Skip to content
  • Subscribe
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Instagram
  • Email
  • Home
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment
  • Features
  • Subscribe FREE to Ray Hanania’s Columns
  • Advertise
Suburban Chicagoland

Suburban Chicagoland

Original News, Features & Opinion

  • About
    • About
    • Advertise
    • Our Writers
      • Ray Hanania
      • Bill Lipinski
      • Aaron Hanania
      • Steve Metsch
      • Steve Neuhaus
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Policy
    • Reach Out
    • Submit a Press Release
  • Sections
    • Events
    • Opinion
    • News
    • Features
    • Seniors
    • Comic Strip
  • Library
    • “MIdnight Flight” Online Book
      • Midnight Flight Book Overview
      • Midnight Flight Introduction
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 1
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 2
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 3
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 4
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 5
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 6
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 7
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 8
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 9
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 10
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 11
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 12
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 13
    • Villages, Cities & Towns
    • Federal Office Holders
    • County Officials
    • Legislators
  • Seniors
  • Subscribe to Ray’s Columns
  • Comment
  • Podcast
    • Two Guys on Politics Podcast: A Centrist View on Politics
    • Two Guys on Politics
    • Ray Hanania on Politics Podcast
    • The Arab street Podcast
  • Hanania on Tiktok
  • Toggle search form
  • Author Patrick Girondi
    Prominent producer to write screen adaptation of story on the fight against Thalassemia Books & Films
  • Wreaths Across America Radio logo
    Wreaths Across America Radio Announces New Strategic Partnerships with Veteran Radio Programs Entertainment
  • Orland Township Assessor Rich Kelly
    Taxpayers have an extra month to pay First Installment of Tax Bills Cook County
  • State hearings and transparency needed on Nicor gas cost hikes Blogger
  • William O. Lipinski former Congressman from Illinois (5th and later 3rd District). Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
    Right from the Middle: Newt Gingrich helped fuel America’s political polarization Bill Lipinski
  • Do more for senior citizens like we do for illegal aliens Baby Boomers
  • Typewriter. Photo by Andrew Seaman courtesy of unsplash
    District 230 students receive journalism awards Cook County
  • Cook County Sherif Tom Dart
    Sheriff and District 230 honor students for public service hours Education
  • Author Patrick Girondi
    Chicagoan who invested in research to save children releases new book Books & Films
  • Dr. Helen Edwards Fermilab particle physicist
    Foster, Durbin, Duckworth introduce resolution to name Fermilab Research Center after renowned physicist Dr. Helen Edwards Features
  • Telephone
     Sheriff Dart Warns Public of Phone Scam  Baby Boomers
  • Orland Township Democratic Organization Fundraiser Feb. 23, 2023 at Papa Joe's Restaurant in Orland Park
    Orland Township Democratic Organization to honor Former Secretary of State Jesse White on Feb. 23 Cook County
  • Zwar Restaurant chicken and beef-lamb Shawarma Plate
    How to have a great Middle Eastern meal in Orland Park area Culture
  • Orland First Responders candidates Matthew G. Rafferty and William Bonnar Jr.
    First Responders announce candidacies for Orland Fire District Board seats Cook County
  • D230 students win prestigious art awards Education
President Johnson meets with candidate Richard Nixon in the White House, July 1968 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Movie Review: “The Post” when newspapers had more respect

Posted on January 12, 2018November 29, 2019 By Ray Hanania No Comments on Movie Review: “The Post” when newspapers had more respect
SHARE THIS STORY
            
 
  

Movie Review: “The Post” when newspapers had more respect

The new movie “The Post” is a powerful film that takes Americans back to 1971 when journalism was a profession dominated mostly by principle. Truth outweighed political partisanship. But in watching the movie this week, it only made me sad. Because it reminded me how badly journalism today has been corrupted.

By Ray Hanania

Back in 1971, I was concerned about the Vietnam War and my draft number, which was in the low 60s. Clearly, I was going to be drafted. And in late 1972, while finishing my sophomore year at Northern Illinois University, I decided to enlist int he Air Force, figuring it would be a better fit than the U.S. Army.

