European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 1, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A photo to a protesters at the civil rights March at camping Talon Between the groups. A i a veld Phi in Coretta Scott King Center at the match with from left Rev. Ralph a Bernatti on Carter and Hosea Williams. More than 10,000 people joined the March on Jan. 24, Gat fish reminisces a b aah Ley Oil Onen led than reaction oriented. That s diff cull in a Day when there s a dozen leaks of policy i natives before they re ready to be announced the White House press carps has grown dramatically Over the years even during your Lime at he while House rom being just a few print journalists to a Large corps that now includes even local television. That s a lot of while House press coverage. What have these changes meant in my years in the White House which began in the Ninon administration in 74, the Way a press Secretary has 1o do business has changed dramatically. And it s largely based on the growth of television. The ratio in 1974 was probably 3-Lo-1 print press Over electronic press. Now it s directly reversed television dominates the Way the White House is covered. In 1974, the pres Larry speaker Secretary would prepare for eight or 10 sublets going into a briefing. Today you prepare or eight or 10 subjects but you re Only asked about one or two and that in my opinion is because television covers can cover Only one Story a Day from the White House beat. And thai Story tends to dominate. Thai s not to say the print press does t have influence the Lead Story in the major morning newspapers is very often the television Lead Story on the evening news and that Means television follows he print press. To no while House can Atford to ignore the newspapers. While Reagan May have enjoyed a tremendous amount of Success with the press Early on be it a honeymoon or Good press relations or Public relations or something else that seems More or less changed in recent months beginning with the icelandic Summit and now including the Iran Centra Allar. What gone wrong i Don t think anything s gone wrong. Any adminis Lvalion has controversial subjects to Deal with it s interesting that in the first year Victorias were news. But by the second year victories legislative victories were no longer news. Success was not news. But failure was news. And that predominates the press expects a president to succeed. That s not news if he succeeds then that s what he was supposed to do but it there is a failure anywhere in the administration. Ihen thai becomes news and receives the spotlight. Is the Iran Contra affair a Public relations Nightmare i would l characterize it As a Nightmare but on the other hand it s a very difficult Public relations problem to handle and Public perceptions Are not made or changed overnight. And you just continue to Tell your Story la s the old advertising Man s Creed of Tell pm and Lell pm again. That s what we re doing making the president available to the press or in Public events or keeping him out of View is one Way you have to manage the news. Whet s your thinking on that the presidential press conference is an important institution because it s the one Tima that he Public sees the president in what Many times is a difficult and adversarial relationship. And they see How he performs but the press conference in its present form is in danger of outliving ils usefulness because of the act that it is boiled Down to an East room extravaganza and the questions a not come in a coherent fashion and stay with a subject and explore the depth of the president s thinking it boils Down to More a Battle of the wits there is in the press corps since Vietnam and watergate Many limes an automatic presumption that the government is lying. And a government spokesman is forced Day in and Day out to prove he in t lying. And too much of it boils Down to How can we get pm to say what they Don t want to say somehow we need to gel away from this i gotcha syndrome. Another urea that s been sensitive to the Reagan White House at least Lor press operation has been the subject of leak. Is too much sensitive classified secret material being leaked yes. Our ability to iry to control leaks has been misrepresented