Diamondback online- A contrast of life and drama

The University of Maryland hosted a discussion and a play dramatizing the events behind the publication of the Pentagon Papers:

A contrast of life and drama by Ellie Falaris

exerpt from the article:

The discussion drew an audience of 253, mostly made up of people who lived through Bradlee’s and Ellsberg’s heyday, with only a smattering of students.

Ellsberg was a high-ranking military analyst who leaked a copy of a 7,000-page review about the failures of the Vietnam war to the The New York Times and later to The Washington Post, risking felony charges on grounds of national security.

The discussion turned to present-day issues when an audience member commented on the lack of U.S. newspaper coverage on whistleblower Sibel Edmonds and her claim that the country has sold illicit weapons to Turkey. Bradlee suggested that newspapers have been asked to hold that information.

“You’ve got to have a hell of a good reason not to publish the truth,” Bradlee said. Bradlee painted a picture of his editors and reporters who busily weeded through thousands of pages of the leaked documents in his home with the goal of publishing the next day.

“That was one long day,” he said. “We had 4,000 pages to read.”

read the full article