The Post is Spielberg’s time-capsule ode to the power of real news
THE POST, STEVEN SPIELBERG’S historical drama about the 1970s publication of the top-secret Pentagon Papers, is swooningly in love with journalism. Throughout the film, reporters in smoky rooms riffle through reams of paperwork on the hunt for stories they can wring out about the government’s misinformation campaign about the Vietnam War. When their work runs up against a deadline and they pause for the day, a massive printing press chugs into effect, converting their labors into text with a rattle so deafening, it would seem to be wasted on anything less than culture-shaking news.
The Pentagon Papers, which detailed the scope—vastly greater than had been
