Newswatch

By Thomas Griffith

Once upon a time, the news happened and was reported. Oh, those simple days. Now the news is staged, anticipated, reported, analyzed until all interest is wrung from it and then abandoned for some new novelty. As the final step, pollsters tell us how the public reacted to it, which becomes the agreed version -- whether the event itself was a flop or a success.

Before the Geneva summit disappears into a black hole, it deserves to be looked at as a classic example of how a President crafts an agreed-upon version of an event and puts it across. Remember the anticipatory worries: Did Reagan know enough about nuclear warfare even to discuss it? Was he so rigid that he would pass up any possibility of compromise, or was he so naive that he might give away the store? More than any Administration before it, the White House samples public opinion almost every night during major events (if the public seems too optimistic, "lower expectations"). The polls showed public confidence in Reagan's ability to handle himself, even while the papers were full of wrangling among his chief lieutenants. Some press critics feared that a poll-happy White House so preoccupied in satisfying today's audience might not have the vision to take the right action for tomorrow. But Reagan had already stopped cramming himself with throw-weight numbers and had found a way to play his part comfortably: leave the numbers to the experts.

"There were over 3,000 reporters in Geneva," Reagan told Congress later, "so it's possible there will be 3,000 opinions on what happened. So maybe it's the old broadcaster in me, but I decided to file my own report directly to you." A scoop. At Geneva, the 3,000 reporters had been held at such a distance that they could only report on how unusually long Reagan and Gorbachev had talked, quote aides on how well they got along, and fill space with features like CBS News' "cold war wardrobes" of Raisa Gorbachev and others. Press commentary had to be tentative. "Politically, it was a plus for both men," Commentator Bill Moyers solemnly intoned. During the summit, some reporters were able to piece together coherent accounts of what went on, but they mostly relied on briefings from the Administration.

To make sure that Reagan's own version of Geneva got full attention, his people had the joint session of Congress waiting patiently, so that TV coverage could open with spectacular shots of Reagan's helicopter landing at the capital. The President's well-crafted speech claimed no euphoric meeting of minds, only that he and Gorbachev "understand each other better. And that's key to peace." Gorbachev played it the same way at home. It is now the agreed-upon version of Geneva that the summit can only be judged a success or failure by whatever actions later flow from it. Reagan had got safely past a meeting that he had for years resisted and the world plainly wanted.

The press has long treated Reagan's acting career as a poor qualification for office, but one valuable lesson Reagan surely learned in Hollywood: how to fit himself into a role and stay consistent in the part, even when a film is being shot over a period of weeks. In politics this is known as establishing a clear profile. At Geneva, while talking longingly of peace, the President stayed stubborn on Star Wars. Yet Reagan's Hollywood training did produce one gullible-sounding remark about Gorbachev: "I think I'm some judge of acting, so I don't think he was acting. He, I believe, is just as sincere as we are." Two weeks after Geneva, Reagan was back to lowering expectations in a speech in Seattle: "Geneva let loose a lot of hopes, mine among them. But there have been hopeful times before."

In fact, another version of Geneva was now being heard. After listening to a recent Saturday radio talk by Reagan, Bill Moyers said on CBS, "Five years ago, he said we needed to spend a trillion dollars to negotiate with Moscow from strength. Having spent it, he called on Saturday for spending more, to convince the Soviets that we really mean it. So, from a distance, this summit begins to appear a molehill." A flashy judgment, but premature to say the least. So skillfully did Reagan put his own version across, over the heads of the press, that the world is still giving him and Gorbachev a chance to prove the summit a success.