The Washington Post on Sunday will air an ad during the Super Bowl for the first time. It highlights the role of journalists around the world who gather news, oftentimes in the face of grave danger.

The 60-second ad is scheduled to run in the fourth quarter before the two-minute warning. It is narrated by Tom Hanks, who played former Post executive editor Ben Bradlee in the 2017 movie "The Post."

The commercial shows several slain and missing journalists affiliated with The Post and other publications, according to a description in Saturday's newspaper. The company has not to this point released the ad for public viewing ahead of the game. The Post story said it will publish the commercial on its website and social media channels after the game.

The commercial shows major news events from World War II to the present day and describes how journalists are gatherers of facts on the world stage, according to The Post story, which says the ad ends with the paper’s logo and its slogan: “Democracy Dies in Darkness.”

Fred Ryan, The Post's publisher, wrote a memo to employees to tell them about the ad. It reads, in part:

“With the murder last year of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, the ongoing detention of freelancer Austin Tice, and the injustice of Jason Rezaian’s 544 days in an Iranian prison, this is an issue that is close to many of us. But The Post is not the only news organization to have experienced such outrageous abuses. Just last year, 64 journalists around the world were killed — and more than 250 jailed — simply for doing their jobs.”

The Post did not share how much it paid to buy time for the Super Bowl, but the going rate this year is roughly $5.2 million for 30 seconds.

“We feel that this is the right moment, at the right venue, to present this important message to the large audience of Americans and international viewers that watch the Super Bowl,” Ryan wrote in the staff memo.

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