- A cover-up spanning four U.S. Presidents pushes the country's first female newspaper publisher and her editor to join an unprecedented battle between press and government.
- When American military analyst, Daniel Ellsberg, realizes to his disgust the depths of the US government's deceptions about the futility of the Vietnam War, he takes action by copying top-secret documents that would become the Pentagon Papers. Later, Washington Post owner, Kay Graham, is still adjusting to taking over her late husband's business when editor Ben Bradlee discovers the New York Times has scooped them with an explosive expose on those papers. Determined to compete, Post reporters find Ellsberg himself and a complete copy of those papers. However, the Post's plans to publish their findings are put in jeopardy with a Federal restraining order that could get them all indicted for Contempt. Now, Kay Graham must decide whether to back down for the safety of her paper or publish and fight for the Freedom of the Press. In doing so, Graham and her staff join a fight that would have America's democratic ideals in the balance.—Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)
- Leaked to the New York Times by the American military analyst, Daniel Ellsberg, the Pentagon Papers--the top-secret study about the United States involvement in the Vietnam War and the decades of cover-ups--stir up a nationwide controversy in 1971. As the Nixon administration and the former Secretary of Defence, Robert McNamara, try to silence the shocking revelations, the Times' rival, the Washington Post, and its owner, Kay Graham, wrestle with the amplitude of a devastating decision. Should Graham publish and let the truth shine on the nearly 60,000 lost-in-action Americans? Should she put in jeopardy not only her status but also her paper?—Nick Riganas
- In 1971, The New York Times has access to classified documents about the Vietnam War. However, the government uses the justice department to stop the distribution of newspapers claiming violation of the national security laws. Immediately after, the Washington Post has access to similar documents but they decide to face the government and publish the newspapers against the will of their lawyers and investors.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- In 1966, during the Vietnam War, State Department military analyst Daniel Ellsberg accompanies American troops in combat, documenting the U.S. military progress in the region for Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. On the flight home, McNamara privately tells Ellsberg and William Macomber that the Vietnam war is hopeless. Upon landing, he tells the press he has every confidence in the war effort. Ellsberg, overhearing this, becomes disillusioned. Years later, as a civilian military contractor working for the RAND Corporation, Ellsberg surreptitiously photocopies hundreds of classified reports documenting the country's decades-long involvement in the conflict in Vietnam, dating back to the Truman administration. Ellsberg then leaks these documents to The New York Times..
- In 1966 Vietnam, State Dept. military analyst Daniel Ellsberg (Matthew Rhys) accompanies U.S. troops in combat, documenting the progress of U.S. military activities in the region for Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara (Bruce Greenwood). On the return flight home, McNamara expresses to Ellsberg and President Lyndon Johnson his view that the war in Vietnam is hopeless, yet upon landing, McNamara expresses his confidence in the war effort. Ellsberg overhears this and becomes disillusioned.
After his mission ends, Ellsberg works for the RAND Corporation, a think-tank with access to classified information. Over the following years he secretly copies thousands of classified pages documenting long-term U.S. interference in Vietnam, dating back to the Truman administration. Once he finishes copying the full collection, he leaks it to journalist Neil Sheehan at The New York Times.
In 1971, newspaper heiress Katharine Graham (Meryl Streep) tries to balance her social life with her responsibility as owner and publisher of The Washington Post following the demise of her husband Phil Graham, the former publisher of the paper and her father Eugene Meyer, the former owner. Although she lacks journalistic and business experience, she hopes to take the company public and secure investment for higher-quality news of national importance.
She is conflicted over preparations for the newspaper's IPO, a move she recognizes as important for strengthening the paper. She lacks experience and is frequently "overruled" by more assertive men who advise or work for her, such as editor in chief Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks) and board member Arthur Parsons (Bradley Whitford). She personally appoints the bullish Ben Bradlee as the Post's executive editor as he agrees with her vision, but her male-dominated board still view her as a housewife in over her head. She is also still a prominent D.C. socialite, and Ben has to repeatedly assert his editorial independence whenever the paper runs a story critical of her friends.
Arthur wants Katharine to give up more seats on the board, clearly saying that the bankers will not value the IPO fully with a woman running the show. The IPO has a clause that the bankers can pull their funding one week from the IPO listing, in case of a true disaster.
Bradlee tries in vain to catch up with The New York Times ability to scoop headline stories. Meanwhile, McNamara, Graham's longtime friend, confides to her that he is about to be the subject of unflattering coverage by the Times. This turns out to be an expose of the government's long-running deception of the American public. However, the series is halted by a court injunction against further publication by the Times.
Ben wants Katharine to ask McNamara to hand over a copy of the original study on the Vietnam war (which is the source of the expose on the Times). Ben theorizes that McNamara confided in Katharine as he wants her (as the owner of a national newspaper) to bail him out. Katharine refuses to ask McNamara. As the Post's editors discuss how they might pursue the story further, an anonymous woman leaves one hundred pages of the leaked documents on a reporter's desk. Bradlee is delighted at the chance to get ahead of the Times on a major story in the Post's own backyard
The IPO is set for the next day. Katharine finds out about the lawsuit on the Times by the US attorney general. She calls Ben and Ben doesn't tell her that he already has a copy of the report and that his staff is working on a story. The next day Katharine rings the opening bell at the NYSE and the stock lists. The 1-week deadline starts.
Post assistant editor Ben Bagdikian (Bob Odenkirk) tracks down Ellsberg as the source for the leak, who provides Bagdikian with copies of the same material given to the Times. A hand-picked team of Post reporters sort through the piles of papers looking for the headline stories. The Post's lawyers advise against publishing the material, lest the Nixon administration bring criminal charges against them.
Graham conducts interviews with McNamara, Bradlee, and trusted Post chairman Fritz Beebe (Tracy Letts), agonizing over the decision of whether to publish. They warn that she will face social exile in D.C., retaliation from President Nixon, and loss of investors. If the legal fallout goes badly, she could destroy the newspaper she sees as a family legacy (the banker pull-put clause in the IPO could be a killer). However, Ben argues that they have a strong public interest defense, and it could transform the Post into the important journalistic institution that Graham had been dreaming of. The documents also revealed that his own circle of elite D.C. friends, including John F. Kennedy, lied to him to garner sympathetic coverage. He argues that Graham's own friendships with figures like McNamara should not influence her decision. She chooses to run the story.
The decision reaches another crucial juncture when the legal team find that the Post source could be the same as the source of the Times, which mean Katharine could be held in contempt of court and could be sent to jail and opens them to further criminal liability under the Espionage Act.
The board put pressure on Katharine by indicating that bankers might pull financing on the IPO and Ben re-iterates that the employees want this story to be published and the desire to uphold the freedom of speech. For Katharine, the decision is huge as she was thrust into this role by accident and now the fate of the entire paper depends on her. She finds courage to back her decision and gives the go ahead to print.
The White House retaliates, and in short order the Post and Times are together before the Supreme Court to plead their First Amendment argument for the freedom to publish the material. Meanwhile, newspapers across the country pick up the story in solidarity with the Post and Times. The court rules 6-3 in the newspapers' favor, vindicating Graham's decision. Nixon demands that the Post be barred from the White House.
One year later, Watergate complex security guard Frank Wills discovers a burglary-in-progress and calls the police, inadvertently kicking off the Watergate scandal.
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