Reagan Uses ‘Capsule Truths,’ Cuomo Tells Newspaper Editors

Gov. Mario M. Cuomo of New York told newspaper editors Wednesday that the nation’s capital has become a “land of capsule truths” in which Democrats are depicted as Treasury-raiding desperadoes who will be faced down by the sheriff, as portrayed by President Reagan.

“It makes for great television,” the governor said. “But what has it got to do with the real world?”

Cuomo, a Democrat, went on to cite the record federal budget deficits under the Reagan presidency and said: “The truth is that instead of working out reasonable and honest compromises in Washington, we are being treated to reruns of the old stereotypes.”

‘Electronic Imagery’

In a speech to the American Society of Newspaper Editors, Cuomo cautioned that the editors work in an “age of electronic imagery--when political campaigns are dominated by 28-second color movies.” He said politicians are tempted to “reduce our programs and principles to the simplest level, to a label or slogan that conjures up what it is we stand for, one image that covers all the issues.”

Cuomo also tried to offer some comfort to editors concerned about criticism of the press and opinion surveys indicating its credibility among the public is declining.

“It has nothing to do with the soul of the institution; it has to do with the focus of public attention,” he said. “It will happen to any institution in this country that gets examined.”

Advice to Press

The governor said the answer to such criticism is for the press to be “self-critical, aware of its limitations, always trying harder to get the story straight.”

He said “what would concern me far more than the frequent complaints by public officials would be a constant chorus of praise from elected officials over the stories they read about themselves in the paper.”

The ASNE is an organization of more than 900 editors of daily newspapers in the United States and Canada.