbury

    The movie The Post does a great job, in my opinion, of staying mostly true to what you would have seen in the 70s (I wouldn’t know for sure because I wasn’t alive back then obviously). During the time of the releasing of the Pentagon Papers, newspapers were without a doubt, more widespread in their use, and more relied on for information. Today, we have technology like smartphones, and more developed radio/ T.V. stations, that provide information much quicker than newspapers would. I would say that this movie is sort of glorifying the golden ages of the newspaper. This is because the movie reminisces on the times of when newspapers were king in the world of news.
    During the beginning of the movie, Katherine Graham was portrayed as powerless even though she owned the Washington Post. For example, when the Post was trying to get put on the stock market, Katherine wasn’t given much of a say in how much the initial price of the stock would be (during the beginning), which therefore caused a large debate between advisors and members of the executive board of the company. Also, when Graham specifically said at the beginning of the movie to not get involved with the Pentagon Papers because of the New York Times vs. The United States trial, yet workers sought out and obtained the papers, disobeying her initial order. These together, show how her power wasn’t actually recognized among the employees of the company when the movie just began. Her confidence and power develops as the movie continues on and her true power comes to show when she becomes the only person anybody looks to for the decision on whether or not to publish the papers. This is when Graham is seen as ‘top dog’ in the company and when she has control over her company.
    Today, it is important to realize that the government doesn’t actually control everything. Wow, interesting to think, huh? Trump can’t actually do whatever he wants. The Post does a great job of showing how the government can’t stop people from telling their side of the story and sharing their opinion. With all of these rumors going around about the government, and false accusations, people need to also realize that they shouldn’t say things that are untrue or slanderous. This movie does a great job of showing that nobody can stop people from telling others what needs to be said, but doesn’t focus on the fact that people also can’t say things that aren’t factual and say that they are.

  46. Annie Chernow

    1) Life in 1971 was very different compared to today and has change tremendously over 46 years. We see that the change in technology has changed the way of life. Newspapers are not as likely to be read on paper but on a cell phone or computer. Pay Phones seize to exist anymore with smart phones taking they place. The development of TV has changed so much over time, from being very chunky, box like and black and white, today they have developed into skinny, and large flat screen TV’s with every color on the spectrum and hundreds of channels to choose from. I believe that this era will never take place again. With the modernization of America and the world in general, we will never get that chance of having paper boys deliver our daily news to our homes or have the opportunity to make a phone call over the pay phone. There’s always a chance that it could happen, but the era as a whole with the characteristics it had will not come back. There’s always bits and pieces we will have with us and you can always go out and buy a type writer or a newspaper, but the experience will not fulfill our generation due to the advancements in technology and growth through out country. Life and trends and technology is advancing every day with our generation and by the time were adults with families, life could be completely different and the era were living in right now could be lost just how the 1970’s and decades before and after were.

    2) In the beginning of the film, Katherine Graham, was seen as just the owner of a small family paper and didn’t get much recognition. For example, in the beginning part of the film, there was a scene where there was a meeting at the Washington Post and the room was all men except for Graham. When the meeting started, ideas were being pitched and conversation had begun. As the conversation was going on, Graham was trying to say something and was constantly being interrupted and talked over by the group of men that simply avoided her. She wasn’t nearly as strong in the beginning of the film than she was at the end. Through the movie there is a constant theme of powerful men avoiding Graham and not giving her a voice in what she had to say. From being a women who was more of a motherlike figure and socialite publisher the growth and development she went through to become a powerful, strong, independent women is amazing. In the end of the movie, it was all up to her deciding if she wanted to go and publish the article that could make or break the paper or just pitch to and not face the risk factor of the public and government. While deciding and making this decision she was constantly being pushed side to side by the men from the Post with the decision but in the end, after hearing that there could’ve been many negatives to publishing the piece; she did it anyway. This shows how strong and powerful she was at the end by making her own decision and not letting anyone push or nudge her into making the choice. We see her finally see her powerful side show once publishing, other papers around the country followed her lead by publishing pieces about the Pentagon Papers and showing that Katherine Graham had made a spot for herself in this business inspiring other women to do the same.

    3) This movie relates and is very relevant to society and media today. In the first amendment of the Constitution which is our basic freedoms, one of the five is freedom of press. With freedom of press it shows the people of America things we would never know of or see if this freedom didn’t exist. Freedom of press lets the us know what goes on politically with the government and in general with stars or news around our town. Without it, we would be totally senseless of what goes on and the country we live in would be filled many secrets and lies. With this freedom we have the ability to express what goes on in our country without the fear of prosecution or trial because it is a basic right. We should not abuse this basic right because it’s an important concept in our country. In the movie, publishing that paper showed that we are entitled to show and publish news with a real and credible source that will inform our country what goes on and that will keep us out of harms way.

