I wonder what you think of Ronald Reagan, Mrs. Fletcher

A president who played the media as he played the infant cameras of Hollywood.
A President who took unprecedented steps to protect his image as portrayed by the media. A President whose public appearance was often a choreographed event complete with props.

Did you know that to avoid having Reagan give unrehearsed answers his advisers would ingeniously place the media at a distance and rev a helicopter engine so the president could not hear the reporter's questions. Masterful! Simply and purely masterful.

Perhaps there will never be a president as concerned with their media image as The Great Communicator, but for a senator or president to ignore the power of the media would be perilous.

I do wonder what you think. Or what Postman thought in his time.

You said yourself, " political life has adopted the tools of social/entertainment life".

Reagan was the master at that. Joking and making a crowd laugh was his speacilty. And his storytelling ability is legendary.

These abilities helped keep his popularity high. Even when problems loomed on the horizon. In fact, some of his own aids have said that were it not for his humor, he would have been an incompetent old man to the ruthless lens of the media.

But I will resort back to the old phrase "A picture is worth a thousand words" to demonstrate my point.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7i2IwpEnxXc


Reagan was a president who used the media to its full potential. And that is probably what he is remembered for most. We can use him as an example of how powerful the media has become, even back then.