Which actress played publisher Katharine Graham in Spielberg's The Post?

Meryl Streep played publisher Katharine Graham in Spielberg’s The Post.

The 2017 political thriller dramatizes The Washington Post’s decision to publish the Pentagon Papers in 1971. Streep portrays Graham, who had become the newspaper’s publisher after the death of her husband, Philip Graham. During the crisis, she had to weigh the paper’s public duty against the risk of prosecution, financial damage, and the possible loss of the family business.

The film pairs her performance with Tom Hanks as executive editor Ben Bradlee. Bradlee and the newsroom push toward publication after The New York Times is blocked by a court injunction, while Graham faces the decisive corporate and personal pressure. The story culminates in the Supreme Court’s protection of the newspapers’ right to publish the classified material.

A common mix-up is identifying Graham as an editor or reporter. She was the publisher and owner of The Washington Post, while Bradlee was the executive editor. Streep’s performance earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.