The Society of Collegiate Journalists sponsored a movie screening in Caldwell Hall last night to conclude its Sunshine Week activities.
The documentary The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers details the events leading up to the publication of the Pentagon Papers in the New York Times after they were leaked by Daniel Ellsberg, a defense analyst who worked at the RAND Corporation in California and later for the U.S. Government during the Vietnam War.
The Papers were instrumental in ending the Vietnam War and ultimately led to Watergate and the resignation of President Nixon.
May Chung, president of the N.C. State chapter of the Society of Collegiate Journalists, said that this event was a way to promote awareness about the freedom of speech in the country.
“We wanted to promote the fact that people should have access to such privileged information, and also promote the freedom of speech and press,” Chung said. “It is an inspiring story about Ellsberg and the movie screening was just a great outlet for people to learn about him.”
“Sunshine Week is a good time to make citizens aware of what the government does secretly and to hold them accountable,” Chung said, “This is relevant to events that are happening in the world right now, as for example in Egypt.”
Tom Wallis, an English professor, gave an introduction to the screening and reiterated the importance of dissemination of information to the public.
“It is a privilege to be a part of Sunshine Week and to be introducing this documentary to all of you here,” Wallis said. “Ellsberg worked for the Pentagon and was so dedicated to American foreign policy that he worked as a volunteer in Vietnam. But when he realized that the government was hiding such vital information from the public, he decided to speak up. He released these top secret documents to the media and risked a life in prison for what he believed was the right thing to do. Ellsberg is a role model for all those who believe in Sunshine Week.”
The screening attracted many of students from the scholars program, as it also counted towards their program.
Sophie Austin, a freshman in biology, had not heard of Sunshine Week before, but came back with a positive opinion from the screening.
“I liked the movie very much, and I agree that such information should indeed be made public,” Austin said, “The government has to be more responsible and should be held accountable to the people.”
For Dylan Cawthorne, freshman in environmental engineering, this was an eye-opener about the political system in the country.
“I definitely liked the movie. More than anything else, it has made me lose faith in the federal government,” Cawthorne said. “It made me realize that how political perspectives were common across parties at that time, as different presidents from different parties indulged in the same kind of activities. It made me understand how the political system worked back then, and probably is still working even today.”
Both the documentary that was screened last night and the movie, starring James Spader as Daniel Ellsberg, are available online on Netflix.