  47. Nicole Bastian

    1. Many of the technologies shown in this movie have definitely improved since the 1970s. Pay phones are no longer in use in most place. Newspapers aren’t near as popular as they were in the 1970s, due to the fact that the internet now very widely used. Teletypes are no longer in use. TV technology has improved- they’re now in color. Lastly, the fashion/clothing is constantly changing over the years. The culture/views of society has also greatly changed since the 1970s, including the increase of women’s rights. This movie did a great job showing the efforts put into publishing a newspaper, even though things are different now. I don’t see the newspaper itself coming back and becoming popular again, although, I do see something similar (likely through technology), becoming just as popular as the newspaper once was. The Post did glorify the 1970s, although, aspects of it may come back in different (more technologically advanced) ways.

    2. Katherine Graham’s husband invested the Washington Post from Katherine’s father when he passed. Then, Katherine’s husband committed suicide, leaving the Washington Post to her. In this time period women weren’t typically in large roles in their company, let alone business owners. When Katherine went to the meetings with the bankers about stock, she was the only woman in the meetings. Katherine struggled to be heard in these meetings, exemplifying the difficulties women have to be leaders in their company. For the beginning half of the film, we watched as Katherine went along with decisions made by the men in her company, instead of having a strongly voiced opinion. Later in the film, when it came time to decide whether or not to publish the Pentagon Papers, Katherine’s male co-worker was advising her not to publish, but in the end she realized it was up to her and this was her company. Katherine went against the opinion of others and allowed the publication of the Pentagon Papers. For a long time Katherine struggled to get the same respect as the men business owners, but when the publication of the papers was success, Katherine was viewed with more respect.

    3. The content of this film is quite relevant to the whole “fake news” issue going around. The film was about how the government was lying to them about what was going on with the Vietnam war that many were sending their sons into. Little did they know that the chances of their sons surviving/actually helping the U.S. win the war were slim to none. Although, the government knew it the whole time, which is what angered the people. This ties into today’s issue with “fake news” because the we continue to receive only half of the truth on different occasions. This then ties in with the importance of freedom of the press. This is important because the people deserve to know what is going on within our nation. I think the freedom of the press is an even bigger deal when the government knows something that could keep the people or their loved ones out of harm’s way had they known that bit of information as well.

  48. Maya Wolock

    Life has changed a lot since the 1970s, especially in regards to technology. Even writing this blog is a sign of how the times have changed. I cannot imagine how they would react to me explaining the internet, blogs, google docs, and more. It is clear that technology is one of the main changes from the 70s to today. Our attitude has also changed greatly. I have often heard outlandish stories from my parents’ childhoods and adolescence that they always finish with “Hey, it was the 70s”. Another way life has changed is the declining use of newspapers. Some kids now are horrified by the thought of using a big, clunky newspaper to get news. Why would one use a newspaper when they can get more information faster from more sources on a smaller device? Now. as soon as something happens, we can read it on our phones. Before online news sources existed one would have to wait for the next day’s paper to get an analysis of the issue. This is especially important in today’s climate where there seems to be a new story every ten minutes.
    Katherine Graham is seen as the lone woman in many scenes of the movie. In one of the beginning scenes she walks into a room full of men in dark suits. The movies shows her having a clear understanding of the issues before the meeting. However, she quickly becomes flustered once in the meeting. This shows how could be easily intimidated. At the end of the movie, she has multiple men trying to intimidate her into not publishing the papers. However, she listens to her gut and perseveres. All the men were waiting to her HER decision. The beginning of the movie shows men trying to instruct her, but by the end, they (and the newspaper) are under her control.
    Recently, at a World Economic Forum, current president Donald Trump was asked if he had tried to fire Robert Mueller, to which he responded, “fake news, folks, fake news”. Part of the “Trump effect” is people ignoring things and accusing facts as “fake news”. Today, the relationship between the media and the government is full of distrust. Trump clearly favors some news organizations over others (i.e. Fox News over CNN). However, because our country has freedom of press, he can never stop any news source from reporting information. This is incredibly important because we need to be informed of what is going on. It is important to take news from multiple sources to make sure it is reliable. Otherwise, you may be listening to an incorrect interpretation of the issues.

  49. Dylan Cohen

    Since the 70’s a lot has changed but fundamentally things are still pretty much the same. There are still anti government countercultures, politics playing a role in business, social problems between races and genders, and distrust in government, (which did come from the 70’s). But, obviously things have changed. With the invention of new technologies like the internet and cell phone, the world has become a lot more connected. News and individuals have a platform where they can easily reach people all across the globe. People have become more open about their problems. For example, the MeToo movement. Women all across the globe are coming forward and coming after their sexual assaulters. Similar to how women didn’t start to come forward about their sexual assault till they saw that other women had, The Washington Post wasn’t going to publish their information about the Pentagon Papers but saw what happened with The New York Times and decided to come forward. So, in some ways, the age of crusading newspapers is still happening, it’s just taken a new form.