As it turned out, an analyst named Daniel Ellsberg pretty much helped me avoid going overseas by the time I finished Basic Training in San Antonio, Texas. Ellsberg, who could easily be compared to Edward Snowden or Chelsea Manning, copied a lengthy secret U.S. Pentagon Document which concluded that no one in the U.S. Government or the past administrations believed that the Vietnam War was winnable.

Instead of evacuating Vietnam in the late 1960s, President Lyndon Baines Johnson lied to the American people predicting we could win and he sent more than 500,000 American soldiers to the Asian country that was pivotal in what many believed was a Domino Theory of Communist aggression … if Vietnam became Communist, Communist would takeover all of the nearby Asian countries making the world more threatening to Americans.

President Johnson meets with candidate Richard...
President Johnson meets with candidate Richard Nixon in the White House, July 1968 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Last week, Hollywood released its version of the Ellsberg story from the perspective of the Washington Post newspaper. The movie, called ‘The Post,” stars Tom Hanks as Newspaper editor Ben Bradlee and Meryl Streep as Publisher Katharine Graham.

Ironically, it was the Washington Post’s exposes on President Nixon’s secret break in at the Democratic Headquarters at the Water Gate the following year that created a different kind of domino Theory which ended up forcing Nixon to resign. The Watergate Hearings in 1973 which detailed Nixon’s crimes inspired me to pursue journalism.

The truth is, back in the 1970s, Journalism was an admirable profession. Newspapers like the Washington Post spent a lot of effort exposing corruption everywhere. After two years in the Air Force and an honorable discharge — the war ended abruptly in 1975 — I return to the University of Illinois to pursue political science and journalism.

But that was 43 years ago and much has changed in American journalism.

Journalism always has had a selective bias, a selective aspect of unprofessionalism. The news media has always been biased against minorities, although that has slowly changed over the years. Even though the media embraces “diversity,” the truth is the news media is very “un-diverse.”

Sure, there are more African Americans, more Hispanics and more Asians in journalism jobs. The news media does a better job of reflecting their interests, but not because of ethics or journalistic integrity. The news media has opened their door just enough to make those minorities happy, mainly because those minorities have formed powerful lobbying groups to champion their rights.

There are many minority groups, including Arabs and Muslims, who do not have influential lobbying organizations to champion their rights or confront media bias. And today, if the media can get away with bias, they will.

It continues to worsen.

It’s a double-edged sword, though. The news media has some aspects of fighting the righteous fight. Back in the 1970s, that righteous fight dominated newspaper pages. These days, the balance has tipped and the righteous fight consumes less of the mainstream news media’s time and effort. Much of the news media’s time and effort is spent on biased political agendas.

Why? Well, in the 1970s, the news media was pretty independent. Today, five corporation own most of the major news media.

When I grew up, the mainstream news media only wrote about Arabs, for example, when the stories were negative, controversial and disparaging to the Arab community. They NEVER published positive stories. I could see that trend worsening back in 1975 when I first launched my own ethnic community, English-language newspaper, The Middle Eastern Voice. But I thought I could help change things by encouraging Arabs to become more involved in journalism as a profession. Little did I know that inside the editorial offices of most newspapers were rabid racist editors who hated Arabs either for racial reasons or for political reasons. They especially disliked Palestinian Arabs, like me.

What newspaper wanted a Palestinian American columnist regularly criticizing Israeli’s abusive military oppression? The industry loved me when I was Ray Hanania the Chicago Political City Hall Reporter. The same industry hated me when I was Ray Hanania the American Arab journalist fighting for civil rights in Israel.

The balance has tipped and watching the movie “The Post” this week made me realize how far that balance has tipped against justice, journalistic professionalism and fairness.

The movie portrayed Bradley and Graham fighting to champion the rights of the American people. A free press is important to fight for the rights of the governed, not the governors. Watching the journalists in the movie standup to bullying by the Nixon Administration back then was moving.

But it also was sad because while the news media today stands up to some politicians, they do so not on thebasis of what is right, but rather on the basis of partisanship. If the news media likes a politician, they give that politician slack and temper the criticism.  If the news media doesn’t like you — which is the case with President Donald Trump — they exaggerate criticism, downplay positive stories and stress negative stories often publishing lies and rumors and innuendo as if it were all fact.

