Famed Washington Post Editor Ben Bradlee with President Kennedy. Image courtesy of The Washington Post.
In journalism there are few names that evoke such knee jerk responses of both anger and respect quite like the former editor of The Washington Post Ben Bradlee, for good reason. Credited with publishing The Pentagon Papers and helping to bring Richard Nixon down, Ben’s time with The Post is something almost mythical, something to be both admired and, at times, used as a lesson of what not to do in the business.
HBO has put together a fantastic documentary that takes us deep into the life of a celebrity journalist, using Bradlee’s own voice reading from his autobiography to narrate. Historic news clips and insightful commentary from some of the most respected journalists of the day on their personal experiences with Ben, including Carl Bernstein, Tom Brokaw, Jim Lehrer, and more, add a more balanced perspective to the larger than life persona that Ben lived. If you enjoy historical documentaries involving world history, I’m certain you’ll enjoy The Newspaperman.
Official trailer can be seen here