Chapter 12 Summary and Analysis

The paper the Grahams take over is fragile and losing money. The building on E Street is in ill repair. Wiggins is doing a remarkable job transforming the news desk but is held back due to finances. In 1948, Ben Bradlee arrives for the first time, largely by chance as a young reporter. Readers will see much of him later, at the helm of the Post during the heady days of the Pentagon Papers and Watergate, but at this point, he quickly leaves to go to Harvard and subsequently joins Newsweek's European staff. Phil at this point, Kay believes, shines as an editor and leader in journalism at large. He rejects the idea that newspapers can brush off their defects blithely, acknowledges they must be run as profitable businesses and works hard to expand the Post's sad advertising base. He takes the...