The media does it because they are controlled by corporations, not by principles of journalistic integrity. It’s not about objectivity. It’s about negativity. “If it bleeds it leads” has always been the driving mantra of the news media. In other words, the more shocking a story the more the news media knows it can attract the attention, and the money, of the public.

Racism against unpopular minority groups like Arabs and Muslims generates money for the news media. Controversial politicians like President Trump also create a conflict that helps the news media “sell more newspapers.”

Today, journalism is all about greed. It’s all about profits. It’s all about the financial bottom line and huge bonuses and celebrity status for the corporate media robber barons.

Many people will go to see the movie “The Post” because critics of Trump like Streep and Hanks are trying to take that story out of context from the past in an effort to bolster their defense of today’s corrupt news media and biased reporting. They will see in that movie about the news media of the past, the need for them to support the news media today against President Trump.

It’s dishonesty, really.

I loved the movie, in the context of what the news media used to represent when I was a young man and was writing my reports from City Hall without anyone telling me who to exclude. These days, the bigger media battles are fought inside news rooms where editors censor stories or completely exclude them in order to protect their financial and political interests.

Defending Israel is a major priority for today’s news media. Imagine that. Israel, a government that imposes oppressive military censorship on Christians and Muslims while the news media carefully only reports on stories that build up sympathy for Israel. Israel’s government is one of the most extremist governments in 70 years, worse than Nixon’s administration ever was and even worse than Trump’s. And yet, the mainstream news media does everything it can to defend Israel at the expense of truth.

I left the theater sighing, wishing that the news media today had the same kind of drive for truth and justice — truth to power — that it did back in the 1970s.

Maybe that’s why the movie “The Post” is so good.We love the movie because we want to believe that is how the mainstream news media is today.

Instead, “The Post” is a sad reminder of how the news media today manipulates Americans as political pawns in a power struggle for money, power and greed.

Today’s struggle is much like the one Bradlee and Graham faced in 1971: should they publish the truth, or should they surrender to their corporate overlords? Unfortunately, the media’s choice is clear.

“The Post”

Katharine Graham is the first female publisher of a major American newspaper — The Washington Post. With help from editor Ben Bradlee, Graham races to catch up with The New York Times to expose a massive cover-up of government secrets that spans three decades and four U.S. presidents. Together, they must overcome their differences as they risk their careers — and very freedom — to help bring long-buried truths to light.

Release date: December 22, 2017 (USA)

Director: Steven Spielberg

Screenplay: Josh Singer, Elizabeth Hannah

Awards: National Board of Review Award for Best Film

Production companies: 20th Century Fox, Amblin Entertainment, DreamWorks Studios, Participant Media, Amblin Partners

  • Meryl Streep as Kay Graham
  • Tom Hanks as Ben Bradlee
  • Sarah Paulson as Antoinette “Tony” Pinchot Bradlee
  • Bob Odenkirk as Ben Bagdikian
  • Tracy Letts as Fritz Beebe
  • Bradley Whitford as Arthur Parsons
  • Bruce Greenwood as Robert McNamara
  • Matthew Rhys as Daniel Ellsberg
  • Alison Brie as Lally Graham
  • Carrie Coon as Meg Greenfield
  • Jesse Plemons as Roger Clark
  • David Cross as Howard Simons
  • Zach Woods as Anthony Essaye
  • Pat Healy as Phil Geyelin
  • John Rue as Gene Patterson
  • Rick Holmes as Murray Marder
  • Philip Casnoff as Chalmers Roberts
  • Jessie Mueller as Judith Martin
  • Stark Sands as Don Graham
  • Brent Langdon as Paul Ignatius
  • Michael Stuhlbarg as Abe Rosenthal
  • Christopher Innvar as James Greenfield

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Ray Hanania
Ray Hanania
Ray Hanania is an award-winning columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.  

Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

Email Ray Hanania at rghanania@gmail.com.