    Like you said, Kay is a lone woman in a sea of powerful male players. Even at her own business, most of her employees are men with the exception of the secretaries and a handful of writers. Many times during the film, she is the only woman in the room among other powerful businessmen. For example, when she goes to a restaurant to meet Bradlee in the beginning of the film, she is the only woman there and all of the other people at the restaurant are a bunch of old businessmen meeting other old businessmen for lunch. In this same scene when Kay suggests that Bradlee put more articles in the post that cater to women Bradlee responds with, “Katherine keep your finger out of my eye”. Following this there is a long pause and Kay is visibly angry. Instead of acting like a boss predictably would and lashing back, Kay brushes it off and continues the chat as it was. Similar to this is when she is at the meeting with the bankers, they don’t listen to Kay and when Kay sees that they aren’t listening to her she stays quiet and Fritz Beebe steps in and says exactly what Kay was going to say and the bankers listen to him. Then, when Bradlee goes to Kay’s house to tell her he has the papers, they talk about the Kennedys and how politicians can’t be both friends and sources for the media. This is a turning point for Kay and the moment she realizes that the times are changing and she needs to step up to the plate. Kay’s realization of her position is exemplified when she is talking with her “allies” and they are solving the legal ramifications of publishing their articles about the Pentagon Papers. Kay begins giving her ideas on how to solve their problems and when Arthur Parsons interrupts her, she reminds him that she is still talking. They argue more about whether she should be allowed to make the decision to publish and Kay rebutts by letting them know that the is head of the company. This solidifies her position as head of The Washington Post and a powerful player in business, despite being one of the only women in her role.

    I’m not too in the loop on the whole “fake news” thing, but it seems to me that the events of The Post are very timely and relevant to what is going on today. With the president arguing that some news sources are “fake news” and biased to the left he is attempting to discredit and silence his competitors only because they are reporting things that he does not like. While the things Trump is doing and the news he is slandering don’t carry the same weight as the events of The Post, Nixon essentially tried to do the same thing. Freedom of the press is so important because it allows people’s voices to be heard. Without it we’d be living in a dystopian society like the old Soviet Union where the media was synonymous with the government. Part of the problem is the media’s fault. Mainstream and fringe media are both in a way altering the truth by using “clickbait” titles and painting a picture of the news far from the truth and distorting what really happened. Thanks to Wikipedia I can also add that they are also practicing Post-truth politics where they don’t focus on the facts but rather personality or details that don’t matter. In The Post, Bradlee says while meeting with some writers, “The only way to protect the right to publish is to publish”. But if the media can’t publish the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, then they are just helping people, like the president, who continue to attack them.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-truth_politics
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fake_news

  50. Jonathan Giha

    Jon Giha
    Life has changed a lot since the 1970s, primarily with regards to technology. Now, most houses have a flat screen TV if not a smart TV, which enables people to consume any sort of content they want. Online articles are free and much more popular than physical newspapers, so almost anyone can find out about or research anything. Most importantly, phones are mobile now and can do a lot more than just call people – they can also text, access the internet, e-mail, and more. I think that the movie was glorifying an age, because (at least in my opinion) the newspapers weren’t doing this in some valiant effort to give information to the people – they just wanted to break a big story for more popularity and sales. Also, I don’t think that this age will ever come about because media outlets just want to cover what will make them the most money instead of what actually matters. A great example of this is how celebrity marriages get covered more than international events/politics.

    I think the movie did a good job with the character of Katherine Graham. It portrayed her as smart and strong without giving her invincibility like protagonists usually have. I also liked that the movie emphasized the doubts that others had about her as a CEO, which were then proven wrong. Some examples are the directors voicing their doubts when they thought she wasn’t listening and the lawyers doubting her decision to publish the Pentagon Papers. But, I think that the movie should have either focused on the court case or her being the first female CEO of a major newspaper, and not both, because during the film it felt very unfocused and messy.

    I do see the film as timely, because although Trump isn’t trying to attack media outlets legally (yet), he is trying to silence them socially by claiming that anything unfavorable to him is “fake news.” This kind of hive mind thinking where a ‘populist’ president has his supporters attack anything that they don’t agree with is dangerous for the freedoms our forefathers fought so hard for and frankly, unamerican. Freedom of the press is extremely important for a country to be considered free. If freedom of press dies, that opens the door for manipulation by aristocrats, the current office holders in the government, or both, because they could control what the people get to see and know – if the people only get to see “guy 1 is good” or “guy 2 is bad” they’re going to vote for guy 1.

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