Managing the Media with Cognitive Dissonance

In Unspun, Jackson and Jamieson describe the concept of cognitive dissonance. They say, "It's just no fun to admit we've been wrong. So we strive to avoid that unpleasant feeling of psychological conflict - what Festinger calls cognitive dissonance - that occurs when deeply held beliefs are challenged by conflicting evidence." (p.67)

I saw this concept play out during Nixon's Watergate scandal. Nixon knew he had to control the media, and did so by asserting his innocence in his November 1973 "I'm not a Crook" speech. In his speech, he goes so far to welcome the idea of being examined by the press, saying, "People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. I've earned everything I've got."

A 1973 Washington Post article describes how Nixon employed the cognitive dissonance style at the press conference: "In an hour-long televised question-and-answer session with 400 Associated Press managing editors, Mr. Nixon was tense and sometimes misspoke. But he maintained his innocence in the Watergate case and promised to supply more details on his personal finances and more evidence from tapes and presidential documents.

The President was loquacious in his answers and at the end solicited a question on the charges that the administration raised milk support prices in exchange for campaign contributions from the milk lobby." (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/articles/111873-1.htm)

Vehemently denying the charges was Nixon's way of managing the press. Although this ultimately proved to be a failure, it illustrates the different ways public figures try to spin their rhetoric and control the press.