The Hollywood Gloss of Nixon and Frost

Abstract

This research focuses on how Hollywood portrayal of David Frost’s 1977 interview with Richard Nixon in the 2008 film Frost/Nixon impacts public perception of the event and of journalists. Through the application of Gerbner’s Cultivation Theory, this research includes an analysis of the journalistic principles monitoring power, truth and accuracy, and the public’s right to information. Effects on the public were measured by exploring recurrent, inaccurate images of the film and examining pre-existing attitude polls about the press. While the findings are correlational, the improvement in how the public views journalists and Nixon illustrates film can perhaps impact public perception.