In Steven Spielberg’s The Post, which newspaper first publishes excerpts from the Pentagon Papers?

The New York Times first publishes excerpts from the Pentagon Papers in Steven Spielberg’s The Post.

The film begins after the Times receives and publishes classified material about U.S. government decision-making during the Vietnam War. When a court order blocks further publication by the Times, The Washington Post obtains its own copy and faces the question of whether to continue the disclosures.

The story focuses on publisher Katharine Graham and editor Ben Bradlee as they weigh journalistic responsibility, legal risk, and the future of the newspaper. The Supreme Court ultimately rules in favor of the newspapers in New York Times Co. v. United States in 1971.

A frequent mix-up is saying that The Washington Post was the first paper to publish the papers. In the film’s historical sequence, the Times publishes first; the Post’s later publication becomes the movie’s central crisis.