Talking with Chinese about Press Freedom: The Play “Top Secret” in China

The USC Center on Public Diplomacy, the USC U.S.-China Institute, and the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership and Policy were pleased to co-sponsor "Talking with Chinese about Press Freedom: The Play "Top Secret" in China.

What secrets do governments need to keep? What if the secret is that the government misled the public about an important issue? Do news organizations have the right, do they have the responsibility to bring such a secret to public attention? Those are some of the questions raised in "Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers", which was recently performed in Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shanghai before packed auditoriums.

Geoff Cowan, executive producer Susan Albert Loewenberg, and actor Joshua Stamberg discussed how they managed to take Top Secret to China, how it was presented to Chinese audiences, and how the play was received. USC US-China Institute executive director Clayton Dube moderated the discussion.

Cowan told the Los Angeles Times that, "It speaks very well of China that they have embraced this tour. That is the real story." Lowenberg said, "I knew it would be precarious to bring a story about freedom of the press to China, but I knew the Chinese would get it immediately and I didn't want to bring over something that would be meaningless."

Panelists included:
Geoffrey Cowan, co-author of Top Secret, is the former dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. He's now a University Professor and the first president of the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands. He also directs the Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership and Policy. Cowan played a role in developing National Public Radio and also served as director of the Voice of America. Trained as a lawyer, Cowan is the author of numerous works, including See No Evil: The Backstage Battle Over Sex and Violence on Television and the best-selling The People v. Clarence Darrow: The Bribery Trial of America's Greatest Lawyer.

Susan Albert Loewenberg, executive producer of Top Secret, is the longtime producing director of Los Angeles Theatre Works. She produced Top Secret for radio in 1991. She helped transform the play into a stage play in 2007, which toured more than twenty American cities.

Josh Stamberg plays Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee in Top Secret. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin. Stamberg previously appeared in Drop Dead Diva, Studio 60, Brothers and Sisters, Law and Order, NCIS, NYPD Blue, and numerous other television shows and films.

About the Play
Co-written by Geoffrey Cowan and late journalism professor Leroy Aarons, Top Secret is an inside look at the New York Times and Washington Post's decision to publish a top-secret study documenting the United States' involvement in Vietnam. The subsequent trial tested the parameters of the First Amendment, pitting the public's right to know against the government's claim of secrecy. The epic legal battle between the government and the press went to the nation's highest court and is perhaps the most important Supreme Court case ever on freedom of the press. The play won the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's Gold Medal for Excellence in Best Live Entertainment.