Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers

Following a performance of the play Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, Victor Navasky moderated a discussion among principals of the case about the original publication of the Pentagon Papers. They also responded to questions from members of the audience.

The panelists included Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the top-secret Pentagon Papers to The New York Times and The Washington Post, and set the stage for a historic showdown between the press and the Nixon administration over First Amendment rights and executive priveldge; Leslie Gelb, who was director of the Defense Department project that produced the Pentagon Papers, and who later served in a variety of posts in government and at The New York Times; and James Goodale, who as vice chairman and general counsel for The New York Times disagreed with outside counsel and defended the paper’s right to publish the papers.

The Columbia Journalism Review hosted a benefit performance of the play Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, by Geoffrey Cowan and Leroy Aarons, and sponsored the post-play discussion. The discussion was one of a series presented by USC Annenberg’s Center on Communication Leadership & Policy and the New York Theatre Workshop held in the theatre space at the New York Theatre Workshop in New York City following a performance. close