Directed by John Maggio, the film is an intimate journey through the remarkable life of Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee, one of the country’s most “dangerous editors,” and the man largely credited with taking down President Richard Nixon in 1974 after the Post broke the Watergate story, the largest political scandal in American history.
The Newspaperman: The Life and Times of Ben Bradlee premieres on HBO Monday, December 4th (8pm ET/PT). The trailer follows…
The cocky, tough-talking, chain-smoking Bradlee came to epitomize the modern newspaper editor ushering in a new era of investigative journalism, unafraid to take on the political establishment and champion the first amendment. Bradlee’s career spanned the most critical moments of the second half of the 20th century. As a foreign correspondent for Newsweek in the 50’s Bradlee cut his teeth reporting from the frontlines of wars in the Middle East. In Washington, he befriended a young Senator from Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy and gained unprecedented access to the White House. And, by the 70’s, he had transformed the Washington Post from a third-rate local paper into a national powerhouse, publishing the Pentagon Papers, breaking Watergate and challenging the New York Times for supremacy. During a time when the first amendment and the press are under almost constant attack, Bradlee’s story, his fortitude and courage in the face of withering criticism, has never been more essential.