Talk:Nixon interviews

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A fact from this article was featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the On this day section on March 23, 2020.

This article seems to spend half the time discussing the interviews, and half the time talking about the film about these interviews. This would be all well and good if it wasn't for the fact that these pieces of information keep getting mixed up and confused. Notice for instance the bolded parts in the following paragraph:

However, the film depicts that the next highest offer by CBS was $350,000 for Nixon's compensation. David Frost was selected personally by Nixon's staff for his non-confrontational style. It was speculated that he would be easily outwitted, and that the interview would be an opportunity for the disgraced politician to restore his reputation with a gullible public. The last, and most critical, of the four interviews was to deal with Watergate. The film recreates a late night phone call that an inebriated Nixon places to Frost that gets into far-ranging nonsequiturs and an anticipation of the upcoming confrontation. The phone conversation seemed to give Frost a new level of determination to dig up Watergate-related documented conversations with Charles Colson implicating Nixon's involvement. Nixon's aide, Brennan, calls for a break in the taping when the pressure was becoming intense. Taping resumed and what nobody could have anticipated...

Can someone fix this please?

91.110.209.139 (talk) 20:51, 15 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Most of that stuff is just wrong. The book "Frost/Nixon" (Harper, 2007, written by Frost and Zelnick) discusses both of these points in the first chapter, titled "The Deal". It says, "We compromised at $600,000 plus 20 percent of the profits, if any, for four ninety-minute shows (rather than one-hour shows), with $200,000 of that to be paid on signature." (p.9) Earlier, while describing the negotiation, it also says, "The main competitor--later revealed to be NBC--was currently on $300,000 and on its way to $400,000 for two hours and would not guarantee more than two hours." (p. 7). The phone call didn't happen: "I attended a preview of Frost/Nixon two or three nights before the play opened... There were more fictionalizations than I would have preferred, although one such piece of fictionalization--Nixon's phone call to me on the eve of Watergate--was, I thought, a masterpiece." (p.4)

I corrected these errors but I left some stuff in that I still wasn't able to verify, including the sentences "The unprecedented asking price was likely negotiated to immediately annex the interest of television news journalists like David Brinkley, Walter Cronkite, and the 60 Minutes program, each of which had a strict policy against paying for access to interview subjects at the time. David Frost was selected personally by Nixon's staff for his non-confrontational style." 67.100.50.118 (talk) 07:22, 25 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

In addition to the above, an article found here (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elizabeth-drew/ifrostnixoni-a-dishonorab_b_150948.html) seems to call into question may of the 'facts' presented in this article. 173.20.123.103 (talk) 21:47, 16 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

To the "point" made above, the Huffington Post article is an editorial disputing the historical accuracy about the film. Not this article about the original interviews. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Carrotmiki (talk • contribs) 01:08, 17 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The article specifically calls into dispute "facts" in this article. 74.181.122.68 (talk) 14:24, 18 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I have in my possession original reel-to-reel tape recordings of these interveiews, as originally broadcast in 1977. I personally made these recordings while listening to the interviews, as they were broadcast. I kept a meticulous logbook of such historical recordings, of which I have many. My notes for these recordings indicate that Part I, devoted to Watergate, was recorded by me on May 5, 1977. Part II, on Foreign Policy, was recorded one week later, May 12, 1977, and Part III, on Domestic Policy, was recorded May 19, 1977. I do not seem to have a Part IV, or at least, have not located it yet. The recordings were made live from a Denver local TV station's broadcast, using a direct wire (not a microphone) connected to the television sound system, but the call letters of this station do not appear on the recordings as far as I have listened to them. Interestingly, during the recordings, the sounds of jet aircraft flying by occasionally can be clearly heard. I thought I would add this in, since the begiining of the article mis-states the broadcast date of these interviews as being May 19, 1977 only.

71.229.222.226 at 21:58, 19 December 2008

Your personal recordings and notes constitute original research. May I suggest an old TV Guide or newspaper listing in your area? IMHO (talk) 00:26, 27 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I am the person who wrote in, above, about having the original recordings and notes made at the time the interviews were broadcast. I understand my information isn't verifiable and is 'original research, yet I thought by providing it, I could steer someone to the correct dates to find non-original reserach that supports my notes.

I have listened to all the tapes, and have indeed found Part IV. There is also a Part V! Here are the details, and again, I understand this is "original research", but hopefully these 'facts' can be somehow verified and included in the main article.

The original interviews were broadcast on four succesive weeks, according to my tape logbook's notes from the time. Part I, on Watergate, May 5, 1977; Part II, on Foreign Policy, May 12, 1977; Part III, on Domestic Policy, May 19, 1977; and Part IV, on "Nixon, The Man", on May 26, 1977. Several months later, Part V, which Frost introduces as containing important information which was edited from the original Parts I-IV, was broadcast on September 10, 1977.

Part I, Watergate, does NOT open with the question "Why didn't you burn the tapes"..... Part V, DOES open with that question. Nixon's 'admission of guilt', if you will, is certainly NOT 'tacit', as the article says; indeed, he comes right out and says he was involved in a cover-up, he let down everyone, etc..... the famous words we all know. He does attempt to redefine the meaning of the phrase 'cover-up' as to not include the hiding of any illegal activities, just 'politically-sensitve' ones. This 'admission of guilt' occurs near the end of Part I, not at the end of the entire session I-IV, as the article suggests.

The recordings, made by me, live at the time, are audio only, recorded from a direct wire connected to the television; no microphone was used. The TV station was Denver's KHOW, which is clearly identified in [at least one] one of the parts. I am NOT in possession of an original TV guide or any other information which can support my handwritten information. I'm just putting this out here to help in whatever way I can.

You could help by not giving false information. The first interview was aired on Wednesday, May 4th. There is a Johnny Carson show from May 4th with Richard Pryor and Chevy Chase were they mention the interviews several times as airing the same day as the said show. https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/05/archives/transcript-of-frosts-television-interview-with-nixon-about.html Also- this New York Times article from May 5th talking about "Last night's broadcast" with a link here https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/05/archives/transcript-of-frosts-television-interview-with-nixon-about.html... If the community really needs it, I can provide more evidence, but let's just start by getting basic dates correct, shall we? I'm taking the liberty of making this minor edit.

hey guys, i just wanted to say thank you for being factually accurate with regards to the use of my grandfather and grandmother's house without disclosing their actual physical address. i appreciate your attention to detail, and from one published writer to another, thank you again. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.137.228.31 (talk) 07:22, 17 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

We need to have some sort of heading. Anyway, after seeing the movie, I was very surprised that there no article on the interviews until this month, even though the play had had an article in 2007. They're not even mentioned in the Richard Nixon page (though I didn't check the history) and barely mentioned in the David Frost page. I don't have any myself, but can more people pull from biographies for some of the behind the scenes, with a smattering of contemparary news articles commenting on the affect?

As mentioned above, clean up is definitely needed, but for my same lack of sourcing, I'm not sure how to go about it. 206.195.188.253 (talk) 00:12, 27 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

When was the first broadcast? Was the final broadcast on 19 or 25 May 1977?

for over an hour of tape on frost/nixon watergate interview, see,http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2622746270623660113 See, H1:10:H1:20, did not admit to cover up, did admit mistakes, let the American people, country down. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Pools7 (talk • contribs) 02:10, 26 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The part in Jack Brennan's article about the interviews should definitely be added here. It adds a lot of insight into the whole thing.Evenfiel (talk) 18:53, 2 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

This is either a TV series,