Such Lovely Footage

By Thomas Griffith

No President in recent history has been as successful as Ronald Reagan in the presentation of self. By now, with his actor's "naturalness" and with the superior technology available to him, Reagan has probably overtaken his role model, Franklin D. Roosevelt. This is appearance we are talking about, not substance, but in the age of TV and Reagan, appearance has just about superseded reality in political importance.

Reagan has just scored two propaganda triumphs. By excluding the press from the Grenada invasion, the Administration brought off a tidy military operation--without unsettling TV coverage of combat as it happened. Reagan's second triumph was last week's quick trip to Japan and South Korea. There the facilities of the armed services were all enlisted to ensure that the press could cover Reagan in glorious color and in time for the nightly news. In Grenada, the press was denied its primary role as an independent witness to actuality. In Asia, public relations was the actuality. The press that traveled with Reagan felt like extras in a presidential spectacular but grudgingly admired how skillfully the Administration carried out its mission. In both triumphs the press was manipulated and outmaneuvered.

The press had been advised to expect a lot of ceremony and little of substance on the Far East journey; no tense confrontation with foreign leaders of the kind Reagan dislikes. Fair enough. Good-will trips are valuable, and Reagan is good at them. But why then should Reagan on his return to the U.S. try to make more of it by proclaiming that as a result, the prospects of "peace and prosperity are better today than a week ago"? Well, for one reason, because his advisers thought there may have been too much pictorial emphasis on the military in Korea, so perhaps he should get in a word about peace.

Along with the press corps went two sets of camera crews from the White House. One was the Navy videotapers who customarily record presidential travels for the archives. The other was from the Republican National Committee. At the Emperor's dinner for the Reagans in Tokyo, there was not room for both crews; the Navy was excluded while the Republicans got in. Space was so tight at the North Korean border that most of the regular press corps had to be left behind at a camp below, but the Republican camera crew was assigned a choice position. When these pictures become campaign commercials next summer, Reagan's progress will be made to seem even more triumphant, albeit at one further remove from reality.

Still, there were splendid photo opportunities for all: the Japanese archers on horseback, the thousands of Korean schoolchildren watching the parade. The returning presidential party touched down in Alaska in plenty of time to make the morning news shows. While Reagan slept, the networks were invited to photograph the First Lady playing with two Korean children she was bringing to the U.S. for heart operations. "It was lovely footage, a very sweet story," says Andrea Mitchell of NBC, "but we were trapped." Against such a backdrop, Mitchell found it hard to attempt any serious analysis of the trip for the Today show. For her, Reagan's visit to the Demilitarized Zone had been "the most exciting photo op" of them all. The half dozen reporters allowed along, however, noted that Reagan--as so often--seemed to have no curiosity about the scene, nodding while a lieutenant pointed out landmarks but asking no questions. As cameramen called out directions to him, Reagan obligingly turned from one side to another, posing for their pictures like an old pro. Seeing a fake town on the North Korean side through his field glasses, he disparaged it as looking like a Hollywood back lot. There was a touch of professional condescension. Ronald Reagan is a lot better at the art of illusion. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.