Jayne: We’re proud to serve the governed, not the governors

This importance came to a head in 1971, when The New York Times and The Washington Post published stories based upon a stolen classified government report. The documents detailed that officials had concluded years before that the Vietnam War was unwinnable, yet continued to lie to the public about the progress of the battle and continued to send soldiers to Asia. A total of 58,000 Americans and an estimated 3 million Vietnamese civilians and soldiers died in the war.

Think about that. More than one American president had been told the war could not be won, yet the carnage continued because those in power did not want to be seen as “losing” the conflict. As Hanks says in portraying Ben Bradlee, editor of The Washington Post: “The way they lied. Those days have to be over. We have to be the check on their power. If we don’t hold them accountable — my god, who will?”

Good question. And it is one that is relevant these days. Donald Trump’s constant attacks upon the media are undermining the very foundation of the U.S. Constitution. And for those who echo Trump’s proclamations of “fake news,” some simple questions are warranted: Why does Trump decry “fake news” only when the story is critical of him? Why has the media become a target while supporters give Trump a pass despite more than 2,000 demonstrable lies since taking office? Why do reputable media outlets run corrections when they make a mistake, but Trump has never corrected a falsehood? And if we don’t hold them accountable — my god, who will?

That’s the job, isn’t it?

All of that is pertinent to “The Post,” even though the movie depicts events of nearly 50 years ago. So, too, is a Nixon administration that kept a “subversives list” of its enemies; that was quick to call opposition “treasonous”; and that used the Department of Justice to threaten newspapers while banning reporters from the White House. Paranoia, as Nixon would eventually prove, is destined to eat you from the inside out.

Predictably, I am fascinated by movies about newspapers — and not just because “His Girl Friday” is one of the great comedies of all-time. “All the President’s Men,” “Spotlight,” and now “The Post” portray reporters not as heroes but as dedicated people doing heroic work. As Streep says in her depiction of Post publisher Katherine Graham: “We don’t always get it right. We’re not always perfect. But I think if we can just keep on it, you know? That’s the job, isn’t it?”

That is, indeed, the job. Because we are trying to serve the governed and not the governors. Even Thomas Jefferson would have approved.