Follow RayHanania on Gettr.com, the uncensored Twitter Ray Hanania on Gettr, the new Twitter
Ray Hanania
Latest posts by Ray Hanania (see all)
  • Prominent producer to write screen adaptation of story on the fight against Thalassemia - February 8, 2023
  • Taxpayers have an extra month to pay First Installment of Tax Bills - February 6, 2023
  • State hearings and transparency needed on Nicor gas cost hikes - February 5, 2023
  • Tweet

SHARE THIS STORY
            
 
  
 
 
 
           
Blogger, Books & Films, Commentary, Government, Opinion, Politics, rayhanania Tags:Daniel Ellsberg, film, journalistic corruption, journalistic integrity, movie theater, movies, The New York Times, The Pentagon Papers, The Washington Post, Watergate

Post navigation

Previous Post: Lisle Journal publishes essays from Middle East writers
Next Post: Chicagoland Fishing, Travel & Outdoor Expo Jan. 25 – 28

Related Posts

  • Massive fire at Rockton Chemical Plant in Winnebago County, June 14, 2021. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania
    Governor adds another county to drought disaster declaration Chicago
  • harmful algal (cyanobacteria) blooms (algae blooms)
    Officials warn of dangerous Algal (algae) blooms in Illinois lakes Chicago
  • Congressman Dan Lipinski
    Congressman Lipinski co-sponsors bill to block illegal robocalls elections
  • Tinley Park Trustee Kevin Suggs
    Candidate throws his hat in ring for Tinley Park mayor’s race elections
  • Southwest side pizzeria, a favorite for 20 years Entertainment
  • Congressman Dan Lipinski
    New poll shows Lipinski leading in March 17 Congressional battle Blogger

More Related Articles

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders Iowa caucus disaster smells like another effort to get Sanders Blogger
Voting sticker from Chicagoland election. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania. Vote. Election Term limits undermine the rights of voters to choose Blogger
Culver's Restaurants are always working to help the needy in our communities Culver’s Partners with Chicago Police Memorial Foundation to Make a Difference Blogger
Ian Conyers, a former Michigan legislator and nephew of longtime Congressman John Conyers. Photo courtesy of Ian Conyers. Podcast: John Conyers’ nephew endorses Brenda Jones over Rashida Tlaib elections
Ray Hanania and family Easter 1957. Midnight Flight: Online book on Race in Chicago Baby Boomers
J.B. Pritzker receives endorsement from UFCW. Pritzker's Facebook Page Pritzker signs executive order for full transparency in state government Government

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Login with your Social ID
  • OPINION COLUMNS
  • State hearings and transparency needed on Nicor gas cost hikes
    February 5, 2023
  • William O. Lipinski former Congressman from Illinois (5th and later 3rd District). Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
    Right from the Middle: Newt Gingrich helped fuel America’s political polarization
    February 3, 2023
  • Do more for senior citizens like we do for illegal aliens
    February 3, 2023
  • Alderman Raymond Lopez would have made a great mayor
    January 26, 2023
  • Pritzker’s assault weapons ban not enough to make law abiding citizens safe
    January 16, 2023
  • Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot must go
    January 15, 2023

Subscribe

  • Ray-Hanania-Newsletter-300-wide-Banner.jpg

Trending

  • Chicago Mayor Lori Lightf... Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot must go Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has faile... posted on January 15, 2023
  • Paul Vallas candidate for Chicago Mayor 2023. Photo courtesy of the Paul Vallas website Vallas urges probe in Lig... Vallas urges probe in Lightfoot's CPD scandal and accuses of Congressman Ga... posted on January 16, 2023
  • Alexi Giannoulias, former Illinois state treasurer and candidate for Illinois Secretary of State Secretary of State Alexi... Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias releases comprehensive Transition Team... posted on January 17, 2023
  • Orland Township Assessor Rich Kelly Taxpayers have an extra m... Taxpayers have an extra month to pay First Installment of Tax Bills In Cook... posted on February 6, 2023
  • Cook County Commissioner Frank Aguilar Cook County Announces Cal... Cook County Announces Call for Transportation and Community Grant Program A... posted on January 23, 2023
  • NEWS
  • Author Patrick Girondi
    Prominent producer to write screen adaptation of story on the fight against Thalassemia
    February 8, 2023
  • Wreaths Across America Radio logo
    Wreaths Across America Radio Announces New Strategic Partnerships with Veteran Radio Programs
    February 6, 2023
  • Orland Township Assessor Rich Kelly
    Taxpayers have an extra month to pay First Installment of Tax Bills
    February 6, 2023
  • Typewriter. Photo by Andrew Seaman courtesy of unsplash
    District 230 students receive journalism awards
    February 3, 2023
  • Cook County Sherif Tom Dart
    Sheriff and District 230 honor students for public service hours
    February 3, 2023
  • Author Patrick Girondi
    Chicagoan who invested in research to save children releases new book
    February 3, 2023
  • The-Kings-Pawn-Book-300-x-300.png

The Political Pundit

Political Pundit Aug. 24, 2021. Taliban thanks president for boxes of MAGA hats
  • WORD PRESS REVIEWS
  • MyCloud by Western Digital, a hard drive that doesn't last. Don't purchase Western Digital.
    Western Digital tubes its loyal customers for profit
    October 17, 2021
  • Macho Themes website front page. Don't buy their themes. They don't work
    Difficulties with Macho Themes for WordPress
    August 21, 2021
  • TECHNOLOGY REVIEWS
  • Wreaths Across America Radio logo
    Wreaths Across America Radio Announces New Strategic Partnerships with Veteran Radio Programs
    February 6, 2023
  • Dr. Helen Edwards Fermilab particle physicist
    Foster, Durbin, Duckworth introduce resolution to name Fermilab Research Center after renowned physicist Dr. Helen Edwards
    February 3, 2023
  • Telephone
     Sheriff Dart Warns Public of Phone Scam 
    February 3, 2023

Follow Ray Hanania at
Gab.com, MeWe.com
IDobbinate.com,
Twitter, Facebook

Creative Commons License
All works on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Do not edit original work. Give credit to the original source.

What We’re Reading

Arab News Newspaper Leading English Language Publication in the GulfArab News Newspaper

Ray Hanania on Politics
SW News Newspaper Group

  • SPORTS
  • Chicago Wolves 2022-2023 season
    Chicago Wolves top Stars for second win in a row
    October 25, 2022
  • Stagg Marching Band Pit Crew as efficient as a NASCAR pit stop! The team that does a lot of the work to help the Stagg High school band perform works behind the scenes like a NASCAR pit stop. The students are profiled in this feature
    Stagg Marching Band Pit Crew as efficient as a NASCAR pit stop!
    August 31, 2022
  • Soccer. Photo by Md Mahdi on Unsplash
    International soccer returns to SeatGeek Stadium
    August 7, 2022
  • Stefan Noesen, Chicago Wolves
    Chicago Wolves Noesen wins President’s Award
    July 22, 2022
  • NEWS RELEASES
  • Author Patrick Girondi
    Prominent producer to write screen adaptation of story on the fight against Thalassemia
    February 8, 2023
  • Cook County Sherif Tom Dart
    Sheriff and District 230 honor students for public service hours
    February 3, 2023
  • Author Patrick Girondi
    Chicagoan who invested in research to save children releases new book
    February 3, 2023
  • Dr. Helen Edwards Fermilab particle physicist
    Foster, Durbin, Duckworth introduce resolution to name Fermilab Research Center after renowned physicist Dr. Helen Edwards
    February 3, 2023
  • Zwar Restaurant chicken and beef-lamb Shawarma Plate
    How to have a great Middle Eastern meal in Orland Park area
    January 31, 2023
John Kass Columns

Order the book PoweR PR; Ethnic Activists Guide to Strategic Communications

  • BUSINESS NEWS
  • Cook County Commissioner Frank Aguilar
    Cook County Announces Call for Transportation and Community Grant Program Applications
    January 23, 2023
  • money $20 dollar bill, dollars, cash
    Buckner unveils plan to help businesses and strengthen job
    January 19, 2023
  • United Airlines Flight at O'Hare Airport
    United offers endless airline travel problems for travelers
    December 25, 2022
  • Sam Bankman-Fried in an interview during the Bitcoin 2021 conference. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
    Demands continue for Lightfoot and Garcia to detail ties to FTX scandal
    December 15, 2022

YOUTUBE VIDEOS

Click this link to watch or use the widget below:

Click here to view the video on YouTube or use the widget below.
Email Ray Hanania for more information about performing at your event at rghanania@gmail.com.

Copyright © 2022 Suburban Chicagoland & Urban Strategies Group

Powered by PressBook Premium theme